This manual represents an ongoing collaboration between PILnet: The Global Network for Public Interest Law (PILnet) and Advocates for International Development (A4ID) to develop best practices for operating pro bono clearinghouses in order to assist the development of pro bono clearinghouses globally.

When PILnet first began working in Eastern Europe in 1997, one of its core goals was to enhance access to justice for socially vulnerable, poor and disadvantaged people. It developed strategies to reform legal aid systems and legal education, and it successfully facilitated critical reforms throughout the region. PILnet also helped build the advocacy capacity of civil society organizations by maximizing the reach of their work and their impact on the communities they serve.

Towards the end of its first decade working in Europe, PILnet (formerly know as the Public Interest Law Institute or PILI) witnessed an increasing interest in “pro bono”—uncompensated voluntary legal services for the public good. Seeing an opportunity to develop much-needed legal resources for public interest purposes, PILnet began its quest to bridge the gap between the lawyers willing to provide free legal help and those who need it.

Around the same time in the United Kingdom, A4ID was also trying to institutionalize the commitment to international pro bono. Following the Asian tsunami of 2004, 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.

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. In London, A4ID was simultaneously launching its clearinghouse aimed at promoting international development and poverty eradication by increasing access to legal practitioners. Following these models, other European clearinghouses launched soon thereafter. Suddenly, pro bono practice in Europe was becoming a reality.

In 2007, PILnet held its first European Pro Bono Forum, which has since become an essential event for those interested in pro bono practice in Europe. Before the conference, PILnet hosted the first-ever European Pro Bono Clearinghouse Workshop. By the 2010 Forum, held in Paris, the attendance and agenda of the Clearinghouse Workshop had expanded greatly, bringing together participants from across Europe and around the globe—from as far afield as Ireland, France, Latvia, Brazil, and South Africa—to share knowledge, exchange information, and freely discuss issues. A4ID made major contributions to these conversations, but both A4ID and PILnet felt 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, the Pro Bono Clearinghouse Manual was born. The manual has since benefitted from the input of a number of fellow clearinghouses, particularly at the November 2010 Pro Bono Clearinghouse Workshop. 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