Herbert Smith Freehills enters into partnership with IDIA; Ex-Law Minister Veerappa Moily to inaugrate IDIA’s second annual camp

Herbert Smith Freehills LLP and the Increasing Diversity by Increasing Access to Legal Education (IDIA) project have entered into a partnership to encourage law students to volunteer for social projects..Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) is the first international law firm to collaborate with IDIA, a project that aims to empower underprivileged communities by creating skilled advocates and community leaders from within..Speaking to Bar & Bench HSF Chairman India Practice Chris Parsons said, “We have signed a MOU with IDIA as part of our wider HSF Bridge initiative which links law students with local social causes.”.Through this partnership, HSF will provide incentives in the form of a certification to IDIA team leaders and team members who do exceptional work. These selected IDIA volunteers will also be provided an opportunity to attend workshops, lectures and interactive sessions with HSF Partners..Chris said, “The outstanding volunteers will be given an opportunity to attend the upcoming annual HSF/Oxford Law international teaching programme being hosted by NLU Delhi in March.”.Talking about the IDIA project, Chris said, “IDIA is doing some wonderful work in making a career in the law more broadly accessible and anything we can do to help support this is just the sort of thing HSF Bridge is all about.”.HSF has partnered with IDIA as part of the HSF Bridge initiative, a project aimed to link Indian law schools with charitable organisations requiring volunteers. The firm has currently entered into associations with NLSIU in Bangalore, NUJS in Kolkata, NALSAR in Hyderabad, NLU Jodhpur and NLU Delhi although the final goal is to connect with as many Indian law schools as possible..The IDIA project is a creation of Professor Shamnad Basheer. Speaking to Bar & Bench he, said, “It is a great honour for us to partner with HSF. This alliance between HSF and IDIA will aim at leveraging the wonderful talent of law students across India to redress some of society’s most glaring inequities.”.“The ultimate aim of IDIA is to empower underprivileged communities by creating leaders from within. What better way to do this than through legal education? After all, the nexus between law and leadership is one that is played out in our daily lives, with several political and other leaders having been trained in the law”, said Shamnad..He added, “I am certain that in the long run, our collaboration will create an impressive cadre of future leaders for society.”.IDIA Collaborations.The HSF–IDIA collaboration is not the first such agreement IDIA has entered into. In the recent past, IDIA has been part of collaborations with GE India, Lexis Nexis, Eastern Book Company and Rainmaker..GE India’s in-house legal team assists IDIA with mentoring IDIA scholars who are enroled in law schools. LexisNexis and Eastern Book Company have collaborations with IDIA on content sharing and promotional aspects of their functioning. Rainmaker provides free online training courses to all IDIA Scholars who are now studying in law schools across the country..Second annual IDIA camp.IDIA will be holding its second annual IDIA camp on January 18 and 19 this year, which will bring together the IDIA team, the IDIA Advisory Board, donors, and legal luminaries to reflect on the IDIA journey so far, and the challenges ahead..The event will be inaugrated by Veerappa Moily, Hon’ble Minister for Environment and IDIA Advisory Board Member followed by a keynote Speech on Inclusive Legal Education and Social Empowerment by Prof (Dr) Madhava Menon. Prof (Dr) Venkat Rao is also slated to speak on the role of NLU’s in furthering access to education for the underprivileged. Prof NL Mitra (former Vice Chancellor NLS and NLU Jodhpur) will inaugurate the session on the 19th..The other panelists include Citi Group General Counsel Pramod Rao, Rainmaker CEO Anthony Alex, Cipla Global General Counsel Murali Neelakantan, JSA Partner Somasekhar Sundaresan, Poovayya & Associates Founding Partner Sajan Poovayya, Trilegal Partner Karan Singh, Legal League Consulting Founder Bithika Anand, Amarchand Partner Rahul Sarella, PLR Partners Founder Suhaan Mukherjee, OMelveny and Myers counsel Pooja Sinha, Tatva Legal Partner Manav Nagaraj, 3M counsel Smitha Murthy and AZB Partner Aditya Bhat..Note: Anyone interested in furthering the cause of IDIA or interested in attending the annual camp in Bangalore can write to info@idialaw.com.