Further to Penny Blair’s 6 July 2009 post on pro bono clearinghouses and the fruitful thread that followed, the example of the Polish Pro Bono Centre can illustrate how broad activities can a clearinghouse roll out to strategically mainstream pro bono. The Polish Pro Bono Centre does not only work as focal point between NGOs and law firms. It is also active in promoting the culture of pro bono and in amending the legal framework in order to facilitate lawyers' commitment to pro bono.
The Centre is involved in granting the annual Pro Bono Lawyer Award, established by the Polish Legal Clinics Foundation. It has been lobbying for exemption of pro bono legal advice from VAT. In turn, if we look on the side of the NGOs, the lawyers who cooperate with the Centre gave five workshops to over 150 NGO managers on the legal framework of the non-profit sector.
The Centre is a young (operating since 2008) and small entity, but it is already quite well-known. Mind that it is a fruit of a discussion accompanying the signing of the Pro Bono Declaration in mid-2007. The signing ceremony was hosted by the Polish Constitutional Tribunal with participation of some important representatives of the country's legal world. “This Declaration - expressed Filip Czernicki of the Legal Clinics Foundation during the event - is inspired by the Polish legal community’s long professional tradition of public service, and affirms the critical role of pro bono practitioners in ensuring fair and equal access to justice among all segments of society.” (www.probonoinst.org/wire/09207-8.pdf, The Pro Bono Wire, Sept. 2007) The same can be said about the Centre, and I find its ability to build on and to develop the pro bono tradition a useful hint for some current West-European initiatives aiming at launching national clearinghouses.
Interestingly, the Centre has been constituted by the Polish Legal Clinics Foundation, which underlines the link between the training of young lawyers and the practice of more mature professionals.
For more information, consult:
- www.centrumprobono.pl/en/
- The Polish Legal Clinics Foundation/Lawyer Pro Bono
- The Pro Bono Wire, Sept. 2007 (the text of the Polish Pro Bono Declaration)
Posted by Jacek Kowalewski
University of Warsaw graduate
Pro bono activist in Poland and Italy
Showing posts with label clearing houses. Show all posts
Showing posts with label clearing houses. Show all posts
Wednesday, 17 February 2010
Tuesday, 12 January 2010
Student Support for International Pro Bono Work
We at the HOPE Public Interest Resource Center at the University of Miami School of Law are always looking for new ways to collaborate and support innovative pro bono programming. Because of my background with the UNICTR and the UNHCR, I am particularly interested in engaging students in international human rights and am very interested in exploring ways to partner with members of the International Bar Association’s Pro Bono and Access to Justice Committee, particularly in the following ways: (1) support of litigation remotely via the Pro Bono Legal Research Project and (2) HOPE Fellowship placement.
First, at the HOPE Office I manage the Pro Bono Legal Research Project (PBLRP). The PBLRP is a way to help support practitioners doing crucial work when they might not have the legal research or drafting support they need. In the past we have had students working on a number of different cases dealing with issues such as constitutional law related to housing rights, reparations for Holocaust victims, and a recent case dealing with criminal procedure that was heard by the Florida Supreme Court. The typical format has been for an attorney with a pro bono or public interest case to contact our office for research support and complete a short form. I then send an e-mail to our PBLRP students with the information to determine which students are able to provide research and have an interest in the specific topic. At that point I either connect the attorney with the interested students or, I provide the student resumes for the attorney to decide the appropriate match. After that, the HOPE office is a point of contact for the students and the attorney regarding ongoing management of the research project but the specific scheduling and content of the work product is between the students and the attorney. We have a number of students who are very keen to be involved in international litigation and would surely be thrilled to contribute to the work of the members of the IBA Pro Bono and Access to Justice Committee.
Second, at the University of Miami School of Law we have a unique HOPE Fellowship program available to students during their 1L and 2L summers. HOPE Fellows work with domestic and international public interest agencies and non-governmental organizations to provide much-needed legal advocacy. Over the years, the program has grown from two local agencies to include international placements in countries such as Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Lebanon, England, and China. The HOPE Public Interest Resource Center sponsors the program and helps students to identify agencies that match their passions for service. Students receive a stipend for their work and are required to identify ways in which they can uniquely contribute to the agencies and constituencies they serve. When they return to campus, Fellows then design a project to involve other UM Law students in advocacy related to the their area of concentration. HOPE is eager to establish relationships with organizations needing support and receptive to HOPE Fellows applications. I am happy to provide more information and learn about your organization's specific needs.
