New Perimeter, DLA Piper’s non-profit affiliate dedicated exclusively to international pro bono work, today announced new priorities for the second half of 2010, while highlighting key milestones and successes from the past five years. New Perimeter expects to have nearly 20 attorneys on the ground over the next two months in Mexico, Namibia, Guyana and Peru focused on a variety of projects, including training in-country attorneys on advocacy skills, assisting paralegals who are providing access to justice in rural areas where attorneys are not available, developing new legislation for violence against women and helping to create a sustainable pro bono culture. Launched in February 2005, New Perimeter remains the only law firm non-profit entity focused on global pro bono work. Since its inception, DLA Piper has provided more than 50,000 attorney hours specifically to New Perimeter, which translates to nearly $25 million in donated legal services. DLA Piper has again committed 13,000 attorney hours to New Perimeter initiatives in 2010 at an approximate value of more than $6 million in billable attorney time. DLA Piper attorneys are selected for New Perimeter on a competitive basis and work on cohesive project teams during a multi-year commitment that typically includes spending time in-country as a key element of their assignments. “As the first initiative of its kind in the legal industry, New Perimeter has been successful in addressing some of the most critical issues in parts of the world that urgently need assistance,” said Francis B. Burch, Jr., Global Chairman of DLA Piper. “We could not be more proud of our attorneys, who continue to embrace the opportunity to utilize their legal skills and the firm’s global reach to serve communities around the world.” With several new projects in the planning stages, New Perimeter continues to expand both the scope and geographic reach of its pro bono service, which will include substantial project launches in Asia, the Middle East and South America later this year. “New Perimeter, with an emphasis on providing on-site support, has established a unique focus on projects that require a long-term, sustained and significant commitment, both in terms of time and human resources,” said Sheldon Krantz, director of New Perimeter and a partner with DLA Piper. “Over the past five years, working in developing and post-conflict countries, we’ve immersed ourselves in a variety of critical issues and we look forward to continuing and expanding this work.” New Perimeter Projects Reach Milestones Through New Perimeter, attorneys from DLA Piper's offices around the world have provided legal assistance on a diverse series of projects, many of which are ongoing, in such areas as rule of law, human rights, economic development, the environment and supporting legal education in developing and post-conflict countries. Key New Perimeter project highlights include: • Kosovo Rule of Law Project – At the request of the Department of Justice for the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission in Kosovo, New Perimeter has committed significant time and resources to help develop Kosovo’s judicial and prosecutorial systems. Between 2005 and 2010, a team of eight DLA Piper attorneys assisted the UN, and later the Kosovo government, in drafting two new laws creating an independent judiciary and system of prosecution. It is anticipated that DLA Piper attorneys will continue to work with Kosovo’s new government and new Ministry of Justice over the years to help implement these laws, which are scheduled to be enacted this year. One lawyer has made more than 20 trips to Kosovo, and two have spent more than four months each living in Pristina during this project. • Zimbabwean Women’s Rights Project – In collaboration with AIDS-Free World, DLA Piper is involved in a significant initiative to document, publicize and combat politically motivated human rights abuses against Zimbabwean women. DLA Piper attorneys conducted four trips to southern Africa to interview Zimbabwean women who were victims of politically motivated sexual violence surrounding the 2008 presidential elections. These trips resulted in 70 sworn affidavits from victims that formed the basis of a human rights report: “Electing to Rape: Sexual Terror in Mugabe’s Zimbabwe.” The report determined that Zimbabwe’s ruling party committed a brutal, orchestrated campaign of rape and torture during the elections to terrorize supporters of the opposition party. New Perimeter attorneys continue to assist with litigation and advocacy strategies to bring about accountability and raise awareness of this issue. • Addis Ababa Law School Project – Since 2008, New Perimeter has assisted the University of Addis Ababa Faculty of Law in Ethiopia in improving legal education for its students, the future leaders of Ethiopia. A project team of more than 20 DLA Piper attorneys from Europe, the United States and the Middle East has traveled to Addis Ababa to teach eight courses on business law topics and assist the faculty in upgrading its curriculum. The team also helped the school plan and host a conference on Ethiopian law and economic development, while also working to expand its library collection and provide additional training opportunities for its students in the United States and elsewhere. • Mexico Appleseed Project – New Perimeter is working with Mexico Appleseed to foster a sustainable pro bono culture in Mexico. DLA Piper attorneys have assisted in this effort through several initiatives, including teaching courses on the importance of pro bono service at local law schools and addressing the issues surrounding the return of unaccompanied Mexican minors on both sides of the border. • Southern Africa Litigation Centre Project – DLA Piper dedicated significant time and on-the-ground resources to assist in the launch of the Southern Africa Litigation Centre, which provides support to under-resourced human rights attorneys in 10 Southern African countries. Led by two DLA Piper attorneys who, combined, spent more than a year in Johannesburg, the New Perimeter team provided case-specific assistance on high-impact human rights cases concerning a wide variety of issues and created training manuals for human rights attorneys. • The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria – A team of nine DLA Piper attorneys, including one who worked in Geneva for more than four months, assisted The Global Fund in developing and implementing strategies to reduce risk of misappropriation of grant funds and in creating a new Office of Inspector General. About DLA Piper (www.dlapiper.com) DLA Piper has 3,500 attorneys in 30 countries and 69 offices throughout the US, UK, Continental Europe, Middle East and Asia. In certain jurisdictions, this information may be considered attorney advertising. ###