Financial Times Recognizes Orrick’s Pro Bono Team for Landmark Human Rights Initiative

The Financial Times featured Orrick in its 2026 Innovative Lawyers Europe report in the "Responsible Business" category for the firm's central role in the Armenia Pro Bono Collaborative - a first-of-its-kind legal initiative that has brought hundreds of human rights claims before the European Court of Human Rights on behalf of ethnic Armenians forcibly displaced from their homes and ancestral lands.

THE INITIATIVE

In partnership with the International and Comparative Law Centre, the Artsakh Union, and three peer firms, Orrick helped complete 113 ECtHR applications in just four months on behalf of ethnic Armenians - the first large-scale pro bono effort before the ECtHR.

THE IMPACT

"This was about more than filing applications," Amy Grunske, Head of International Pro Bono at Orrick, told Financial Times. "It was about building the infrastructure - the training, the tools, the processes - so that justice could be pursued at scale for people who had lost everything."

The initiative's impact has continued to grow: 577 applications have now been filed on behalf of 1,200 individuals, with another 650 being finalized by local lawyers and law students in Armenia using the templates the collaborative created.

THE TEAM

The Orrick team was led by Amy Grunske, with 90 of our lawyers across 17 offices.