Vance Center Celebrates King & Spalding with Recognition of International Pro Bono Excellence

The 2026 Celebration of International Pro Bono Excellence for King & Spalding, held at the firm’s New York City office on July 21, 2026. Photo credit: Vance Center 

On July 21, a group of Vance Center staff and representatives from King & Spalding gathered at the law firm for a special event to recognize the firm’s notable contributions to Vance Center projects over the last year.

Each year, the Vance Center selects a small number of law firms represented on its Committee to honor for their outstanding contributions to Vance Center pro bono projects.

For 2026, we recognized King & Spalding for the firm’s work on several projects, including a wide-ranging project examining whistleblower protection laws in multiple jurisdictions, and invaluable assistance to the Lawyers for Reporters team in developing a framework to help clients assess compliance concerns.

Longtime Vance Center collaborator Douglass Cassel, Counsel at King & Spalding, provided welcome remarks to open the July 21 celebration. He highlighted the Vance Center’s longstanding relationship with the firm and described the collaboration as a “win-win-win” — for the firm, the Vance Center itself, and above all for the pro bono clients.

Cassel recalled King & Spalding’s contributions to the Vance Center’s pro bono representation of Nicaraguan broadcaster Canal 12 before the Inter-American human rights system, ultimately leading to a successful negotiated settlement. He also noted how the projects provide professional development opportunities for young attorneys at King & Spalding who are interested in international human rights work, and who often seek out the pro bono team looking for projects.

“I don’t always have pro bono work [on hand] for them, but I know the Vance Center does,” he said.

Finally, he emphasized how these projects enable the Vance Center to leverage the firm’s legal talent, knowledge, and resources to benefit clients.

Vance Center Pro Bono Legal Manager Pedro Villegas then provided a brief introduction to our work and the global impact of our pro bono projects. His presentation covered the Vance Center’s four thematic areas of practice and outlined the transformative power of our unique co-counsel model for working with law firms.

He thanked the firm’s pro bono team and all the attorneys who contributed to projects over the last year.

“This work is possible thanks to the commitment of the best lawyers across the world,” he said.

Exceptional Projects

Vance Center Institutional Integrity Program Advisor Cuitláhuac Castillo Camarena presented the first notable project, examining whistleblower protection laws in 19 jurisdictions for the Global Civil Society Coalition for the UNCAC, a network of more than 400 civil society organizations spanning more than 120 countries.

Attorneys from nine King & Spalding offices across multiple continents contributed to the project, which involved analyzing existing frameworks and laws and developing extensive questionnaires on whistleblower protections.

Castillo provided context for the project, noting the essential role of whistleblowers in global anti-corruption efforts and the lack of consistent, accessible information about protections across countries.

He congratulated the King & Spalding team for its contributions to the project, especially for tracking down technical information on protection laws that would otherwise be nearly impossible for the client to access.

“Thanks to the incredible work of King & Spalding’s lawyers, the Coalition now has the ability to [effectively] advocate in front of international bodies” for improved whistleblower protections, he said.

This successful research has encouraged the client to expand the project, he added. The project has added a new set of countries for analysis; when completed, it will cover 64 jurisdictions.

Leila Gilbert, Legal Intern at King & Spalding’s Geneva office, joined the event remotely to speak about her experience on the project and the importance of pro bono work. She appreciated the project’s international nature and the firsthand demonstration of how legal professionals, civil society groups, and international institutions can work together to push for accountability and access to justice.

“It’s an opportunity to use legal skills in the public interest,” she said.

The celebration also recognized King & Spalding’s pro bono contributions to the Vance Center’s Public Interest Reporting Program and its Lawyers for Reporters initiative, whose clients are local, independent, and mission-driven media organizations across the U.S.

The King & Spalding team worked with Lawyers for Reporters attorneys to develop a comprehensive framework to assess and respond to clients’ growing concerns about specific regulatory compliance issues, including nonprofit registration and structure, employment law, and data retention. These contributions formed the foundation of LFR’s new Compliance Assurance Program.

Lawyers for Reporters Managing Attorney Kay Murray outlined the firm’s pro bono extensive contributions and thanked the individual attorneys, including partner Andrew Michaelson.

“The team worked with good humor, practicality, and solid common sense” and went the extra mile to make sure clients could understand all the information, she said.

Following the project highlights, Villegas formally presented the recognition, which Senior Associate Viva Dadwal accepted on the firm’s behalf.

“We’re celebrating not just the legal work but the way it’s done, the enthusiasm and professionalism, and what we can bring to the firm that is interesting [to you],” Villegas said.

Head of Pro Bono Josh C. Toll, joining remotely from the firm’s Washington, D.C. office, celebrated King & Spalding’s work with the Vance Center and the project teams’ contributions.

“We’re grateful for this partnership, which has allowed us to do so much impactful pro bono work. The Vance Center has become our main pro bono partner in that regard [international pro bono projects],” he said.

Pro Bono Deputy Radha Manthe also applauded the partnership, as well as Cassell’s leadership of the firm’s pro bono efforts.

“It made my heart so happy to see so many offices working on this,” she said, noting how projects like these offer a unique opportunity for the firm’s attorneys around the world to collaborate.

Vance Center Pro Bono Legal Manager Pedro Villegas and King & Spalding Senior Associate Viva Dadwal celebrate the firm’s pro bono contributions. Photo credit: Vance Center

Rethinking the Celebration

This year’s event marked a fresh approach to the Vance Center’s annual Celebration of International Pro Bono Excellence. Instead of one evening celebration for multiple law firms at the New York City Bar Association, the 2026 recognitions are occurring as a series of events at the individual law firms’ offices. These personalized events will provide more opportunity to showcase the impact of each firm’s projects to a wider audience, including summer associates, legal interns, and other attorneys across the firm.

We plan to recognize five other law firms through summer and fall 2026.

Learn more about the Vance Center’s pro bono promotion initiatives.