Robert Sherman, a partner in
DLA Piper's Boston office,
recently returned from Guyana, South America where he and a dozen other
attorneys worked to modernize the country's justice sector. During their visit,
the attorneys provided innovative simulation-based workshops to Guyanese
magistrates and prosecutors on criminal trial skills.
Robert led the creation of the in-country training, which included virtually
all of the country's magistrates on advanced trial management skills, a new
anti-money laundering and asset forfeiture law and international best practices
in bail setting. Also trained were more than 40 police prosecutors, prosecutors
and senior investigators, which is particularly important as they are
responsible for handling a high percentage of Guyana’s criminal prosecutions but
have had little preparation for it.
This project was initiated in response to a direct request from the
Government of Guyana as part of the country's ambitious Justice Sector
Modernization Program, and DLA Piper lawyers have donated nearly 2,000 hours to
this initiative since its launch in January 2011.