I look forward to supporting the work of the members of the IBA Pro Bono and Access to Justice Committee. Please contact me at loneill@law.miami.edu for more information and to learn more about the HOPE Office. Additionally, I welcome ideas for further collaboration not addressed above.
Posted by
Lara O’Neill
Project Coordinator
HOPE Public Interest Resource Center
University of Miami School of Law
First, at the HOPE Office I manage the Pro Bono Legal Research Project (PBLRP). The PBLRP is a way to help support practitioners doing crucial work when they might not have the legal research or drafting support they need. In the past we have had students working on a number of different cases dealing with issues such as constitutional law related to housing rights, reparations for Holocaust victims, and a recent case dealing with criminal procedure that was heard by the Florida Supreme Court. The typical format has been for an attorney with a pro bono or public interest case to contact our office for research support and complete a short form. I then send an e-mail to our PBLRP students with the information to determine which students are able to provide research and have an interest in the specific topic. At that point I either connect the attorney with the interested students or, I provide the student resumes for the attorney to decide the appropriate match. After that, the HOPE office is a point of contact for the students and the attorney regarding ongoing management of the research project but the specific scheduling and content of the work product is between the students and the attorney. We have a number of students who are very keen to be involved in international litigation and would surely be thrilled to contribute to the work of the members of the IBA Pro Bono and Access to Justice Committee.
Second, at the University of Miami School of Law we have a unique HOPE Fellowship program available to students during their 1L and 2L summers. HOPE Fellows work with domestic and international public interest agencies and non-governmental organizations to provide much-needed legal advocacy. Over the years, the program has grown from two local agencies to include international placements in countries such as Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Lebanon, England, and China. The HOPE Public Interest Resource Center sponsors the program and helps students to identify agencies that match their passions for service. Students receive a stipend for their work and are required to identify ways in which they can uniquely contribute to the agencies and constituencies they serve. When they return to campus, Fellows then design a project to involve other UM Law students in advocacy related to the their area of concentration. HOPE is eager to establish relationships with organizations needing support and receptive to HOPE Fellows applications. I am happy to provide more information and learn about your organization's specific needs.
I look forward to supporting the work of the members of the IBA Pro Bono and Access to Justice Committee. Please contact me at loneill@law.miami.edu for more information and to learn more about the HOPE Office. Additionally, I welcome ideas for further collaboration not addressed above.
Posted by
Lara O’Neill
Project Coordinator
HOPE Public Interest Resource Center
University of Miami School of Law
Friday, 18 December 2009
Pro Bono and Public Interest Commission of the City of Buenos Aires Bar Association
The Pro Bono and Public Interest Commission [Comisión de Trabajo Pro Bono e Interés Público] convenes and gathers a group of lawyers engaged in providing pro bono services in public interest cases and who understand the law as a tool of social change and modification of public policies.
Organized as a Pro Bono Network of law firms, the Commission provides free legal services to public interest cases which involve collective interests and thus project their effects to broad sectors of the community.
In practice, the Commission operates as a link between individuals or civil entities requesting pro bono services –- pro bono demand -- and the law firms of the Pro Bono Network -- pro bono offer.
The Commission was created in December 2000 by the initiative of a group of members of the City of Buenos Aires Bar Association [Colegio de Abogados de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires] and works in association with other bar associations in Latin America.
In particular, the Commission works on four areas of interest: disability, microfinance, NGO advice and transparency. The pro bono criminal area was set up in 2009 and new areas of interest, such as childhood and adolescence, are scheduled to begin in 2010.
Among the main achievements attained during 2009, we can mention:
As to the area of disability, a favorable judgment was obtained in a summary action [amparo] filed by the lawyers of the Commission against the City of Buenos Aires Government (GCBA) seeking compliance with the 5% quota of disabled employees provided under the Constitution of the City of Buenos Aires.
