DLA Piper partner Angela Crawford is already a mentor to scores of attorneys across the global law firm. She leads the Miami office's litigation practice, co-founded the firm's women of color resource group and serves on steering committees for women in law and global compliance.

But this year, Crawford spread her legal knowledge even further, traveling to Barbados to train police prosecutors in trial advocacy skills as part of a State Department-sponsored DLA Piper pro bono project.

The former federal prosecutor in Chicago joined three other firm partners with criminal law experience to teach the group of about 20 police prosecutors, who represent the government in criminal cases but often are not lawyers and don't have much trial training.

“As an African-American woman, it was a particularly meaningful experience for me to be in a country with that many members of law enforcement of African descent,” Crawford said. “There are so many issues in our country when it comes to prosecutors and law enforcement, and a substantial amount of mistrust between the community and law enforcement. Being in an environment where we could all work together and see the best of what prosecutors bring to the table with a very diverse group, it was very refreshing and encouraging.”

The workshop, held from Feb. 9 to 11, is part of DLA Piper's New Perimeter global pro bono initiative. New Perimeter was founded in 2005 to help support access to justice, social and economic development, sound legal institutions and women's advancement. Its projects have sent attorneys to dozens of underserved areas on five continents.

“New Perimeter really allows us to capture the talent and the resources of a global law firm and have an impact that is global, in addition to the local pro bono commitments and work that we have,” said DLA Piper's pro bono counsel Suzanna Brickman of the firm's Silicon Valley office.

Crawford's trip also included DLA Piper partners Robert Sherman of Boston, Thiru Vignarajah of Baltimore and Alistair Drummond of Edinburgh, Scotland.

The 3,600-attorney firm is one of a handful of Big Law players with a pro bono focus that extends beyond cities where the firm has offices. For instance, both Hogan Lovells and Jones Day have recently donated their time to post-civil war Liberia, among other wide-ranging legal services projects.

The Barbados project was a collaboration with the National Center for State Courts, which is working to strengthen the rule of law in the Caribbean. Skills taught at the workshop included evidence presentation, direct and cross-examination, witness preparation and presentation, opening statements, closing arguments and case management.

Crawford taught direct examinations, instructing the group on how to build the theory of the case. She demonstrated by examining a “witness” prepared using National Institute for Trial Advocacy case materials in a purse-snatching case. Then the police prosecutors tried it themselves, full of excitement, commitment and very quick improvement, Crawford said.

“Anyone who's been in a situation like this where they've been videotaped and subjected to feedback … it's not an easy thing,” said Crawford, who couldn't wait to make the trip after doing a New Perimeter project in Guyana a few years ago. “My favorite part was probably just the wonderful interaction.”

Brickman said that's part of the vision of the initiative. The DLA Piper attorneys get as much out of it as those they're serving.

“These trips are not just about teaching from our perspective, but also about learning,” she said. “One of the enormous benefits of being engaged in this type of work is the value and meaning that our lawyers also take from it.”