DLA Piper.
Our People
Lisa Dewey
Partner
Pro Bono Partner
Director, New Perimeter
Elizabeth (Lisa) Dewey became DLA Piper's full-time Pro Bono Partner in 1999. As such, she advises and represents individuals and public interest organizations on a pro bono basis. She has represented a man on death row in Alabama, several federal criminal appeals, and families who lost loved ones in the Khobar Towers terrorist attack in 1996. She represented the Stethem family in a lawsuit against the government of Iran under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act; that suit, concerning the death of Robert Stethem in a terrorist aircraft hijacking, resulted in a $321 million judgment against the Government of Iran. Ms. Dewey has represented refugees seeking asylum in the US and several individuals in family law, juvenile, and housing matters. She has also done civil rights work and appellate work in suits concerning the admissions policies of the University of Michigan.
Ms. Dewey cultivates DLA Piper's strategic thinking on pro bono, including the vision for DLA Piper's US pro bono program, including over 1,500 lawyers. She also serves as the Director for New Perimeter, DLA Piper's nonprofit affiliate dedicated to global pro bono work.
As Pro Bono Partner, Ms. Dewey also supervises associates to ensure they receive the training, mentoring, and staff support they need to give pro bono clients high-quality legal services. She identifies and procures pro bono opportunities and ensures widespread participation in the pro bono programs on partner, Of Counsel, associate, and staff levels across DLA Piper's offices in 23 US cities. Ms. Dewey also develops and spearheads DLA Piper's signature on pro bono partnerships between DLA Piper, corporate clients, and legal service providers.
Her experience includes representing and counseling corporations and individuals in criminal investigations and federal jury trials in the areas of public corruption, mail fraud, money laundering, and health-care fraud. She has argued cases before the US Courts of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the District of Columbia, and the US District Court for the Middle District of Alabama. Ms. Dewey also counsels clients regarding development of corporate ethics and compliance programs. She has managed a diverse caseload that also includes copyright, legal ethics, personal injury, and contracts matters. In addition, she has represented a class of plaintiffs who filed suit against the District of Columbia for sexual harassment and retaliation under Title VII, as well as a government executive investigated and tried by the office of Independent Counsel Donald Smaltz.
She is also a member of DLA Piper's Hiring Committee.
Honors
Named by Financial Times as an Innovative Individual in the Responsible Business category on its list of US Innovative Lawyers. The publication selected only 10 US lawyers nationwide as Innovative Individuals. (December 2010)
Named as one of the Greater Washington's Legal Elite (2005), Washington SmartCEO Magazine (August 2005)
Co-Winner of the Washington Business Journal's Young Gun Award in the Top Washington Lawyers Edition (September 2004)
Teaching Experience
Adjunct Professor of Law at the Georgetown University Law Center, seminar on law firm economics and pro bono practice
Adjunct Professor of Law at the Universidad Panamericana, Mexico City, seminar on pro bono practice and the public interest
Lecturer at Instituto Tecnologico Autonomo De Mexico (ITAM), Mexico City, short seminar on pro bono, social change, and public policy
Adjunct Professor of Law at the Washington College of Law, The American University, Externship Seminar; Government, Pro Bono, and Public Interest
Adjunct Professor of Law at the Washington College of Law, The American University, Legal Methods Instructor teaching legal writing to first-year law students
Admissions
District of Columbia
Maryland
United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
United States District Court for the District of Columbia
United States District Court for the District of Maryland
United States Court of Appeals for Maryland
United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
