PROBONO Bulletin - Summer 2008 - (Page 11)

nATIonAL nEWS Transactional Pro Bono — Disproving the Myth I t is pro bono gospel that there are few ready opportunities for transactional lawyers to provide meaningful pro bono assistance within their area of knowledge. But by reaching out to community organizations and by volunteering the firm’s business and regulatory experience, DLA Piper lawyers and staff have systematically corrected that myth. DLA Piper’s California offices have been leaders in transactional pro bono, providing support to an array of nonprofit organizations: those with limited resources that nonetheless help thousands of low-income persons each year, those whose mission is to build nonprofit service capacity and those seeking to leverage the comparatively limited resources available in the nonprofit world. DLA Piper transactional lawyers who work in the areas of corporate law, finance, real estate, tax and labor and employment have acted as outside general counsel to many existing and emerging nonprofit organizations in the state and currently are running several dozen corporate pro bono projects. Some examples follow: Linking Education and Economic Development (LEED): Since 2005, lawyers in Sacramento, led by special counsel Scott Pink, have provided outside general counsel advice to a regional nonprofit, Linking Education and Economic Development (LEED). The mission of LEED, which partners closely with the Sacramento City Unified School District and businesses throughout the Sacramento valley, is to develop regional partnerships among business, labor, education, community and government in order to strengthen work force development, ensure economic prosperity and enhance students’ academic performance. Swords to Plowshares: John Salmanowitz and Azalea Park (both San Francisco) have been providing outside general counsel support to Swords to Plowshares, a nationally recognized nonprofit veterans’ organization serving more than 1,500 homeless and low-income veterans annually in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond. Since late 2007, John and Azalea have provided legal assistance to this organization in many ways, particularly in the areas of housing, employment and job training. They recently helped Swords to Plowshares prepare its winning proposal to develop a $22 million permanent housing facility for 90 chronically homeless and senior veterans. next Step: Jon Doyle, Dean Fealk and others in San Francisco provide corporate legal advice and additional outside counsel support to Next Step, an international nonprofit seeking advances in sustainable energy and local economic development. They have given strategic advice on the legal and regulatory issues associated with the client’s proposed projects in Malawi, Indonesia and Colombia that will help farmers purchase the land they farm and generate a bio-friendly source of renewable revenue for their communities. Barrio Station: For at least ten years, Rick Storms (San Diego) has led a team of lawyers providing outside general counsel support to Barrio Station, a local nonprofit that mentors and supports preventative programs to atrisk youth and their families living in one of San Diego’s most historic, yet most underserved, communities. On behalf of Barrio Station, DLA Piper has provided broad corporate support with an emphasis on labor and employment, including civil lawsuits and an IRS investigation, drafting employee handbooks and policies, training managers and supervisors on such topics as sexual harassment, discrimination and other employment matters, and assisting Barrio Station with its government grant. The firm has also donated money in support of the organization’s educational efforts. Barrio Station recognized DLA Piper’s ongoing support with an Outstanding Contributor award. SUMMER 2008 | 11

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of PROBONO Bulletin - Summer 2008

PROBONO Bulletin - Summer 2008 Contents A Firm Response to a Natural Disaster Protecting Our Electorate National News An Interview with Sandy Gohn Mapping Impact FourThought Signature Project Update New Perimeter Launches Addis Ababa Law School Project Awards and Recognition What Our Clients Say About Us

PROBONO Bulletin - Summer 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.