Supporting Our Communities

Partnering With Local Legal Services Organizations  

D.C. Bar Pro Bono Center

Sidley’s Washington, D.C. office has represented several Washington D.C. tenants as part of a referral program from the D.C. Bar Pro Bono Center.

In one such case, Sidley secured a victory for a veteran who faced eviction proceedings for nonpayment of rent. As a result of Sidley’s advocacy, the tenant was able to settle the case on favorable terms, which resulted in the landlord waiving the existing civil judgment for unpaid rent and agreeing to seal the record of the proceedings. The client has since secured new housing.

In another case, Sidley secured a victory for a victim of identity theft whose name and social security number were fraudulently used to rent multiple apartments in the District of Columbia. The client, who has never been a resident of the District of Columbia, was incorrectly named as a defendant in five eviction proceedings related to the fraudulent leases, and the public record of these cases made it difficult for her to secure new housing. Sidley filed motions to seal the eviction proceedings, which were granted by the D.C. Superior Court.

In another case, Sidley successfully represented a family who faced eviction for nonpayment of rent. Sidley was able to have the landlord’s claims against the family dismissed, and as part of counterclaims raised by the family, was able to secure a settlement agreement from the landlord that resulted in significant repairs to the apartment, including remediation of a severe rodent infestation.

Disability Benefits Wins

Sidley teams in the firm’s Washington, D.C. office also work together with the D.C. Bar Pro Bono Center to help secure benefits for disability claimants. In one such case, a Sidley team successfully represented a 53-year-old woman in her appeal before the Social Security Administration (SSA). The client, a lifelong resident of the District of Columbia, was previously denied SSA disability benefits despite both physical and mental health conditions that prevented her from engaging in employment.

Another Sidley team successfully represented a Social Security disability benefits claimant in appealing the denial of her claim. The claimant worked in childcare and early childhood education for over 20 years, but has been unable to work since August 2021 due to severe impairments. The Sidley team collected, reviewed, and analyzed medical records for the claimant, assisted her in preparing for a hearing before an ALJ, prepared and submitted a letter brief to the ALJ, and represented the claimant at the ALJ hearing. During the hearing, the judge entered a fully favorable oral decision into the record. The ALJ subsequently issued a fully favorable written decision, which also agreed with the alleged onset date of disability, resulting in the claimant’s ability to receive both prospective and retroactive benefits.

Expunction Matters

Sidley teams helped 25 clients through the Dallas District Attorney’s Office Expunction Expo in the summer and fall of 2023. Expunction helps lower barriers to housing and employment and professional licensure for people living on low incomes.

Through a Houston Volunteer Lawyers referral, a Sidley team successfully handled another expunction matter on behalf of a woman going through a rough financial patch in her life. After her husband took everything in their divorce, our client committed a minor theft that jeopardized her professional license. The Sidley team helped our client seal her record, and her license is now reinstated.

Not Beyond Redemption

In partnership with specialist charities Not Beyond Redemption (NBR) and the Free Family Advocacy and Representation Project, our London office provides family law advice, representation, and support to mothers in prison and litigants in person. Sidley’s work with NBR was recently recognized at the LexisNexis Legal Awards.

A few of our clients shared their gratitude for Sidley’s help:

“I can’t say thank you enough for everything you and your team have done for me. Finally having a team working on my side, standing by me, standing up for me. It means so much to me that you believed me when nobody else did. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
– Sidley client

“The work that you all do is absolutely fantastic! I felt completely helpless for such a long time whilst I was in prison and before, in the battle to see my kids. Words can’t describe how much I appreciate all that you all have done for me!”
– Sidley client

Free Family Representation and Advocacy Project

Lawyers in our London office act as pro bono advocates for litigants in person in the family court, representing individuals in proceedings relating to child arrangements.

In 2023, Sidley teams represented:

• A father seeking to establish contact with his daughter with facilitating negotiations between the father and the mother ahead of their First Hearing Dispute Resolution Appointment, successfully agreeing each material point before the hearing. As a result, the judge ordered that the father will spend time with his daughter every alternate weekend, including overnight stays.
  