Memberships
American Bar Association
District of Columbia Women's Bar Association
AYUDA, Inc. (Honorary Board of Directors)
DC Bar Civility Implementation Committee (2002)
Public Interest Law Institute Pro Bono Council
Seminars
Facilitator/Speaker, "Pro Bono in Practice: Education: Crisis and Opportunity," Pro Bono Institute Annual Seminar/Forum on In-House Corporate Pro Bono, Washington, DC (March 2011)
Facilitator/Speaker, "Sustaining and Growing Partnerships with In-House Legal Departments," Pro Bono Institute Annual Seminar/Forum on In-House Corporate Pro Bono, Washington, DC (March 2011)
Facilitator/Speaker, "Advanced Partnering," a conversation with DLA Piper and Verizon, Pro Bono Institute Annual Seminar/Forum on In-House Corporate Pro Bono, Washington, DC (March 2011)
Facilitator/Speaker, "Making In-House/Law Firm Pro Bono Partnerships Work," Pro Bono Institute Annual Seminar/Forum on In-House Corporate Pro Bono, Washington, DC (March 2010)
Facilitator/Speaker, "Law Firm/Legal Department Pro Bono Partnerships: Innovative Models," Pro Bono Institute Annual Seminar/Forum on In-House Corporate Pro Bono, Washington, DC (March 2010)
Panelist, "The New Law Firm Business Model's Impact on Pro Bono," The DC Bar Pro Bono Program (October 2009)
Panelist, "Innovation as the Key to the Future," The Midwestern Law Firm Management Conference: After the Economic Upheaval--The Legal Business in the Decade Ahead (September 2009)
Speaker, "Creating a Pro Bono Culture in Mexico," American University's Washington College of Law (April 1, 2009)
Facilitator/Speaker, "Beyond Signature Projects," Pro Bono Institute Annual Seminar/Forum on In-House Corporate Pro Bono, Washington, DC (March 2009)
Facilitator/Speaker, "Transforming Transactional Pro Bono," Pro Bono Institute Annual Seminar/Forum on In-House Corporate Pro Bono, Washington, DC (March 2009)
Speaker, "Engaging the Global/Mobile Workforce," Corporate Social Opportunity Conference, Entrepreneurs Foundation of Central Texas (February 2009)
Panelist, "Corporate Social Responsibility: Law, Operations, and Strategy," Georgetown University Law Center (November 2008)
Speaker, "Staying Public: Survival Skills for a Lifetime Career in Public Service Law," The Washington College of Law, The American University (2008)
Speaker, "Embracing Pro Bono Community Clinics," Maryland Partners for Justice Conference (2008)
Speaker and Facilitator, "Trends in Pro Bono Staffing and Governance," Pro Bono Institute (February 2008)
Speaker and Facilitator, "International Pro Bono," Pro Bono Institute (March 2007)
Speaker and Facilitator, "Full-Time Pro Bono Partners," Pro Bono Institute (March 2006)
Panelist, "Charting the Future: Strategic Pro Bono Business Planning," Pro Bono Institute (March 2006)
Speaker, "Making Your Mark…With Pro Bono," Pro Bono Institute (February 2004)
Panelist, "The Power of Partnership," American Bar Association and National Legal Aid and Defender Association Equal Justice Conference (April 2003)
Panelist, "Developing Relationships with Legal Service Providers," Pro Bono Institute (February 2002)
Panelist, "Public Interest Opportunities," The Washington College of Law, The American University (2001, 2002)
Panelist, "Civility in the Legal Profession," The Washington College of Law, The American University (2001, 2002)
Clerk Information
The Honorable Noel Anketell Kramer, District of Columbia Superior Court
EDUCATION
Harvard Leadership Program 2006
J.D., American University, Washington College of Law 1993 summa cum laude
Founder and Editorial board member, The Journal of Gender and the Law
B.A., University of Tulsa 1990 magna cum laude
Phi Beta Kappa
Mortar Board
University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain 1989
Related Global Services
Litigation and Arbitration
Regulatory and Government Affairs
White Collar, Corporate Crime and Investigations
Related United States Services
White Collar, Corporate Crime and Investigations
Litigation
Government Controversies
Related Regions
United States
Languages Spoken
Spanish
Publications
Newsletters and Alerts, Pro Bono Bulletin
Pro Bono Bulletin
Latin America News
New Perimeter helps Mexico Appleseed create a culture of pro bono in Mexico
