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13 January 20217 minute read

DLA Piper names tenth class of Krantz Fellows

DLA Piper is pleased to announce that Nur Kara and Amanda McCaffrey have joined the firm as its tenth class of Krantz Fellows.

Through the Krantz Fellowship, DLA Piper annually selects two new associates to spend their first year at the firm working exclusively on pro bono matters. The firm created the fellowship in honor of Sheldon Krantz, a former partner and founding director of New Perimeter, DLA Piper's nonprofit affiliate that provides long-term pro bono legal assistance in under-served regions around the world.

“We are pleased to welcome Nur and Amanda, our newest Krantz Fellows, who will focus their efforts this year on pro bono work both within the US and across the globe," said Lisa Dewey, director of New Perimeter and US pro bono partner for DLA Piper. “As they begin their legal careers by focusing on meeting the needs of underserved communities and improving access to justice, we know they will be able to make significant contributions – just as our previous nine classes of fellows have done – while simultaneously honing the skills that will serve them well throughout their careers.”

Based in the firm's Boston office, Kara is a first-generation American who has a background of working on human rights issues, assisting immigrants and survivors of gender-based violence. She will continue this work at DLA Piper and will also work with the New Perimeter team, focusing on international pro bono initiatives and serving the global community.

“I am fortunate to feed on the fruits of my family’s refugee history. As a global citizen, I have seen how a weakened rule of law amplifies vulnerabilities resulting from low socioeconomic status, fragmented justice systems and inadequate policy positions,” Kara said. “Serving as a Krantz Fellow allows me to fulfill my passions and civic duties by providing interdisciplinary support in the areas of immigration, gender-based violence and healthcare, to name a few, so that individuals, like and unlike myself, may realize their full, unbounded potentials. I am thrilled to join a firm that truly applies its legal, financial and human capital towards helping communities actualize self-sufficient change.”

McCaffrey will be based in the firm's San Francisco office. As a member of Stanford Law School’s International Human Rights and Conflict Resolution Clinic, she was part of a group of students that interacted with DLA Piper’s team representing a torture victim. This year, she will work directly with clients in the firm’s signature project areas, including juvenile and educational justice, as well as immigration. She will also spend part of her fellowship working on New Perimeter projects.

“I am honored to be beginning my legal career as a Krantz Fellow and am so glad that Nur Kara and I will both be able to contribute to New Perimeter’s international initiatives, as well as DLA Piper’s robust domestic pro bono portfolio,” McCaffrey said. “I look forward to drawing on my human rights training to provide effective, compassionate assistance to clients navigating the immigration and criminal legal systems, and others nationwide and abroad who bear the heaviest burdens in this moment of extraordinary suffering. I know of no other role that would allow me to serve such diverse clients during my first year of legal practice. It is an immense privilege to have been awarded the Krantz Fellowship, and I will work relentlessly this year to ensure that as many people as possible benefit from the opportunity I have been given."

After completing the fellowship, Krantz Fellows transition into traditional associate roles within their respective practice groups, while remaining active in pro bono initiatives.

Kara received her J.D. from the University of North Carolina School of Law, her MSc. in health policy, planning and financing from the London School of Economics & Political Science and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, and her B.A. in political science from the University of Chicago.

McCaffrey received her J.D. from Stanford Law School, her M.F.A in creative writing from New York University and her B.A. in anthropology from the University of California, Berkeley.

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