We have a successful track record in Australia of partnering with the legal teams of our clients on community projects.

By partnering with us on one of our already established pro bono projects, your legal team can immediately access clients with real, pressing legal problems.

We aim to give all our lawyers an opportunity to contribute to the community through pro bono work. We have a number of established pro bono projects including:

  • Homeless Persons Legal Clinics.
  • Women's Domestic Violence Court Assistance Schemes.
  • Legal Services for Charities and Notfor-Profits.
  • Secondment programs with highly regarded Community Legal Centres.
  • Mental Health Legal Clinics.
  • Indigenous legal projects.
  • Community Legal Education initiatives.
  • Animal protection.
  • Prisoners Legal Services.
  • Capacity building projects in developing countries.

To the right is a sample of some of the many projects we have run in partnership with other organisations.

Aspen Institute: DLA Piper lawyers have worked with the Aspen Institute to create, manage and fund the Middle East Investment Initiative (MEII), which is a non-profit organisation designed to facilitate economic development and job creation in the West Bank and Gaza. MEII is now collaborating with the Overseas Private Invest Corporation (OPIC) and the Palestinian Investment Fund, CHF International and local banks to create a $160 million Loan Guarantee Facility to support small and medium-size enterprises in the Palestinian Territories. This publicprivate partnership, which has the support of the Israeli Government, will leverage an estimated $210 million in loans to Palestinian businesses, enabling them to expand and hire additional employees.

Accenture: In Sydney, lawyers from Accenture participate with our employees in a student mentoring program, LEAPS, which involves mentoring students. The DLA Piper Chicago office partners with Accenture lawyers to teach Constitutional Law to fifth graders through the Voices program sponsored by the Constitutional Rights Foundation of Chicago. Lessons focus on the Bill of Rights and the court system. At the end of the program, the students stage a mock criminal trial.

Pfizer: DLA Piper lawyers participate in a seminar series, Strategic Legal Thinking for Not-for-Profit Executives, addressing corporate governance issues. Pfizer organises these seminars for leaders of nonprofits to address some of the legal issues they face.

Sears: Real estate lawyers in the DLA Piper Chicago office partnered with Sears lawyers to represent home buyers as part of the Choose to Own Program. The program enables qualified recipients of housing assistance payments to use them to purchase single-family homes.

Ramsay Health: Lawyers in our Sydney office work with the in-house legal team at Ramsay health to provide pro bono legal services to terminally ill clients through the Cancer Patients Legal Service. Common legal issues include insurance, wills, power of attorney, enduring guardianship, employment and superannuation.

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