News
13 Oct 2006
DLA Piper names Anne Geraghty Pro Bono Manager in Chicago
New position created to manage national and Chicago pro bono programs
Press Release
(CHICAGO) - DLA Piper US LLP announced that Anne Geraghty has been named Pro Bono Manager in the firm's Chicago office. In the newly created position, Anne will assist with national pro bono programs and oversee the operations of the Chicago office's pro bono efforts, including its signature Juvenile Justice Project.
Through the Juvenile Justice Project, currently in its third year, attorneys and staff have handled 78 cases for Chicagoland youth ensnared in the Cook County Juvenile Court system. More than 80 attorneys and staff from the Chicago office have donated upward of 15,000 hours to this project.
"The pro bono program in our Chicago office has been evolving and advancing rapidly, and we are pleased to have Anne join the firm and become a part of that," said Elizabeth Dewey, firmwide Pro Bono Partner at DLA Piper. "Her long-standing dedication and commitment to the pro bono community will bolster the program tremendously."
"I feel very fortunate to be joining the firm in this new and important role," said Geraghty. "I am extremely impressed with DLA Piper's strong pro bono platform. The firm's existing projects in Chicago and throughout the U.S., as well as its unparalleled global pro bono initiative, New Perimeter, reflect a unique desire to address important causes wherever there is a need, and I am proud to a part of such an organization."
Geraghty has been an active participant in the pro bono community, and more specifically in the juvenile justice community, for several years. During law school, she worked as a research assistant for Professor Wallace J. Mlyniec at the Georgetown University Law Center. In this capacity, she conducted a study comparing the lives of children in adult prisons to those of children in juvenile facilities and public schools and co-authored an article with Professor Mlyniec on the topic of unified family courts.
Through Georgetown's Juvenile Justice Clinic, she also spent a year representing individuals charged in Washington, D.C.'s juvenile courts. Prior to attending law school, she was the grants manager and consultant for the American Bar Association's Juvenile Justice Center, where she founded a nationwide network of law students interested in juvenile justice careers.
In 2005 alone, DLA Piper lawyers spent more than 100,000 hours on pro bono and civic activities. DLA Piper's pro bono program, which is led by a full-time partner and three pro bono managers, administers pro bono programs ranging from local legal rights and support programs to national and international signature projects that focus on, among other subjects, human rights, community progress, justice and gender equality, and hunger relief.
Before joining DLA Piper, Geraghty was a litigation associate at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, LLP, where, in addition to her regular practice, she maintained a strong focus on pro bono work. Most recently, Geraghty represented a young Iraq war veteran who had been convicted of second-degree murder in his federal sentencing and appeal, as well as a prisoner on Maryland's death row who challenged that state's lethal injection procedures as cruel and unusual.
Geraghty earned a J.D. magna cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center and a B.S. from the University of Wisconsin.
About DLA Piper
DLA Piper has 3,200 lawyers and 62 offices in 24 countries throughout the U.S., U.K., Continental Europe, Middle East and Asia. It has leading practices in commercial, corporate and finance, human resources, litigation, real estate, regulatory and legislative, and technology, media and communications.
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CONTACTS:
Elizabeth Dewey, Pro Bono Partner, DLA Piper, 202.861.6218
Anne Geraghty, Pro Bono Manager, Chicago Office, 312.368.3966
Brian Kiefer, Media Relations, GreenTarget Global Group, 312.252.4113