Dechert Receives PAIR Law Firm Pro Bono Award

Dechert LLP is pleased to announce that the Political Asylum/Immigration Representation (PAIR) Project awarded the firm its Pro Bono Law Firm Award at its annual Gala on June 3. This honor recognizes the work done by multiple Dechert legal teams to ensure that Afghan asylum seekers have access to justice and counsel.

The Dechert team of Brenda Sharton, Bailey Dervishi, Danielle Paglia, and Beyond Bi helped a former high-ranking female government official and Taliban target obtain asylum in November 2023. The asylum seeker bravely worked with the Dechert team since August 2021, in the early days after the fall of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. She provided important documentary evidence and firsthand information including express threats from the Taliban calling for her execution.  She spent weeks on the run before escaping to Qatar and then to the United States. She was in hiding in Afghanistan when the Dechert lawyers first spoke with her, working with her for the two long years that she waited before finally receiving the great news that she had been granted asylum.

A separate Dechert legal team led by En-Min Chua, Gary Mennitt, Allison Trumbull and Emily Towill, assisted an elderly Afghan asylum seeker with his successful grant of asylum and further advocated on his behalf to ensure just accommodations were made for him and other future applicants who, like him, suffered from cognitive and physical impairments.

In addition to the above, Dechert represented a number of successful asylum cases and continues to support two applicants whose cases are still pending. Members of Dechert’s legal teams working on those cases include En-Min Chua, Kaitlin McGrath, Benjamin Sadun, Allison Trumbull, Jooyoon Chang, Meagan Cox, Bailey Dervishi, Jennifer DiNuccio, Antonio Fraone, Shanelle Gordon, Emily Parks, Victoria Reardon, Emily Towill, Matthew Bertelli and others at Dechert who assist their colleagues in support of hard work and a great cause.

About Dechert

Dechert is a global law firm that advises asset managers, financial institutions and corporations on issues critical to managing their business and their capital – from high-stakes litigation to complex transactions and regulatory matters. We answer questions that seem unsolvable, develop deal structures that are new to the market and protect clients’ rights in extreme situations. Our nearly 1,000 lawyers across 20 offices globally focus on the financial services, private equity, private credit, real estate, life sciences and technology sectors.

About PAIR

Formed in 1989, the PAIR Project provides free legal services to asylum seekers and promotes the rights of detained immigrants.