In summer 2008, DLA Piper offered two 2L students a unique opportunity to do pro bono work. One summer associate from New York City and one from Baltimore were offered the opportunity to spend the first eight weeks of the summer in the summer associate program. One spent the following four weeks working on Empowering Students and Families, Baltimore's signature project. The other worked with the New York Legal Assistance Group in its Immigration Protection Unit assisting immigrants obtain legal status and government benefits.
Baltimore City State's Attorney's Office
DLA Piper seconded associate Strider Dickson (Baltimore) to prosecute cases for the Baltimore City
States Attorney's Office. While serving as an Assistant States Attorney, Strider prosecuted cases involving allegations of narcotics possession, theft (including auto theft) and assault, shoplifting, prostitution, trespassing, forged checks, possession of stolen goods, and malicious destruction. In addition to providing Strider with valuable trial experience, this work served an important public good by providing Baltimore City with more resources to evaluate whether particular crimes should be prosecuted and - in instances where prosecutions were pursued - to try the cases with a higher degree of preparedness.
Read Strider's account of his experience.
In summer 2005, DLA Piper granted associate Robert Gaumont
(Baltimore) a 14-week leave of absence to prosecute
cases for the Baltimore City States Attorney's Office. While serving as an Assistant States Attorney, Bob prosecuted cases involving allegations of narcotics possession, theft (including auto theft) and assault, among other crimes. In addition to providing Bob with valuable trial experience, this work served an important public good by providing Baltimore City with more resources to evaluate whether particular crimes should be prosecuted and – in instances where prosecutions were pursued – to try the cases with a higher degree of preparedness.
The Global Fund
In March 2006, associate
Ellen Ginsberg (Baltimore) traveled to Geneva, Switzerland to join the Legal
Team at the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria for three months. She helped to finalize new grant agreements, reviewed compliance by grant recipients, and worked on agreements to continue funding for pre-existing grants. She also supported the Global Fund's fundraising efforts through its RED campaign, working on licensing and marketing agreements with a variety of corporate partners. She also helped to ensure that the organization remained in compliance with the legal obligations of soliciting charities.
Read Ellen's account of her experience.
Equipo Nizkor
In January 2005, associate
Deborah McCrimmon (San Francisco) traveled to Spain to assist Equipo
Nizkor attorneys on the prosecution of Argentine Lieutenant Commander Adolfo Scilingo. Scilingo was placed on trial in Spain for genocide, crimes against humanity, and terrorism committed against Spanish nationals in Argentina during the Argentine dictatorship. On April 19, 2005, he was sentenced to 640 years in prison. The trial team with which Deborah worked was the only team that argued that Scilingo's actions constituted crimes against humanity, which in the end was the only major charge on which he was convicted. For her work in Spain, Deborah won the California Bar Association's
President's Pro Bono Service Award, which was presented to her on October 6th, 2006.
Read Deborah's account of her experience.
The American Bar Association's Central European and Eurasian Law Initiative
Roger Meyers was in Almaty, Kazakhstan, at the request of the American Bar Association's Central European and Eurasian Law Initiative to open a Media Support Center to provide legal defense and support to the independent and opposition media, which have suffered severe government repression in recent years. With the help of the Center’s local staff, including two attorneys he hired, Roger established a national hotline for journalists to call for legal advice, conducted seminars for journalists around the country and trained attorneys to effectively represent media clients in court. In addition, Roger’s legal analysis of a restrictive media law proposed by the government helped lead to the law being vetoed. He was subsequently appointed by the Kazakhstan Minister of Information to a working group to reform the country’s media laws to bring them closer to compliance with international law. For his work on this initiative, Roger was awarded the American Bar Association's
International Human Rights Award in 2005. He has since left the San Francisco office of DLA Piper to pursue other opportunities.