Pro Bono News

Young blood, mounting needs boost international pro bono

Friday, November 18, 2011

BERLIN (TrustLaw) - The pro bono community is gathering force around the world due to growing needs from aid agencies hit by the financial crisis and a surge of young lawyers raring to leap in and help, delegates at a forum in Berlin said this week.

Regulatory hurdles and different legal systems make international pro bono work a tough nut to crack. Outside of the United States and Britain – where voluntary legal assistance is well established – pro bono work has got off to a rocky start in many countries.

But as the global economic crisis grinds on, and many non-governmental organisations (NGOs) struggle to fight their corners due to lack of funds, the pro bono culture is catching on.

“As we know, most European governments lack funds and resources and will go on lacking them in the next 20, 30, 50 years, so I think the social sector will develop in all European countries,” Kathrin Wieland, chief executive of Save the Children Germany, told TrustLaw at the forum organised by non-profit group PILnet, the Global Network for Public Interest Law.

Lawyers worldwide have struggled to extend the practice beyond major cities, while in Germany - which hosted the forum - the culture of voluntary legal assistance is still far from engrained.

But a drive to bolster pro bono education in law schools and universities is paying off in many countries, and must remain a key aim for pro bono advocates, delegates said.

The surge in interest among young lawyers has been tangible in recent years.

“I have been … on the recruiting committee in my office and in every interview that I have with very young people, the question is always ‘what about pro bono?’” said Gianni De Stefano, an associate in the Brussels office of law firm Latham & Watkins.

“They understand that’s something that’s … in the firm’s culture.”

YOUTHFUL FERVOUR

In Canada, the bar association promotes the pro bono work of young lawyers with its annual Young Lawyers Pro Bono Award, which recognises outstanding legal services to the community.

And in Brazil, the Instituto Pro Bono aims to expand its membership of volunteer lawyers by “tapping into the energy and idealism of law students”, the institute’s executive director Marcos Fuchs told TrustLaw.

The institute’s Pro Bono Jr project encourages law students to dedicate part of their time to pro bono advocacy by working as assistants to voluntary attorneys.

In Russia, a key way the government can boost pro bono work is by supporting law schools, said Glenn Kolleeny, a Russia-based partner at law firm Salans.

Meanwhile, Germany’s pro bono progress owes partly to student exchanges, according to Wieland. Students are imposing pro bono expectations on the law firms they join.

“The talent pool (has) studied abroad and come back with Anglo-Saxon concepts and they expect their employers to do something for the social sector,” she added.

But lawyers also attributed pro bono’s growing reach to international forums such as PILnet’s, where this year more than 300 members of the international pro bono community put their heads together.

Clearing houses that match-make lawyers and NGOs needing legal help are another boost, they said.

“In Europe … with for example a number of clearing houses like (TrustLaw Connect from) the Thomson Reuters Foundation, now finally we have overcome the biggest hurdle that was basically the fact that there was a mismatch between offer and demand of services,” said De Stefano.

“Now, thanks to these organisations, we finally are at a stage where if you want to provide those services you know where to go to.”

The problem of how to extend pro bono across borders – past regulatory and cultural barriers – was a key concern for many at the Berlin forum. Nonetheless, delegates appeared confident that the new generation of lawyers is up to the job.