Assisting Small Businesses in Ukraine

The war in Ukraine has dramatically impacted small businesses, which face challenges that include the disruption of supply chains, destroyed infrastructure, labor shortages, and difficulty in accessing capital. New Perimeter is working with the Faculty of Law at Uzhhorod National University, a law school in Western Ukraine, to help establish and support a legal clinic that will enable law school faculty and students to provide pro bono assistance to address the critical legal needs of Ukrainian small businesses.

We are collaborating with the law school in several ways. First, New Perimeter, led by retired Partner Sheldon Krantz, a co-founder of the nonprofit DC Affordable Law Firm created by DLA Piper, Georgetown University Law Center, and Arent Fox, provided guidance on the creation of a local nonprofit to host the legal clinic. It then conducted research regarding pro bono and legal aid support available to small businesses in other parts of the world and connected Uzhhorod Law with legal services providers and law schools that assist small businesses. Those organizations have provided further guidance on best practices for serving small business clients, as well as template documents.

Further, although Ukraine does not have a tradition of lawyers providing pro bono legal services, there is great interest on the part of law students and faculty to learn about and to participate in pro bono. To complement our work supporting the creation of the clinic and to help foster a pro bono culture in Ukraine, a team of DLA Piper lawyers, including native Ukrainians, has delivered interactive, virtual trainings on pro bono and access to justice lawyering for Uzhhorod Law students.

New Perimeter looks forward to continuing to support pro bono in Ukraine and furthering efforts to provide legal assistance to those who are impacted by the devastation of war.