The National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty held its annual luncheon with current and potential LEAP members in June, hosted by Simpson Thacher. It was a convening of fellow leaders of pro bono programs at major law firms and corporate legal departments, and attendees heard from dedicated pro bono attorneys working to end and prevent homelessness in America. 

A special thank you to those who participated in the program: Peter Thomas of Simpson Thacher, Bruce Rosenblum of The Carlyle Group, Karen Grisez of Fried Frank, Anna-Kay Richards of Latham & Watkins, Rustin Brown of Simpson Thacher, Joshua Handell of Sullivan & Cromwell, and our keynote, Peter Edelman, of Georgetown University Law Center.

For more details and to join LEAP, view our 2018 LEAP brochure, complete our 2018 LEAP membership form, and contact Cassidy Waskowicz at cwaskowicz@nlchp.org. 

View the live stream of Peter Edelman's speech and photos from the event. 

LEAP (Lawyers' Executive Advisory Partners) is a national legal community effort to serve and protect homeless Americans and those at risk of becoming homeless. LEAP members are the very core of support for the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty to achieve our mission of using the power of the law to prevent and end homelessness.

Through membership in LEAP, the Law Center offers law firms and corporate legal departments many opportunities to leverage pro bono legal services throughout the year. LEAP members have participated in the fight to end homelessness through litigating educational rights for children, challenging anti-camping laws, researching the impact of criminalization, and more.
 
LEAP members receive priority selection of the Law Center’s pro bono work, including high-impact projects that address systemic injustices and help prevent and end homelessness. Members also receive special recognition throughout the year, invitations to LEAP-only events, and tickets to our annual McKinney-Vento Awards dinner.
 
Here are some of our recent high-impact pro bono projects:

• With volunteer lawyers from LEAP Member Goldman Sachs and LEAP Champion Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson LLP, the Law Center conducted a survey of homeless men and women in NYC to gather information about challenges homeless people face in interactions with law enforcement. The results will be used to gain greater data about the criminalization of homelessness and advocate for better policies that help homeless individuals and families. 
• LEAP Champion Latham & Watkins LLP and LEAP Member Microsoft Corporation are developing a privacy toolkit for the Data-Driven Justice Initiative, a program started by the White House in 2016 that uses and shares data to divert people out of jail and emergency care and into effective treatment and housing.
• With LEAP Champion Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, the Law Center submitted comments to the U.S. Housing and Urban Development to safeguard important housing protections for domestic violence survivors under the Violence Against Women Act.

2018 LEAP Members