In Their Words: Attorneys' Most Memorable Pro Bono Work

In Their Words Attorneys Most Memorable Pro Bono Work

October 26, 2023, Law360

Marney Cheek’s commentary was included in a Law360 article interviewing several lawyers on their pro bono work. Marney commented on her work representing Ukraine in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion in February 2022.

Discussing her role in representing Ukraine pro bono, Marney said that “my Covington colleagues and I immediately got in touch with our longtime client, Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to think through how international law could be used to check Russia's aggression. Just two days after Russia's full-scale invasion, we filed an application and request for provisional measures (interim relief) with the International Court of Justice. We argued that Russia had violated the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, by relying on false claims of genocide in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region to justify its full scale invasion of Ukraine. When we filed, no one knew the course the war would take. What we did know is that international law had a role to play in fighting Russian aggression.”