Overview of MERCK's PRO BONO PROGRAM The Merck Pro Bono Program has been nationally recognized for its leadership in providing legal services to the poor and disadvantaged. The Program began in 1994 when a small group of attorneys and support staff piloted a program to assist low-income individuals in obtaining free legal services. Today, the program has expanded to include more than 150 attorneys, paralegals and administrative associates providing pro bono legal services to residents and non-profit companies in the U.S. and internationally, who cannot otherwise afford legal representation. Merck's Legal Team Gives Back to the Community Over fifteen years have passed since Mary McDonald, former senior vice president and General Counsel at Merck, first challenged the attorneys within the Office of General Counsel to meet their professional obligation to ensure "equal justice" through the pro bono representation of the poor and disadvantaged. In response, seven volunteer patent attorneys and three administrative associates based in Rahway, NJ, joined representatives from Legal Services of New Jersey and Central Jersey Legal Services to form a groundbreaking alliance to provide direct legal assistance to low-income individuals in the areas of bankruptcy and family law matters. In 1996, the program expanded to our sites at Whitehouse Station, NJ, and Upper Gwynedd, PA, as attorneys, paralegals and administrative associates from these sites partnered with Legal Services of Northwest Jersey and Legal Aid of Southeastern Pennsylvania, respectively, to provide support in the areas of landlord/tenant, bankruptcy, family law matters and client intake services. With the completion of the Merck- Schering Plough merger in November 2009, the Program incorporated additional volunteers and activities based in Kenilworth, NJ, the former Schering-Plough headquarters. Merck is currently handling pro bono cases with our partners at Legal Services of New Jersey, Central Jersey Legal Services, Legal Services of Northwest Jersey, Legal Aid of Southeastern Pennsylvania, the Volunteer Lawyers for Justice and the Homeless Advocacy Project, in the areas of guardianship, landlord/tenant, bankruptcy, family law, domestic violence, immigration, veteran affairs, social security disability, and special education law. We also are working with our colleagues at Pro Bono Partnership (which expanded to New Jersey with Schering-Plough as a founding sponsor) to represent qualifying non-profit organizations in New Jersey. Merck is also expanding its pro bono efforts to California and is seeking to work with Volunteer Legal Services Program (VLSP) of San Francisco to provide legal services in the areas of employment law, business contracts, leases, real estate issues, non-profit incorporation, tax law, intellectual property, corporate structure, zoning and preventive legal services to non-profit organizations in Northern California and to work with the 1
Pro Bono Project of Silicon Valley in providing family law services. Since 1994, Merck attorneys, paralegals and administrative associates have devoted thousands of hours to provide equal justice to those in need throughout our communities. "Through Merck's pro bono program, our lawyers and staff help those in need in our communities to enforce their legal rights and to obtain equal justice." Bruce N. Kuhlik, Executive Vice President and General Counsel, Merck In 2006, Merck became the first corporation in New Jersey to partner with Street Law to encourage students from inner-city high schools with diverse backgrounds to consider opportunities in the legal profession, specifically in-house corporate legal positions (attorneys, paralegals and administrative associates). Through this initiative, approximately 100 high school students participate in a series of hands-on workshops at their high school and at Merck's corporate headquarters in the areas of intellectual property law, contracts and dispute resolution. Each year, several students receive scholarships from Merck to assist them with their future education plans. Since 2007, the Office of General Counsel has continued its Street Law Program through a partnership with Union High School. Beginning in the spring of 2011, the program expanded to include students from Rahway High School. In the fall of 2011, Merck volunteers from the Upper Gwynedd site also present Street Law workshops to students at Norristown Area High School. The workshops are in the areas of Commercial Law, Regulatory Law and Labor Law. In 2006, at the urging of many Chief Legal Officers, the Pro Bono Institute at Georgetown University Law Center and the Association of Corporate Counsel, through their joint project Corporate Pro Bono (CPBO), developed the Corporate Challenge to empower corporate legal departments to identify, benchmark, and communicate their commitment to pro bono service. Merck (and the former Schering Plough) became original signatories to the Corporate Pro Bono Challenge. The Challenge encourages corporate legal departments to use their best efforts to encourage at least one-half of their legal staff to support and participate in pro bono service. In 2009, the Office of General Counsel celebrated the 15 Year Anniversary of the Merck Pro Bono Program. The celebration included a program at Merck's corporate headquarters, in Whitehouse Station, NJ where attorneys, paralegals and administrative associates gathered with our Pro Bono Partners to celebrate the achievements of our Pro Bono program while encouraging all in attendance to expand our roles in providing "equal justice" to those in need. In 2009, the Merck Pro Bono Program began its Bankruptcy in a Box initiative. Merck partnered with Volunteer Lawyers for Justice (VLJ) to provide legal services to low income individuals and families looking for debt relief. In 2010, Lowenstein Sandler LLP joined this initiative. Teams of attorneys, paralegals, and administrative associates from Merck and Lowenstein help pre-screened clients file Chapter 7 bankruptcy petitions and attend a Trustee meeting so they can receive debt relief. 2
