NEIP is a member of the international Innocence Network of innocence projects. Each of these projects was modeled after the Innocence Project, which was founded by Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld at the Cardozo School of Law in 1992.

     NEIP is unique, however, in that it was the first project in the country coordinated by a law firm. It was founded in 2000 with the goal of identifying and exonerating wrongly convicted individuals through the use of DNA evidence. In 2009 the mission was expanded to consider cases in which scientific testing or other investigative leads could establish a strong likelihood that the individual is factually innocent.

     NEIP consists of attorneys and paralegals from Goodwin Procter LLP, area criminal defense and other private attorneys, exonerees, and faculty and students from law schools across New England. The NEIP works in conjunction with area criminal defense attorneys, law students and faculty to couple experienced representation with a unique clinical experience for future lawyers.