24 Apr 2008 Major new Pro Bono/CSR initiative supports Addis Ababa Law School in Ethiopia DLA Piper’s international pro bono affiliate, New Perimeter, is launching a major project to support a law school in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. DLA Piper will be partnering with Northwestern University School of Law and Accenture to provide resources and educational support to law students and faculty members at the Addis Ababa Law School. “Addis Ababa Law School is the premier law school in Ethiopia, but it currently faces extremely challenging circumstances,” says Sheldon Krantz, Director of New Perimeter and a partner at DLA Piper. “It is severely hampered by aging facilities and a lack of financial resources that compromise the school’s ability to provide a solid legal education to its students.” DLA Piper and Accenture lawyers will travel to Addis Ababa to teach courses in international taxation, company law, international arbitration and corporate crime at the law school during the Spring 2008 semester. In addition, Northwestern University professors will teach a course on international human rights law. DLA Piper lawyers will also provide related seminars and continuing legal education courses to the law school faculty and Ethiopian lawyers. The project is expected to last two years. Through New Perimeter, the firm will also assist the law school in sponsoring and hosting a conference on law and economic development in Addis Ababa during 2008. Other planned projects include enhancing the library and creating a research law and economic development research centre. “The Addis Ababa Law School is the hub of Ethiopia’s legal education community,” says Elaine Radford, DLA Piper’s Head of Corporate Social Responsibility. “With more than 30 DLA Piper attorneys from Europe and the US participating in the initiative, we hope to respond to the law faculty’s request to offer courses pertaining to international law and to help make the school an important player in the economic and legal development of Ethiopia.”