Lawyers Without Borders has announced the appointment of Edward L. Turner ’70 as chair of the organization’s board of directors.
Turner will be involved in setting the organization’s long-term initiatives and developing relationships with partner law firms in the United States and Europe. Lawyers Without Borders currently works with more than two dozen law firms, developing programming and leading international pro bono projects.
“I am honored to take on this expanded role in Lawyers Without Borders programming and fundraising activities,” Turner said. “I look forward to expanding the organization’s awareness both here in the United States and our project countries.”
Turner is a former partner of Shearman & Sterling, from which he retired in 2006 after spending 36 years practicing corporate law and specializing in cross-border mergers and acquisitions and international investment transactions. He opened Shearman’s Asia practice and served as managing partner in Hong Kong for 12 years.
Turner began his Lawyers Without Borders pro bono work in 2006, as a neutral trial observer of local court trial in Ethiopia and Namibia. He has also conducted training with local legal professionals in South Africa and Turkey.
Lawyers Without Borders activities include legal research, neutral trial observation and training. The group has ongoing projects in Liberia, Rwanda, Namibia, Tanzania and Kenya.
“Ed’s global career is an example for our volunteers, sponsors and supporters,” Lawyers Without Borders Executive Director Christina Storm said. “His decades of legal expertise combined with on the ground field experience makes him the ideal person to highlight the work being done by Lawyers Without Borders volunteers around the world.”
Founded in 2000, Lawyers Without Borders is a U.S.-based international non-profit dedicated to preserving the integrity of the legal process through training, community outreach, capacity building, neutral observation and other mechanisms that support rule of law in national contexts consistent with international norms.