The merger of Merck and Schering-Plough in 2009 expanded Merck's presence outside the US and increased the number of OGC attorneys working internationally. During 2010, an International Pro Bono Committee was established where representatives from each region outside the US serve as coordinators and sponsors for pro bono participation in their perspective region. Merck also began participating in international, web-based pro bono clearinghouses, including TrustLaw administered by the Reuters Foundation and PILnet. Interest in international pro bono opportunities is being generated through relationships developed directly between interested international attorneys and NGOs and through partnerships with law firms that are actively engaged in international pro bono work. Two recent successful examples of law firm partnering were a collaboration among Baker & Mackenzie, PILnet, and attorneys from Merck and two other multinational in-house pro bono programs to further women's rights in Nepal a collaboration among Baker & Mackenzie, TrustLaw, and attorneys from Merck and local law firms in Bangladesh, Chile, India, Nigeria, Peru, Tanzania, and Uganda to address mobile health-related privacy and security issues for the mhealth Alliance. Also in 2010, the Merck Pro Bono Program began to partner with Bet Tzedak (the House of Justice) Holocaust Survivors Network. Through this program, Merck Pro Bono participants represent and assist Holocaust survivors who were forced to "voluntarily" work in the Nazi ghettos to receive "social security" payments from the German government. In 2011, Merck began to partner with Community Hope, which is an organization that provides life-stabilizing assistance to displaced or transitioning veterans. By partnering with Community Hope, in collaboration with Legal Services of Northwest Jersey and the law firm Lowenstein Sandler, Merck volunteers will provide legal help to those in the Hope for Veterans program. In addition to bankruptcy and family law matters, volunteers will assist veterans in restoring revoked driver's licenses and expunging eligible criminal charges. Pro Bono Awards Received by Merck: 2013: Bruce Kuhlik and the Merck Pro Bono volunteers receive the Pro Bono Institute s Laurie D. Zelon Award for their outstanding commitment to pro bono service 2012: Merck received the TrustLaw Collaboration Award 2012: Merck received Pro Bono Partnership's Corporate Volunteer of the Year Award 2011: Merck received the Dickinson R. Debevoise Award from Volunteer Lawyers for Justice 3
2010: Merck received ACC's Matthew J. Whitehead, II Diversity Award 2010: Merck received the CPBO Pro Bono Partner Award 2010: Merck received Volunteer Lawyers for Justice "Champions of Change" Award 2010: Merck received NJ Governor's Jefferson Award 2009: Merck received Pro Bono Award from Union County Bar Association/Central Jersey Legal Services 2009: Merck received U.S. President's Volunteer Service Award 2008: Volunteer Lawyers for Justice In-Housel Counsel of the Year 2008: Merck & Co., Inc. received American Bar Association Section of Litigation Pro Bono Award 2008: Schering-Plough Corporation received the First Decade Award for Distinguished Service from Pro Bono Partnership 2005: Merck & Co., Inc. received 2005 In-House Corporation Counsel Pro Bono Award by Volunteer Lawyers for Justice 2005: Merck & Co., Inc. received Spirit of Volunteerism Award (In the category of Environment, Education, Community & Arts) from Diversion Magazine 2004: Merck & Co., Inc. named Corporate Volunteer of the Year by Pro Bono Partnership 2004: Merck & Co., Inc. received Special Recognition Pro Bono Award from the New Jersey State Bar 2004: Merck & Co., Inc. received the ACC Excellence in Corporate Practice Award 2003: Merck & Co., Inc. Executive Vice President and General Counsel, Kenneth C. Frazier, received the Pro Bono Institute's Laurie D. Zelon Award at a U.S. Supreme Court ceremony for extraordinary achievement by an individual in pro bono and public service 1999: Merck & Co., Inc. received Pro Bono Publico Award from the American Bar Association (ABA) 1998: Merck & Co., Inc. received the Distinguished Legal Service Award from Corporate Legal Times & Lexis-Nexis 1995 Present: Merck & Co., Inc. and nearly a dozen attorneys and support staff have been recognized by Legal Services of New Jersey with the Equal Justice Medal for providing pro bono legal services to those in need Merck's Pro Bono Partners include: Legal Services of New Jersey Central Jersey Legal Services Legal Services of Northwest Jersey Volunteer Lawyers for Justice Pro Bono Partnership Legal Aid of Southeastern Pennsylvania Street Law Program/Union High School/Rahway High School 4
Pro Bono Institute Homeless Advocacy Project PILnet Bet Tzedak Holocaust Survivors Network Community Hope, in partnership with Legal Services of Northwest Jersey and Lowenstein Sandler PC Volunteer Legal Services Program of the San Francisco Bar Association Pro Bono Project of Silicon Valley 5