In the area of microfinance, the approval of a US$50,000 grant was obtained from IDLO (International Development Law Organization) to organize seminars, workshops, conferences and publications with public authorities seeking the amendment of the regulatory, tax and labor frame and to foster the development of microfinance in Argentina. The approval of a trust to generate funding for microcredit ventures was obtained from FOMIN (IDB).
In the areas of NGO advice and transparency, two successful seminars were organized attended by prominent participants in local public opinion. The first seminar dealt with 'NGOs - Legal and Tax Issues', and the second one with 'Political transparency, citizen participation and civic duties of lawyers'. In this area the Commission provides pro bono services to several and prestigious NGOs who conduct activities related to the Pro Bono Network.
Posted by
Naldo F. Dasso
IBA Pro bono and Access to Justice Committee
Organized as a Pro Bono Network of law firms, the Commission provides free legal services to public interest cases which involve collective interests and thus project their effects to broad sectors of the community.
In practice, the Commission operates as a link between individuals or civil entities requesting pro bono services –- pro bono demand -- and the law firms of the Pro Bono Network -- pro bono offer.
The Commission was created in December 2000 by the initiative of a group of members of the City of Buenos Aires Bar Association [Colegio de Abogados de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires] and works in association with other bar associations in Latin America.
In particular, the Commission works on four areas of interest: disability, microfinance, NGO advice and transparency. The pro bono criminal area was set up in 2009 and new areas of interest, such as childhood and adolescence, are scheduled to begin in 2010.
Among the main achievements attained during 2009, we can mention:
As to the area of disability, a favorable judgment was obtained in a summary action [amparo] filed by the lawyers of the Commission against the City of Buenos Aires Government (GCBA) seeking compliance with the 5% quota of disabled employees provided under the Constitution of the City of Buenos Aires.
In the area of microfinance, the approval of a US$50,000 grant was obtained from IDLO (International Development Law Organization) to organize seminars, workshops, conferences and publications with public authorities seeking the amendment of the regulatory, tax and labor frame and to foster the development of microfinance in Argentina. The approval of a trust to generate funding for microcredit ventures was obtained from FOMIN (IDB).
In the areas of NGO advice and transparency, two successful seminars were organized attended by prominent participants in local public opinion. The first seminar dealt with 'NGOs - Legal and Tax Issues', and the second one with 'Political transparency, citizen participation and civic duties of lawyers'. In this area the Commission provides pro bono services to several and prestigious NGOs who conduct activities related to the Pro Bono Network.
Posted by
Naldo F. Dasso
IBA Pro bono and Access to Justice Committee
Monday, 6 July 2009
Pro bono 'clearing houses'
During this troubled economy, there has been a notable increase in the number of lawyers in the United States volunteering to work pro bono with legal aid organizations -- a trend likely to be mirrored in other countries. Some of these recent volunteers, however, have no experience in dealing with loss of public benefits, evictions, discriminatory practices, and comparable issues that low income, legal aid clients generally confront. Instead, they are transactional lawyers experienced in finance, security laws, tax matters etc.
The problem of matching pro bono lawyers with deserving organizations that are in need of their skills is handled in São Paulo, Brazil, by the Instituto Pro Bono. This facility acts as a 'clearing house' in pro bono matters, assisting NGOs and other non-profit organizations find qualified attorneys for civil, criminal, and labor law issues.
In Washington DC, the Community Economic Development Project matches community based non-profits with law firms that can best address their business and transactional requirements.
The Pro bono and Access to Justice Committee leadership invites comments identifying additional clearing house facilities to which it can refer members for assistance in finding suitable pro bono projects.
Posted by Patricia Blair
IBA Pro bono and Access to Justice Committee
The problem of matching pro bono lawyers with deserving organizations that are in need of their skills is handled in São Paulo, Brazil, by the Instituto Pro Bono. This facility acts as a 'clearing house' in pro bono matters, assisting NGOs and other non-profit organizations find qualified attorneys for civil, criminal, and labor law issues.
In Washington DC, the Community Economic Development Project matches community based non-profits with law firms that can best address their business and transactional requirements.
The Pro bono and Access to Justice Committee leadership invites comments identifying additional clearing house facilities to which it can refer members for assistance in finding suitable pro bono projects.
Posted by Patricia Blair
IBA Pro bono and Access to Justice Committee
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