Bonds for the Poor
July 9, 2008, The American Lawyer/The National Law Journal

The rising cost of food prices and the recent global credit crunch threaten the securitization of the microfinance market and the borrowers who depend on this type of financing — small loans made to starting businesses in impoverished countries. The American Lawyer featured an article on the numerous firms that have started doing pro bono work in this area, and singled out White & Case as a firm that has been paving the way in micro-finance for decades. White & Case has represented "one of the oldest and most estab-lished microfinance networks," Women's World Banking (WWB) since 1979. Sylvia Chin, a partner in the Banking Practice in the Firm's New York office, is on WWB's board.
Recently, the Firm's work in microfinance has branched out, including a large amount of work for the Acumen Fund. Among the projects the Firm has done for the Fund, the article cites the "special purpose trust" White & Case designed that guarantees $50 million in home equity loans granted to Pakistani residents who earn below a certain income. White & Case's New York-based pro-bono counsel Jim Stillwaggon says this type of project allows senior lawyers to "really add value."