Humanitarian Crises in Myanmar and China: What's Your Firm Doing?
Props to our friends over at Dewey & LeBoeuf. Sure, Denim Day is great at all, and their wine-and-cheese events sound like a lot -- maybe too much -- fun.
But DL also thinks of the less fortunate. From an internal email that went around recently:
As news of the devastation in China and Myanmar spreads, and in support of our colleagues and clients in Asia, we recognize a responsibility to support and assist the many thousands of individuals and families in need at this time. Current news reports suggest that the massive earthquake in the Sichuan province of China has already claimed the lives of more than 20,000 people, with numbers that could soar to as many as 50,000. The deadly cyclone of the Myanmar delta region has already claimed over 75,000 lives, with more than 55,000 people still missing and over 1 million people in need of aid.The firm will match all donations made by our lawyers and administrative staff up to $200,000 to the following four funds designated for relief in China and Myanmar....
Perhaps other law firms are undertaking similar efforts? If your firm is, feel free to note that in the comments.
The complete Dewey & LeBoeuf email, including links to four relief organizations that you can support, appears after the jump.
Update: As noted in the comments, Heller Ehrman is one of the firms stepping up to the plate. The firm is matching employee donations to the Red Cross up to a total of $50,000. Memo after the jump.
DEWEY & LEBOEUF -- MEMORANDUM -- MATCHING PROGRAM FOR MYANMAR AND CHINA RELIEF EFFORTS
To: DL Global Personnel
As news of the devastation in China and Myanmar spreads, and in support of our colleagues and clients in Asia, we recognize a responsibility to support and assist the many thousands of individuals and families in need at this time. Current news reports suggest that the massive earthquake in the Sichuan province of China has already claimed the lives of more than 20,000 people, with numbers that could soar to as many as 50,000. The deadly cyclone of the Myanmar delta region has already claimed over 75,000 lives, with more than 55,000 people still missing and over 1 million people in need of aid.
The firm will match all donations made by our lawyers and administrative staff up to $200,000 to the following four funds designated for relief in China and Myanmar (additional information is available by visiting the included Web site links):
If you are interested in making a personal contribution, please send your check (made payable to one of the organizations listed above) to [xxxx] in the New York office (for lawyers and staff in our US offices) and [xxxx] in the London office (for lawyers and staff in our international offices). Please make all donations by Friday, May 23. We will forward your checks, as well as our matching check, to the appropriate fund as quickly as possible.
Thank you in advance for your contributions.
HELLER EHRMAN -- MEMORANDUM -- MATCHING PROGRAM FOR CHINA EARTHQUAKE RELIEF
From: Scott, Brad
Sent: Tuesday, May 20, 2008 9:40 AM
To: Scott, Brad
Subject: China Earthquake Relief
By now you will have read and seen of the devastation in Sichuan China from a massive earthquake and aftershocks. According to the latest reports, more than 12,000 people have died and many more have been injured or are missing. Homes, schools and workplaces have been destroyed across the province.
Firms, companies and individuals are responding around the globe to provide emergency and long-term relief and support to the people of Sichuan. Many of you have asked what you and the firm can do to help. As part of that effort, the Heller Ehrman Charitable Foundation will make a direct donation.
In addition to that donation, the firm will match employee donations to the Red Cross up to a total of $50,000. Employees wishing to make a donation should make checks payable to the Red Cross in their home country:
* American Red Cross - China Earthquake Relief 2008 (U.S.)
* Red Cross Society of China (China)
* British Red Cross (London)
Checks should be forwarded no later than Friday, May 30 to Miriam Sheller in Human Resources. We will then compile and send those checks along with the firm's matching contribution.
Of course, any contribution by employees is completely voluntary. There are many outstanding relief organizations and everyone should feel free to respond in the way he or she feels is most appropriate.
A disaster of this scale reminds us of how fortunate we are to be in a position to help. I thank each of you in advance for your generous and heartfelt response.
Best,
Brad Scott
Chief Operating Officer
(43) Comments
What's my firm doing? We're making money for the Firm. What the hell else would we be doing?!
Who would believe a law firm with a heart?
MWE is giving $10,000 to the relief effort in China and solicited additional contributions from firm employees.
economics 101 -- firms must make more money so everyone pays more taxes so the gov't has more money to send for relief. D&L hurting relief!
wow, the firm is matching any donations up to 200k. I hope this is not paired with layoffs. It would have to be a pretty generous spirit to prefer the firm pay some random victim relief fund in Myanmar (who is likely going to give some/all of the funds to the junta) than to keep him/her employed
Dil mein mere hai darde disco.
The sentence re: the match "up to $200,000" is ambiguous as to whether the firm will (i) match all donations by each individual person up to $200,000 per each such donation or (ii) will match all donations in the aggregate up to a total $200,000 contribution by the firm.
I'm sure the second is the one that was intended, but you'd think lawyers could right more good.
Maybe all of Dewey's new cost-cutting measures will make up for the $200k quickly. I refer, for instance, to the rules limiting overtime meals to $20 and prohibiting cars home before 9 p.m. when daylight savings time is in effect.
Way to side with the tyrants, Lat. I'll stick to using the country's proper name, Burma, thank you very much.
