Latham & Watkins is advising The Ocean Cleanup, an ambitious nonprofit that is seeking to collect and recycle a large percentage of the ocean’s floating trash, on tax, organizational and technological matters, as well as international maritime trade, waste transport and customs issues. The work earned Latham & Watkins an Innovations in Pro Bono Award as part of the California Leaders in Tech Law and Innovation Awards. The pro bono team advising The Ocean Cleanup is led by partner Mike Carroll and counsel Nikki Buffa of the Latham’s environmental, land and resources department, based in the firm’s Orange County office. Carroll and Buffa recently told The Recorder about the firm’s work on the project to date.

The Recorder: How did Latham’s work on this project originally come about?