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 U.S. 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 the firm's strategic thinking on pro bono, including the vision for the firm's U.S. pro bono program, including over 1,400 lawyers.

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 the firm’s offices in 23 U.S. cities. Ms. Dewey also develops and spearheads the firm's signature on pro bono partnerships between the firm, 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 U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. 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.

In its 2004 survey identifying the top lawyers in the greater Washington, D.C., area, the Washington Business Journal named Ms. Dewey a co-winner in its Young Guns category for her work leading DLA Piper's firmwide pro bono program. Ms. Dewey was the recipient of DLA Piper's Pro Bono Attorney of the Year Award in both 1994 and 1995. She is also a member of the firm's Hiring Committee.

Honors

• 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)

• Adjunct Professor of Law at the Washington College of Law, The American University, Externship Seminar; Government, Pro Bono, and Public Interest
• Legal Methods Instructor, Adjunct Faculty (September 1998-May 2000): Taught legal writing to first-year law students

ZULASSUNGEN

• 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
• Court of Appeals of Maryland
• United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

Mitgliedschaften

• American Bar Association
• District of Columbia Women's Bar Association
• AYUDA, Inc. (Honorary Board of Directors)
• D.C. Bar Civility Implementation Committee (2002)

Seminars

• "Full-Time Pro Bono Partners," speaker and facilitator, Pro Bono Institute (March 2006)
• "Charting the Future: Strategic Pro Bono Business Planning," panelist, Pro Bono Institute (March 2006)
• "Making Your Mark…With Pro Bono," speech, Pro Bono Institute (February 2004)
• "The Power of Partnership," panelist, American Bar Association and National Legal Aid and Defender Association Equal Justice Conference (April 2003)
• "Developing Relationships with Legal Service Providers," panelist, Pro Bono Institute (February 2002)
• "Public Interest Opportunities," panelist, The Washington College of Law, The American University (2001, 2002)
• "Civility in the Legal Profession," panelist, The Washington College of Law, The American University (2001, 2002)

Arbeitserfahrung

• The Honorable Noel Anketell Kramer, District of Columbia Superior Court