Pro Bono Clearinghouse Manual

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====== Preface ======
The Manual represents an ongoing collaboration between PILnet: The Global Network for Public Interest Law and Advocates for International Development to develop best practices in operating pro bono clearinghouses andin order to assist the development of additional fellow pro bono clearinghouses globally. 

When PILnet first arrived in Europe over a decade ago, one of its core missions was to enhance access to justice for socially vulnerable, poor and disadvantaged people.  At that time, it focused on legal aid reform and legal education, and it successfully facilitated critical justice sector reforms throughout the region.  PILnet also began to focus on its growing NGO advocacy program.  This program seeks to build the advocacy capacity of civil society organizations by maximizing the reach of their work and their impact on the communities they serve.  In developing these programs, PILnet recognized that no matter how well legal aid functioned, the poor or otherwise disadvantaged, the very people these NGOs were trying to help, were still left without any real access to legal counsel.  At the same time, PILnet also witnessed an increasing interest in the practice of ‘pro bono’, uncompensated voluntary legal services for the public good.  Between the growing interest in pro bono and the need for greater access to legal resources in the third sector, PILnet began its quest to try to bridge the gap between the lawyers seeking opportunities to provide free legal help and those who need it.    

In the United Kingdom, Advocates for International Development ("A4ID") was also trying to institutionalize the commitment to international pro bono.  Following the Asian Tsunami, a group of London-based lawyers, the "1,000 City Lawyers", came together in association with Oxfam to further the underlying goals and principles of the Make Poverty History campaign.  A4ID was the independent successor organization of this movement – pulling together the talent, commitment and enthusiasm generated by 1,000 City Lawyers – but adopting a broader focus: to use legal skills in support of a range of development actors to champion the United Nations Millennium Development Goals ("MDGs").

Both PILnet and A4ID independently realized that establishing a clearinghouse was one way to achieve their new goals.  A clearinghouse facilitates the provision of pro bono legal advice by acting as a broker between people or organizations who need legal assistance and lawyers who are willing to help.  Clearinghouses generally aim to institutionalize the pro bono practice of law firms and individual practitioners in order to leverage private sector resources for the good of all.  By promoting and providing technical assistance for organized pro bono, clearinghouses help increase access to legal resources for more disadvantaged groups. 

Accordingly, in 2006, PILnet launched its Global and Hungarian clearinghouses to help enable long-lasting connections between pro bono practitioners and NGOs around the world, later adding clearinghouses in Russia and China.  Across the English ChannelIn London, A4ID was simultaneously launching its clearinghouse aimed at promoting international development and poverty eradication through an increased access to legal practitioners.  Following these models, other European clearinghouses launched quickly thereafter.  Suddenly, pro bono practice in Europe was becoming a reality.

Then in November 2009, PILnet held its third annual European Pro Bono Forum, the only platform entirely dedicated to an international, comparative perspective on pro bono practice in Europe.  At this conference, PILnet hosted a pre-forum workshop for pro bono clearinghouses.  With over 30 participants from across the globe, all with varying levels of experience, the workshop served as a platform for clearinghouses to share knowledge and exchange information.  New clearinghouses in Ireland, France and Latvia were able to ask questions and more established ones in Brazil and South Africa were able to offer advice and discuss issues.  Working together with PILnet, A4ID playedmade a major role in facilitatingcontribution to these discussions.  WeThe two organizations were encouraged at the number of attendees at the pre-forum workshop and the successful exchange of information that occurred.  However, we still felt as if there was more to share.  

The success of the forum, coupled with the proliferation of emerging clearinghouses around the world, made us realize there was a need for a practical guide aimed at giving substantial guidance to individuals and NGOs who plan to launch a pro bono clearinghouse in their country.  In an attempt to capitalize on our combined experience in establishing and running successful clearinghouses, this Manual was born.  The Manual has since benefitted from the input of a number of fellow clearinghouses, particularly at the November 2010 pre-forum workshop for pro bono clearinghouses.  We hope that learning from the experiences of other clearinghouses will help guide your clearinghouse and expand pro bono practice globally.


Edwin Rekosh, Executive Director, PILnet: The Global Network for Public Interest Law
Yasmin Batliwala, Chief Executive, Advocates for International Development
Pro Bono Clearinghouse Manual

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