Protecting the next generationChild Rights International Network (CRIN) promotes and protects children’s rights around the world bydrawing the attention of governments to their obligations under the United Nations Convention on theRights of the Child (CRC). To do so effectively, CRIN needs to understand the interplay of local legalregimes with the provisions of the CRC and identify ways to enforce them wherever possible.

In our largest pro bono project to date, 285 White & Case lawyers and legal staff in 32 officesresearched the jurisprudence of 172 countries to build a comprehensive database covering the ways thatchildren, their families and legal service organizations can challenge violations of children’s rights usingnational, regional and international legal systems. Each country profile includes information on whetherthe CRC can be enforced directly in that system’s courts, explanations of children’s access to courts andcomplaints mechanisms, legal aid, representatives, evidence, appeals and more.

The CRIN/White & Case database represents the first time that this kind and volume of information hasbeen gathered in one place. It will have significant practical application in advancing children’s rights. Forexample, the database will provide tools and templates that governments and NGOs can use to bringmore countries into alignment with CRC principles or that individuals can draw on to initiate an action toenforce children’s rights.

To shine a spotlight on the issue and encourage wider compliance with accepted norms, CRIN will alsocreate a global ranking of countries by the quality of their provisions for access to justice for children. Theproject will also create customizable model legislation and guidance on the best legal practices that wouldunderlie a “perfect state” with regard to protecting children’s access to justice.

As the database is being finalized, White & Case’s country reports are already yielding dividends. Forexample, the East African country reports were used to inform CRIN’s recent legal advocacy workshop inthe region, where experts addressed persistent violations of children’s rights there, examined options forchallenging violations, identified legal blockages and created an advocacy plan. And in 2014, when theUN Human Rights Council dedicated its Annual Day on the Rights of the Child to the theme of access tojustice, CRIN used our reports as the basis for its presentations, advocacy and comments on theresolutions debated during the session.

“In our largest pro

bono project to date,

our lawyers and legal

staff researched the

jurisprudence of 172

countries to build a

comprehensive

database on how

children, their families

and legal service

organizations can

challenge violations of

children’s rights using

national, regional and

international legal

systems.”

Our pro bono work increasingly involves assistance to NGOs and governments seeking tobring their domestic human rights legislation into alignment with international norms.Our work on behalf of children, LGBT individuals and Roma illustrates this trend.

PRO BONO LEGAL EDUCATION VOLUNTEERISM & CONTRIBUTIONS GREEN

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Building on our victory in the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” litigation that overturned the US government’s policythat banned openly gay individuals from serving in the military, White & Case now handles an array ofmatters related to protecting the rights of LGBT individuals.

Tackling tax timeThe US Supreme Court’s grant of federal recognition to same-sex marriages introduced a hefty dose ofconfusion into the filing of tax returns for LGBT couples. They could now file their federal taxes jointly, butstill had to navigate the complexity of 50 different state-level tax regimes and faced contradictoryrequirements in the majority of states that did not recognize their marriages.

White & Case joined with the National LGBT Bar Association and investment bank BNY Mellon to assist.Each of the three deployed its unique capabilities to build a website—the Online LGBT TaxResource—that guided taxpayers and their tax advisors through this quagmire of legislation in anaccessible and easy-to-understand way.

Under severe time pressure to publish the findings so that they could be used during the tax season, aWhite & Case team led by tax partner John Lillis in New York built the first and only comprehensiveresource that lists state-by-state reporting regulations for same-sex couples, highlights the discrepanciesbetween federal and state tax law and walks through the correct course of action in each state through aseries of branching yes/no questions. Links to all relevant tax forms, statutes, administrative guidanceand regulations are provided. Guidance is also given for states where same-sex marriages are nowrecognized and previous years’ tax returns were eligible to be amended.

Because the tax landscape for LGBT couples is rapidly evolving, White & Case and BNY Mellon willupdate the Online LGBT Tax Resource regularly to ensure that it remains relevant and useful.

Salvadoran rights reformIn recent years, there has been a marked rise in the number of murders of transgender women and othersexual minorities in El Salvador. Investigating these murders is considered low priority because of themarginalized social status of LGBT people, and perpetrators are rarely brought to justice.

Working with the human rights organization Asistencia Legal para la Diversidad Sexual de El Salvadorand the International Senior Lawyers Project, a White & Case team comprising lawyers from Mexico City,Miami, New York and Silicon Valley prepared a comparative analysis of anti-discrimination and hate crimelegislation throughout Latin America and the United States. The report identified the strategies that weremost effective in each country’s attempts to combat anti-LGBT discrimination and violence.

The team then worked to customize its findings to the realities in El Salvador. White & Case associateBrandon Freeman traveled to El Salvador to brief government officials and assess support amongpolitical leaders for anti-discrimination legislation. Freeman also presented White & Case’s research andrecommendation on the anti-discrimination legislation at a major conference in El Salvador. We arecontinuing to work with the Salvadoran government and NGOs to advance legislative reform.

OTHER LGBT RIGHTS PROJECTS

Since 2008, we have won 13 LGBT asylum cases for Immigration Equality and eight cases for WhitmanWalker Health.

In Germany, we advised Transgender Europe on employment law and assisted the PrOut@WorkFoundation with data protection and general corporate issues.

We conducted research to inform efforts to challenge the Republic of Georgia’s ban on blood donationsby gay men.

Lawyers in four offices drafted anti-discrimination reform proposals for Common Language, a ChineseLGBT rights group, to present to the National People’s Congress.

STRENGTHENING ROMA RIGHTS

Roma people face significant individual and institutional discrimination across Europe. Lawyers in sixWhite & Case offices took on two matters for the European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC). The firstaddressed a recent case holding that the EU Race Equality Directive does not apply to racial profiling by

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