Stacie Yee, executive chair of diversity and inclusion, and Rosa Walker, director of diversity and inclusion at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman has pledged to donate $1 million in cash and $10 million over three years in pro bono and volunteer work to social and racial justice causes, the firm announced Monday. 

Many firms have made similar pledges, offering donations from firm foundations and employees as well as offering to step up pro bono efforts. Kirkland & Ellis, notably, promised a $5 million contribution over five years to social justice causes. 

But, if taken as a full figure incorporating the assumed $10 million in pro bono work, Pillsbury's commitment is the largest to date by a major law firm. 

"Over these past few weeks, the Pillsbury community has come together to listen to and support one another, and commit to doing better," firm chair David Dekker said in a statement. "After gathering input from a diverse cross-section of our firm, it is clear that only a sustained commitment of this magnitude will enable us to have the desired impact."

The initial cash infusion will be provided via the firm's Pillsbury Foundation, while the estimated pro bono and volunteer work will be done by the firm's attorneys and employees. 

"Essentially, we as a firm decided to create a response to what is going on," Stacie Yee, a partner in the firm's Los Angeles office and executive chair of the firm's diversity and inclusion committee, said in an interview. "There was overwhelming outpouring by attorneys and staff, and they wanted to focus on these issues of race, equality and criminal justice. When we were brainstorming how to address this, we decided to put numbers to our commitment. It is about accountability. Specifically with the amount of the pro bono. That is over and above what we have done previously. About 10% higher and in addition to what we have normally done."

Yee said the firm routinely does about $25 million annually in pro bono work, and the additional $3.3 million in hours per year over three years will supplement that work. 

Yee also said the volunteering aspect of the commitment was important in order to give the firm's staff, most of whom do not have legal degrees, an opportunity to contribute as well. 

The firm said its focus over the first iterations of the donations will focus on improving and reforming criminal justice, building societal equity through mentorship programs, increasing access and opportunity for black-owned businesses and "ensuring full representation for Black Americans in Washington."

The firm said these latest commitments will be in addition to its ongoing efforts such as its partnership with the Equal Justice Works Fellowship Program, which the firm says it has funded for 20 years.  

Yee acknowledged that the accounting of these efforts will be a work in progress, but that they plan on having frequent check ins to track progress and make sure they are on the right path to meeting their goals. 

Yee said that the target will be met by a mix of increased participation from attorneys who already do a good amount of pro bono work as well as contributions form those lawyers and staff that previously had not made volunteering and pro bono work a significant part of their workload.

"It was readily apparent to me and all of our firm leaders that we could do something really impactful and sustainable, and that our people were passionate about our doing so," Yee said in a statement. "It's no secret that law firms have work to do when it comes to parity and inclusion. This commitment to our communities is in addition to our commitment to improving the recruiting, mentoring, advancement and retention of our diverse attorneys and staff across our platform."

Many other firms have committed to at least six-figure donations over the past several weeks, including Latham & Watkins ($500,000) and Cooley ($450,000).

While no doubt a welcome problem to have, many social and racial justice organizations are receiving so many donations from corporate and legal players that they are actually pushing donations elsewhere, The New York Times reports. 

Much of that has been fueled by massive donations from the corporate sector, such as Amazon's $10 million donation to various civil rights organizations. 

While corporate giants may have some impressive numbers attached to their respective giving, as a percentage of annual revenue things look a bit different. 

Pillsbury, for example, had $667 million in revenue in 2019. It's $11 million commitment is roughly .016% of that number. Amazon's $10 million donation, against revenues of $87.4 billion in 2019, constitutes about .00001% of its annual sales. 

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