PROBONO Bulletin - Winter 2008 - (Page 25)

INTERvIEW “Associates need to be involved in pro bono. Even if you’re not trying to be altruistic, the experience is absolutely essential in terms of building your legal career.” Indeed, Jeff somehow manages to maintain an impressive pro bono caseload in addition to a busy commercial practice and an equally busy personal life. On top of it all, he obtains extraordinary results for his clients, even in cases where the odds are against them. Early in his career, while an associate at Covington & Burling in Washington, DC, Jeff worked on a trial team that succeeded in undoing their client’s death sentence. Since joining DLA Piper just a few years ago, he has convinced a federal prosecutor to drop criminal charges against one of his clients, a local cab driver, who had been charged in federal court with playing a minor role in a drug conspiracy, and has successfully petitioned for asylum on behalf of another individual, an experience that Jeff describes as the most rewarding of his career. Jeff also takes time to actively mentor young litigators working on his pro bono cases so that they can develop their trial skills. Tyson Harper (Seattle), who has worked with Jeff on both pro bono and billable matters, comments, “Working with Jeff on a pro bono case is the ideal mix of autonomy and supervision. He allows me the independence to manage the case, build the client relationship and gain valuable courtroom experience. At the same time, he is always available to answer questions, discuss creative litigation strategies and provide guidance concerning how best to represent our clients’ interests.” After graduating first in his class from Emory University School of Law in 1990, Jeff went on to clerk for the Honorable Lanier Anderson III on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Following several years at Covington, Jeff became an Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) for the Western District of Washington, where he was Deputy Supervisor of the Complex Crimes Unit. He now focuses his practice on enforcement proceedings and investigations brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission and Department of Justice. Q: Did you always know you wanted to be a lawyer? No, after I graduated college, I lived in London for a while. Eventually, I came back and taught tennis for the Duke tennis coach. Up until that point, I always thought I was going to be a journalist and, as a result, I still have the skills of being able to interview people and get the facts. But when I went to London and saw how difficult it would be to live on a journalist’s salary, I started filling out applications to law school. Once I entered law school, I found I was good at it. Q: What did you think of your clerkship experience? I clerked for a federal judge on the 11th Circuit. I loved it. He was a great judge. I had lunch with him every day. He had a real basic sense of fairness. Q: you were at Covington in Washington, DC, prior to joining the firm. Did you do pro bono there? Yes. There were four or five asylum cases that I took on as an associate and I took on some criminal cases as well. In my last year there, I spent 60 to 70 percent of my time representing a death row inmate. I moved to Alabama for a while to defend him. It was a great success. We won an appeal before the Alabama Supreme Court. Back in the trial court, I was lead counsel at a hearing to suppress DNA evidence. Following that hearing, the prosecutor offered our client life without parole instead of a death sentence, and the client took the deal. Q: Why do you do pro bono? I believe very strongly in pro bono and think every lawyer should do it. But there are other reasons that aren’t purely altruistic. It’s personally rewarding, which is why I always represent individuals; I want the experience of helping someone. It’s also difficult for associates to get into court to deal with high-stakes billable matters, opposing counsel, etc., and pro bono is a way for them to gain those skills. WINTER 2008 | 25

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

PROBONO Bulletin - Winter 2008 Contents Cover Story: Digging Deep: DLA Piper’s Signature Project Model CSR Report Feature Story: DLA Piper Assists with German Ghetto Work Payment Program Clinics National News Mapping Impact An Interview With Jeff Coopersmith FourThought New Perimeter Update Awards and Recognition

PROBONO Bulletin - Winter 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.