• A mother in a Dispute Resolution Appointment. The mother raised concerns of domestic violence, stalking, and intimidation. There was also a risk that the father might remove the child from the jurisdiction. The court considered whether a fact-finding hearing should take place to determine allegations of abuse and whether the father should be allowed to see the child in the interim. We successfully argued that the court should order a fact-finding hearing as it was the most appropriate forum for the mother to give evidence. Domestic violence protections were agreed, and the court did not allow the father interim contact.
  
• A father attempting to establish contact with his daughter, upon the expiry of a previous order. On the morning of the hearing, the father was informed that his daughter’s address had changed, and none of his letters had been arriving. Although the Court initially proposed to reduce contact, we pushed back, and successfully secured an interim order for fortnightly letterbox contact at an updated address.

London Welfare Benefit Appeals

Under our Welfare Benefit Appeals project, lawyers in Sidley’s London office assist individuals with disabilities to challenge wrongful decisions made by the Department of Work and Pensions in respect of entitlement to benefits. In 2023, Sidley teams helped 26 individuals living with cerebral palsy; mental health, social, physical, and psychological challenges; vision problems; and Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

A few of our clients shared their gratitude for Sidley’s help:

“I’m very pleased about the outcome … thank you again for everything. I wouldn’t have got through it without all your help and encouragement.”
– Sidley Client

“Molly, Sean, and Chloe many thanks for all your help and support for my court case as a team re the above. Without your hard work and time I would never have got the final result. I cannot thank you enough.”
– Sidley Client

“To all the team at Sidley, many thanks for all your efforts.”
– Sidley Client‍

PUSH Foundation‍

A Sidley team represented PUSH Foundation in forming a nonprofit Texas corporation and obtaining 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status. The PUSH Sharks is a basketball league in Houston, Texas that works with underprivileged youth on and off the basketball court to instill discipline, teamwork, and sportsmanship.

‍Harlem Grown

Harlem Grown is a New York-based nonprofit focused on youth and community development through mentorship, education, and partnerships to create sustainable change and inspire youth to lead healthy and ambitious lives. Founded in 2011, Harlem Grown currently maintains 13 urban farming operations and has relationships with seven local elementary schools. One of the many ways they are fulfilling their mission is by raising support for the physical renovation of abandoned lots in Harlem, and transforming them into thriving urban farms that help Harlem youth learn about nutrition first-hand. Sidley is assisting Harlem Grown with multiple transactional matters, including a memorandum of understanding for subguarantees, artists, and programming partners. Sidley also helped Harlem Grown with a license agreement to provide for a local urban farm and garden-based development programs to benefit Harlem’s youth.

Supporting the Conservation of the Potomac River

Sidley’s environmental litigation team represented Potomac Riverkeeper Network (PRKN) in its federal settlement with the City of Alexandria, Virginia to remediate coal tar contamination at the site of the former Alexandria Town Gas company, a city-owned manufactured gas plant on the waterfront near Founders Park, and to halt decades of discharges of coal tar, creosote, and other contaminants through a storm sewer into the Potomac River. This case is the seventh pro bono litigation matter Sidley has successfully handled for PRKN in the last 14 years.

The settlement, defined in a proposed consent decree filed jointly by the Potomac Riverkeeper Network and the City of Alexandria in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, details commitments by the City to remediate coal tar contamination at the site of the former Alexandria Town Gas company. The City’s efforts to eliminate the discharges over the years were proven inadequate, and the settlement agreement outlines an expanded remediation program to control the persistent contamination. As well, the City is required to provide US$300,000 to fund a mussel restoration project on the Potomac shoreline.

Sidley filed the federal lawsuit on behalf of PRKN in May 2022, detailing the City of Alexandria’s violations of the Clean Water Act and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. The lawsuit further detailed Potomac Riverkeeper’s investigation, which revealed that the City had been illegally discharging coal tar and creosote wastes into the Potomac River on a continuous basis since at least 1975.