2024 European Pro Bono Week

Dr. Awmaima Amrayaf is a Senior Impact Adviser at DLA Piper based in the firm’s London office. She is also a board member of Amnesty international Charitable Trust in the UK and recently joined PILnet global board. Awmaima has a PhD in Law from the University of Leeds. She is recognized as a leading human rights activist in her home country Libya, where she was advocating for criminal justice and for the rights of women and marginalized communities. She was forced to leave Libya due to conflict and persecution. Awmaima is currently leading on all pro bono initiatives at DLA Piper that focus on offering assistance to individuals who have experienced forced displacement. Additionally, her role in the firm includes guiding and supporting the organization in creating positive impact.

Nani Jansen Reventlow is an internationally recognised human rights lawyer specialised in strategic litigation at the intersection of human rights, social justice, and technology. She is the founder of Systemic Justice, a new organisation that seeks to radically transform how the law works for communities fighting for racial, social, and economic justice. Previously, Nani founded and built the Digital Freedom Fund, which supports partners in Europe to advance digital rights through strategic litigation. There, she initiated a decolonising process for the digital rights field. Nani is Adjunct Professor at Oxford University’s Blavatnik School of Government and an Associate Tenant at Doughty Street Chambers. She has been an Ashoka Fellow since 2021.

Mark Stephens CBE is Co-Chair of the IBAHRI and was appointed a CBE in 2011 for his ground-breaking pro bono work his: strategic litigation, human rights and freedom of expression. He was a founding trustee of Solicitors Pro Bono Group: LawWorks and devotes 4 months each year to pro bono work whilst maintaining his commercial practice. Working on strategic litigation including: Decriminalising Homosexuality: 65 countries have jurisdictions which criminalise private, same-sex, consensual sexual activity. All of them criminalise men and 41 criminalise women as well. Decriminalising Suicide which remains a criminal offence in 24 countries thus deterring individuals from seeking and receiving health treatment. He has over the past decade focused his pro bono work on litigation where the impact is likely to have more impact than the instant case and often being invited to file amicus briefs.

Lamin Khadar is an in-house human rights lawyer at Statkraft, Europe’s largest generator of renewable energy. Based in Statkraft’s Oslo headquarters, Lamin advises on aspects of environmental, social and governance (ESG) regulation, in particular, with respect to business and human rights. On an on-going basis, Lamin also advises on pro bono projects related to equality and non-discrimination for international NGOs, international organizations and leading law schools.