Call me heartless, but I hope nothing - or at least, limit itself to firm donation without calling upon its personnel like D&L. Why? Gov't of Myanmar/Burma had refused int'l aid for 2 weeks, so if it can't be bothered with its own citizens, why should I? China's got a pretty nice sovereign fund - it can't spare a billion or two for its own citizens? Maybe I'm too cynical but I'd rather my firm address local issues - to which I'd gladly donate my time and/or money. But that's just me (who's grumpier than usual today).
2:12 - hear hear.
1:40 - huh??
2:08 - The NYT, AP, and Reuters all refer to it as "Myanmar."
Send laywers, guns, and money.
2:26--they have been co-opted by the junta!!
--Guy Who Likes to Say "Junta"
That sounds like a pretty good time 2:30
"You most likely know it as Myanmar, but it will always be Burma to me"
"You most likely know it as Myanmar, but it will always be Burma to me"
2:26 - the WaPo and BBC use Burma.
Heller making a donation (amount unknown) and matching first $50,000 -- but only for relief sent to China. No matching for relief sent to the Junta.
2:02 - you would think that with close to 200,000 people dead and many more injured and homeless, you would stop being petty and worrying about the amount of additional money the firm is willing to cover for your dinner while people are starving as a result of these disasters.
The firm Money & Greedy has announced that it will no longer represent Wal-Mart or any other company that employs cheap labor in China with the purpose of selling cheap products in the U.S. The firm has acknowledged that its representation of these companies has contributed to extreme poverty in China, which leads to large casualties for natural disasters.
The firm Money & Greedy has announced that it will no longer represent Wal-Mart or any other company that employs cheap labor in China with the purpose of selling cheap products in the U.S. The firm has acknowledged that its representation of these companies has contributed to extreme poverty in China, which leads to large casualties for natural disasters.
3:34: Are you actually asking some of these posters to have perspective?
3:49: I couldn't agree more.
3:34: Are you actually asking some of these posters to have perspective?
3:49: I couldn't agree more.
I kind of hope my firm is doing something. We actually had some of our personnel who were in China, and one of our associates is from Chengdu. He was transferring to one of our China offices and cancelled his going away dinner because one of his friends I think died.
I kind of hope my firm is doing something. We actually had some of our personnel who were in China, and one of our associates is from Chengdu. He was transferring to one of our China offices and cancelled his going away dinner because one of his friends I think died.
Rumor has it that Wachtell is just going to buy Myanmar and be done with it.
Helping mortgage more of America's future to the bloodthirsty despots in charge of China (duh!).
4:29? China's bloodthirsty despots? Are you sure you have that right? Last I checked, their Prime Minister and President have been on the ground with the victims for the last week.
What is happening in China right now is amazing. An entire nation, with so many disparate ethnic groups, stood still yesterday to honor and mourn the dead.
The mood in China right now is the same mood that swept the US after 9/11 - national pride and a sense of a need to give back. If anything, this earthquake united the Chinese nation and showed that the top officials in Beijing care deeply about their citizens.
4:21 wins.
4:57: are you a member of the Chinese Communist Party or just a paid hireling of the oligarchs?
Orrick is matching "up to $100,000 for personal donations made to Red Cross Societies by Orrick lawyers and staff."
DEWEY MANAGEMENT: WHY DON'T YOU USE THIS MONEY TO PAY AN ASSOCIATE'S SALARY INSTEAD OF LAYING OFF YET ANOTHER ASSOCIATE? ALTERNATIVELY, USE THE MONEY TO PAY SEAMLESS WEB BILLS INSTEAD OF IMPOSING A $20 DINNER LIMIT.
The Kirkland Foundation is donating $100,000 immediately to the Chinese disaster relief effort, will match up to $100,000 additional donations without the ordinary matching requirements (minimum amount, annual requirements, etc.) and will match unlimited donations after that (i.e. that are subject to the ordinary requirements).
The MoFo Foundation is donating money too.
Man, this story brought the douchebaggery out of people, didn't it?
Good for D&L, and screw the miserable brats crying over their $20/meal cap.
8:32- good point. firms are not charitable institutions. if their employees wish to donate, that is their biz. firms are much better off if they do what they do best and leave the philanthropy to those who actually know what they are doing.
8:32 -- ASSOCIATES WHO MAKE THEIR 2000 HOURS HAVE NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT. THEY ARE BRINGING IN MORE THAN ENOUGH MONEY TO PAY THEIR SALARIES. THERE ARE NO LAYOFFS AT D&L, ONLY PERFORMANCE-RELATED TERMINATIONS.
big deal. orrick announced they would match for up to $100,000. but for some reason, this site never mentions anything they do, from maternity leave to the fact that their building is used as the law firm shot in the show eli stone.
4:57: China has a terrible human rights record. Moreover, that their government visibly chipped in has been hailed as an emblem of their progress.
And what of the mood in the US after Katrina?
There most certainly have been layoffs at D&L. They can call it "performance based" if they'd like but at least some of the people who have been let go have received only positive reviews. And no, I am not one of them.
2:12 I hope it's just you. And of course I will call you heartless because that's what you are.
4:57 Well said. You rock!
6:17 Not everyone who is sympathetic to people suffering from the tragedy in Sichuan is a party member. Have you been brainwashed or something? You are so pathetic.
6:44 You are trying too hard to pin everything that happened in China to its human rights record. Your insensitivity to human sufferings in China is appalling.
WC is giving $100,000 to the Red Cross to aid relief efforts.