Ethiopians

The Ethiopian Community in Washington is Hating on DLA Piper

Tuesday, April 21, 2009 1:03 PM - By Kashmir Hill

Someof our DC-based readers may have spotted this DLA Piper hate ad makingits way around

town via taxi.

Strange.Our first response was, "Bad PR for DLA Piper, but doesn't everybodyalready know that

blood money is the currency of Biglaw?" Our secondresponse was to find out about this

legislation and reach out to thefirm.

The American Lawyer wrote in 2008 about the Piper's playing the flute for the Ethiopian

government. Partners Dick Armey, a former House majority leader, and Gary Kleinlobbied on

Capitol Hill on behalf of Ethiopian Prime Minister MelesZenawi, who angered human rights

advocates in 2005 with violentcrackdowns on protesters during the elections there. The

AmericanLawyer reports that the Piper was playing to the tune of over $50,000 amonth. That's a

whole lot of injera.

An ATL reader sent us this photo, saying:

I saw this cab on Connecticut Ave. in front of the Mayflower yesterday and it caught my attention.

The taxi ad refers to a billintroduced by Senators Feingold and Leahy "to reaffirm United

Statesobjectives in Ethiopia and encourage critical democratic andhumanitarian principles and

practices." Or. in other words, a bill toencourage Ethiopia not to inflict violent crackdowns on its

citizens.DLA Piper's lobbying efforts may have paid off. The bill has beenlanguishing with the

Committee on Foreign Relations since 2008.

DLA Piper's spokesman told us that the firm's representation of theEthiopian government actually

ended in November. A statement from thefirm refers indirectly to the protesting taxi driver (and

other DLAPiper haters): "There are some very vocal elements of the EthiopianDiaspora,

particularly in the Washington area, who are opponents of thecurrent administration in Ethiopia

and go to great lengths to try toembarrass or demean those who are associated with it."

See the full statement, after the jump. DLA Piper may no longer haveEthiopia as a client, but the

firm is actively helping to churn out newlawyers over in Addis Ababa.

DLA Piper says its representation of the Ethiopians ceased inNovember, though it's still involved

in pro bono initiative sending itslawyers to Addis Ababa to teach law school to aspiring

Ethiopianesquires.

 Read more...

source:Abovethelow.com