The war in Ukraine has dramatically impacted the country’s small businesses, which face challenges that include the disruption of supply chains, destroyed infrastructure, labor shortages due to migration, and difficulty in accessing capital. New Perimeter, DLA Piper’s global pro bono initiative, is working with the Uzhorod National University Faculty of Law, a law school in Western Ukraine, to help establish and support a legal clinic that will enable Law School faculty and students to provide pro bono assistance to address the critical legal needs of Ukrainian small businesses. DLA Piper has collaborated with the law school in several ways including supporting the creation of the clinic, delivering interactive, virtual trainings on pro bono and access to justice lawyering for Uzhorod Law students, and helping foster a pro bono culture in Ukraine. The firm has provided online trainings to approximately 80 Uzhorod law students.
We spoke with Sara Andrews, DLA Piper Senior International Pro Bono Counsel and Co-Director of New Perimeter, who shared her experience about this project.
Can you tell us about this new project?
The project is a collaboration between Uzhorod National University Faculty of Law, a law school in Western Ukraine, and DLA Piper’s nonprofit affiliate New Perimeter, which provides long-term pro bono assistance in under-served regions around the world. We are assisting the law school with a new legal clinic focused on helping Ukrainian small businesses, including those that have been impacted by the war. We are also training Uzhorod law students on pro bono and public interest law at a time when the region is in great need.
What has been the role of DLA Piper in this project?
Through New Perimeter, an international team of DLA Piper lawyers, including native Ukrainians, have worked closely with the law school, providing support and guidance on the creation and operation of Uzhorod’s legal clinic and connecting the clinic’s leaders with law school programs and nonprofits outside of Ukraine that assist small businesses. In addition, we have provided online trainings to approximately 80 Uzhorod law students. The trainings introduce the concept of pro bono and encourage students to think about access to justice and why lawyers might consider providing pro bono services.
Why are the collaborations with the Uzhorod National University Faculty of Law so important?
Uzhorod’s legal clinic will be an important lifeline for small businesses struggling with the impacts of the war, which include the disruption of supply chains, destroyed infrastructure, labor shortages due to migration, and difficulties in accessing capital. Many businesses were forced to relocate to the Western regions of Ukraine, where they require legal support. In addition, this project is helping encourage the development of a pro bono culture in Ukraine.
What impact has this pro bono work made?
We are less than a year into this collaboration, and the legal clinic is up and running and has started to serve small business clients. It is establishing itself as a valuable community resource. Through our pro bono courses, we have encountered an energetic and altruistic group of students. They are eager to use their developing legal skills to make a difference during a very trying time in their country’s history.
What would you say the most challenging part of this type of project is?
Many of New Perimeter’s projects involve our attorneys traveling in order to work alongside our clients and collaborators. In Ukraine, this was not possible for us in light of the ongoing conflict in the region, and we have had to provide our assistance remotely. We also want to be very sensitive to cultural differences and the trauma students are experiencing. DLA Piper lawyers who are native Ukrainians have been invaluable in providing cultural context, knowledge of local law, and an understanding of what students might be going through.
Is there any advice that you would give to other firms who want to partner with organizations to help establish and support legal clinics, or alternatively, want to become more focused on a certain pro bono issue as a firm?
You don’t have to reinvent the wheel. We introduced Uzhorod Law to organizations that were incredibly generous with their time and shared detailed knowledge and best practices on starting and running a clinic advising small businesses. In addition, there is an enormous opportunity for law firms to help teach pro bono and public interest law to students in jurisdictions that do not have a strong – or any – tradition of pro bono. We have also taught law students about pro bono in places like Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Laos, and the South Pacific islands. There is great interest and enthusiasm among the next generation of lawyers to learn different ways they can use their legal skills to help others.
Sara Andrews is the Senior International Pro Bono Counsel and Co-Director of New Perimeter, DLA Piper’s nonprofit affiliate that provides long-term pro bono legal assistance in under-served regions around the world to support access to justice, social and economic development, sound legal institutions, and women’s advancement. Sara leads New Perimeter’s strategy and operations. She develops and manages global pro bono projects engaging lawyers from across DLA Piper’s offices and in partnership with civil society organizations, governments, and academic and multilateral institutions. She has led and contributed to projects focusing on legal education, law reform, access to justice, women’s rights and economic development in multiple jurisdictions. Her work includes supporting post-conflict law reform in Kosovo, developing capacity-building programs for law students and government lawyers in East Africa, and examining the impact of the pandemic on gender-based violence around the world. She currently serves on the board of Women Win, an international organization using sport as a strategy to advance women’s rights in developing countries.