Press Release - DLA Piper’s New Perimeter traveled to Tanzania to teach lawyers and law professors

September, 30, 2014 – Lawyers from New Perimeter, DLA Piper’s nonprofit affiliate dedicated exclusively to global pro bono work, traveled to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania the week of September 8 to teach public sector lawyers and law professors from five East African countries about negotiating transactions and drafting related agreements.

The five-day seminar was organized by the East African Development Bank (EADB) and facilitated by New Perimeter and Tanzania-based Ishengoma, Karume, Masha & Magai Advocates (IMMMA), which is a member of DLA Piper Africa – an alliance of independent law firms working together in Africa. This was the second seminar the group has organized this year, the first being in March in Kigali, Rwanda.

The Tanzania training session was targeted at the same lawyers who attended training in Kigali and focused on key elements of extractive industry negotiations, including project finance and documentation. DLA Piper lawyers from throughout the world facilitated this training: Sara Andrews, New Perimeter’s assistant director; Debbie Barbour, a partner in the Abu Dhabi office; Adam Blythe, an associate in the London office; Jay Finkelstein, a partner in the Northern Virginia office; Fredrik Lindblom, a partner in the Oslo office; and Alexander Sarac, a legal director in the London and Dar es Salaam offices. They were joined by local lawyers from IMMMA and two finance experts from Deloitte.

“We were very pleased to collaborate again with EADB to continue the training we started in Kigali,” Finkelstein said. “The project finance framework and negotiation skills that were the focus of the training are key to creating the working tools necessary to assure that future contracts involving key African resources contribute to a strong future by assuring fair, mutually beneficial agreements. We welcomed the opportunity to work with the government lawyers and law faculty to build the skills that will contribute to this important objective.”

Tanzania’s Prime Minister, Mizengo P. Pinda, who attended the opening session of the training seminar, said during his speech: “I would like to thank the organizers of this training seminar for a well-planned event that has managed to bring together such a high level and distinguished lawyers, technocrats and leaders. Specifically, let me extend a special thanks to the East African Development Bank and the DLA Piper team for their support to ensure that this training seminar is in place and successful as well.”

New Perimeter consistently focuses on the overall issue of access to justice in many of the programs it leads around the world. A first-of-its-kind initiative in the legal industry, New Perimeter provides pro bono legal assistance primarily in developing and post-conflict regions. It draws on the skills and talents of DLA Piper lawyers globally and focuses its projects in the areas of legal education, access to justice and law reform, women and children’s rights, environmental protection, economic development and food security.

About DLA Piper (www.dlapiper.com)

DLA Piper is a global law firm with 4,200 lawyers located in more than 30 countries throughout the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe and the Middle East, positioning it to help companies with their legal needs anywhere in the world. In certain jurisdictions, this information may be considered attorney advertising.

About the East African Development Bank (eadb.org)

The East African Development Bank (EADB) was established in 1967 under the treaty of the then East African Cooperation. Its mandate was to provide financial and related assistance to enterprises in the member States which, by their activities, were expected to make a positive contribution to socio-economic development in the region. The Bank was re-established under a new Charter in 1980. Under the Charter, the Bank's role and mandate were reviewed and its operational scope expanded to include a broad range of financial services in the Member States with an overriding objective of strengthening socio-economic development and regional integration. EADB is today owned by the four Member States of Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda as well as other development and commercial financial institutions. Being an organ of the EAC and its partnership with EAC institutions has accorded it a platform to play a catalyzing role in regional integration through provision of development finance.

About IMMMA Advocates (dlapiper.com/en/us/offices/mwanza)

Ishengoma, Karume, Masha & Magai Advocates (IMMMA) is a member of DLA Piper Africa, an alliance of leading independent law firms working together across Africa.

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CONTACTS:

Josh Epstein, Media Relations, DLA Piper, 212.776.3838