October 24, 2023
Gibson Dunn and the nine other law firms that form the Domestic Abuse Response Alliance (DARA) have received the PILnet Local Impact Award for the best, innovative pro bono legal project with an impact felt at the local or national level.
DARA is the largest pro bono project ever assembled in England and Wales to provide end-to-end representation and advocacy support for domestic abuse survivors seeking protective orders against their abusers. It represents survivors of domestic abuse who are not eligible for legal aid but who cannot afford to pay for private representation. DARA comprises a special combination of expertise to deliver social justice: legal prowess and support from 10 of the world’s top law firms, governance from LawWorks, clients from the National Centre for Domestic Violence and FLOWS (Finding Legal Options for Women Survivors), and specialist family law oversight on every case from Beck Fitzgerald.
Since DARA was launched in 2022, Gibson Dunn lawyers have obtained 12 final non-molestation orders for their DARA clients.
Established in 1997 as the Public Interest Law Initiative in Transitional Societies at Columbia University in New York, PILnet provides free legal assistance to hundreds of civil society organizations around the world every year in partnership with law firms and independent practitioners. The PILnet Local Impact Award was announced on October 17 during PILnet’s 2023 Global Forum in Brussels.