The Firm’s Racial Justice Task Force was formed in the wake of summer 2020, which saw the murder of George Floyd and the high-profile killings of Breonna Taylor, Rayshard Brooks and many others by law enforcement officers.

The initiative sought to galvanize the Firm’s response to this issue and connect people across White & Case who are passionate about racial justice.

Co-chair Dana Foster explains: “The task force was created by members of the Antitrust team in Washington, D.C., including myself, Partner Mark Gidley and Counsel Charles Moore.

“We quickly realized there was interest from people (including attorneys and business service professionals) across the Firm, so we soon expanded our membership to colleagues from multiple practice groups and offices across the world.”

The task force currently has more than 130 members from every office in the United States, plus Milan, London and Brussels. Since 2020, it has completed more than 50 matters with around 20 matters ongoing.

Leadership is provided by four co-chairs, including Dana, Charles, Gina Chiappetta and Alexus Payton, who is the first co-chair outside of the Antitrust group. Task force meetings are held every two weeks for 30 minutes to update on projects, discuss new opportunities and share strategy.

Dana explains: “We wanted to focus on initiatives that we believe have a significant impact on racial injustice and inequality.

“For this reason, we’ve organized our activities around three areas: criminal justice reform, education, and economic empowerment.

Charles adds: “It was very important to us to have a real-world, concrete impact on individuals and communities. Our focus on criminal justice reform, education, and economic empowerment provides a framework for us to take on specific projects that can have that impact.”

While the co-chairs coordinate the task force’s activities, it is very much driven by members at all levels and in all job roles, who are encouraged to submit ideas for new projects. Several of these have already been taken up.

Gina says: “I’m proof that the task force wants input from associates at all levels because one of the reasons I was asked to be a co-chair as a mid-level associate was that I spoke up about what more the Firm could be doing in the criminal justice space during the first task force meeting. Dana and Charles immediately asked if I’d like to join.”

Dana adds: “There is a real opportunity here for people from all parts of the Firm to get involved and to work on projects they are passionate about, because not only do we support initiatives that the Firm is already involved in, but we’re constantly looking for new opportunities in different jurisdictions and communities in the United States and other countries.

“In fact, most of the projects we work on are ideas from associates and business services professionals. For instance, a lawyer from our Los Angeles office, Cristina Brandao, who is passionate about racial justice in Brazil, has asked if we can explore opportunities in Sao Paulo and Rio De Janeiro, so we’re currently looking at opportunities to partner with non-profit organizations there.”

Dana adds: “We have so many brilliant, creative attorneys who do great work for our corporate clients, but they also care about their communities and fighting racial injustice.

“We’re finding so many people who are passionate about certain issues or who have friends who work for non-profits with whom we can partner, so the potential is huge.”

The task force is always on the lookout for new members with the only possible limit to its capacity being resources.

Gina says: “We’ve not reached the ceiling yet, but the more people who join the better. I was slightly concerned recently when Dana mentioned that he wanted the Firm to take on 20 new cases and that 20 in-house lawyers from our client, Amazon, had expressed interest in collaborating on task force matters. That meant putting together 20 of our own teams to support them, but, with the help of the Firm’s brilliant pro bono team, we found those people almost immediately. We’ve never had a problem sourcing volunteers.”

Dana adds: “I remember saying at a recent Firm meeting during Pro Bono Week that I couldn’t see any reason why everyone in the Firm shouldn’t join the Racial Justice Task Force.

“The Firm does groundbreaking impactful work for our clients every day, but I think working for individuals on pro bono cases and fighting racial injustice is particularly special.

“While some firms and organizations were very passionate about racial injustice in 2020, many have taken their foot off the gas and thought their job was done.

“I’m proud that hasn’t been the case for White & Case. In fact, the task force keeps on growing.

“I’d encourage everyone interested in this cause to contact us, particularly if you know of an organization we can partner with or have an idea for an initiative. While some of our cases can take several years to fight, there are others that require much less time and resources, so please do get in touch.”

Here’s a round-up of some of the amazing projects the Racial Justice Task Force is working on or has completed recently.