10 ways Amazon’s pro bono work has made an impact in the last decade

Jason Lively spent 14 years in prison after being wrongfully convicted of first-degree murder and first-degree arson. After a decade of appeals, he received a call from his legal team saying he was going to be let out of prison. Amazon helped Jason’s legal team build his exoneration case. After being released Jason said, “How do you say ‘thank you’ to somebody that has given you your family, your sister, your brother, your kids, your wife, your mother? That’s what they gave me. They gave me a future. Not only that, they continue to look out for me, for nothing. They treated me that good.”

Many questions arise on Election Day in the U.S. like, where is my polling place? What do I do if my ballot ripped? What if I am told I cannot vote? To help answer questions related to the law, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law organizes non-partisan election protection hotlines. During the 2020 election cycle, Amazon was the first in-house legal department to fully staff and operate a hotline call center. The Amazon team fielded calls during the 2022 midterm elections, and will do the same during the 2024 election.

Mary’s Place, a nonprofit that provides emergency housing and other resources to families, occupies eight floors in Amazon’s corporate headquarters in Seattle, offering shelter to 200 guests. Since 2018, the legal team has provided a legal clinic for Mary’s Place guests to help address barriers that prevent them from becoming housed, such as past housing debt or a previous eviction.

In some U.S. states, individuals are eligible to have past convictions vacated to help them gain employment, secure housing, and other economic opportunities to move forward with their lives. In most cases, a lawyer must make a motion in the court room where the original conviction took place. Working with The Records Project in Washington and the Legal Aid Foundation in Los Angeles, Amazon legal professionals have helped represent individuals to vacate eligible convictions.

As the war in Ukraine has continued, Amazon lawyers and legal professionals have helped the country’s community of tech entrepreneurs expand their ventures in other parts of Europe and the U.S. by drafting fact sheets outlining rules for setting up or scaling businesses. The Amazon team has also held webinars where tech entrepreneurs can ask questions. Volunteers have also helped in the fight against counterfeit medications and medical devices in Ukraine.

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), has allowed certain undocumented immigrants to live in the U.S. provided they came before they turned 16, and have lived in the country for several years. DACA recipients must renew their status every two years, which requires a significant amount of paperwork, and a complex application process. Amazon set up DACA clinics to help recipients fill out renewal applications, assisting more than 2,000 young people.

Children fleeing war, violence, and persecution in their home countries can arrive at the U.S.-Mexico border and face the same deportation process as an adult, often without legal counsel. Amazon has teamed up with Kids in Need of Defense to represent children and help them remain in the U.S. The team has a 96% case success rate when children are represented, saying a lawyer makes all the difference in these complex and time-intensive court proceedings.

There is a lot of paperwork involved with finalizing uncontested adoptions for foster families and foster kids—so much that it can sometimes become a roadblock to a successful adoption. Amazon lawyers have helped families navigate and fill out this paperwork so they can get needed assistance for things like healthcare, helping them take the final step toward adoption.

There can be many legal questions that artists and arts organizations can face around contracts, liability, and releases. In partnership with Washington Lawyers for the Arts, a nonprofit that serves as a bridge between the arts and legal communities in Washington state, members of Amazon’s legal team hosted workshops for artists to get informed answers to their questions.

Amazon’s legal team in India has partnered with the Centre for Child Rights to disseminate information on child rights in schools to keep them safe. Educating children about their rights helps to increase the frequency of reporting of incidences of child sexual abuse, which in turn can help reduce instances of these crimes.