Firm’s Work for the Trevor Project’s Mexico Expansion To Be Honored As “Pro Bono Project of the Year”

Latin Lawyer has announced Latham & Watkins as co-winner of the magazine’s “Pro Bono Project of the Year” award. Working in close collaboration with co-honoree Creel, García-Cuéllar, Aiza y Enríquez SC, co-counsel in Mexico City, a Latham team helped the LGBTQ youth suicide prevention nonprofit The Trevor Project launch in Mexico — the first time in the organization’s 25-year history that it has offered crisis counseling to individuals outside the US.

Founded in 1998, The Trevor Project is the leading organization working to end suicide among LGBTQ youth. Its newly inaugurated Mexican chapter offers 24/7 Spanish-language crisis intervention services through online chat functions, text, and WhatsApp. Latham advised on the structure and financing for the Mexican entity and its relationship with the Trevor entities in the US, as well as employment law implications. The firm’s intellectual property team helped assess the scope of the organization’s IP agreements and licenses relating to the Mexico expansion as well.

The Trevor Project’s General Counsel, Leigh Checchio (she/her), said, “We are so grateful for the generous support, dedication, and wise counsel of our pro bono partners like Latham and Creel. We would not have been able to successfully launch in Mexico, allowing us to offer lifesaving crisis support services to LGBTQ youth here, without them.”

“We thank Latin Lawyer for the honor, and, as importantly, we thank The Trevor Project and our co-counsel partners at Creel for their incredible assistance and support of LGBTQ youth through this initiative. Knowing that The Trevor Project is now reaching more young people is incredibly meaningful to us,” said Latham partner David Penna (he/his), who supervised and contributed to the pro bono matter.

In addition to David Penna, the Latham team included partners Tom Malone and Jeremiah Wolsk and associates Costanza Garcia, Zachary Shufro, and Dewey Kang.

The award will be presented in May 2023.