Pro Bono Clearinghouse Manual

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In many jurisdictions, free legal services have traditionally been available to those in need either informally on a pro bono basis from solo practitioners and small firms or though legal aid or non-profit organizations that employed lawyers to provide free services to specific categories of clients in need. More recently, however, and particularly during the last two decades, pro bono has become a more institutionalized service within the legal profession. A number of factors have contributed to this. First, in some jurisdictions, cuts in government-funded legal aid programs challenged the legal profession to examine the availability of free legal services to those in need and to consider the profession’s role in providing such services on a pro bono basis. Second, as the size and globalization of law firms began to grow, many law firms started to institutionalize their firms’ pro bono work, in part in order to recruit top law school graduates and retain associates. Finally, many bar associations began organizing nonprofit pro bono programs and promoted volunteerism at law firms as an alternative to legal aid organizations.

A critical contribution to the development of pro bono legal services has been the growth of pro bono clearinghouses – non-profit organizations that help promote the availability and institutionalization of pro bono while also acting as pro bono matchmakers, matching those in need of free legal services with lawyers capable of providing it. The goal of this Manual is to draw on the experiences of PILnet, A4ID and others to provide resources to new and developing pro bono clearinghouses globally.

This Manual has been prepared jointly by Advocates for International Development (A4ID) and PILnet,: the Global Network for Public Interest Law.

A4ID is an international NGO that plays a strategic role in creating effective and efficient solutions to eradicating global poverty by utilizing the law and harnessing the skills of the legal profession to meet development needs.

A4ID inspires and enables lawyers1 to play an active role in the fight against poverty and ensures that legal support is available to organizations involved in international development. This is achieved through its global network of leading law firms, chambers and in-house legal teams who provide pro bono legal assistance to A4ID’s international development partners that include local charities, global NGOs, social enterprises and bar associations. The legal support offered through this clearinghouse allows A4ID’s partners to operate more effectively, and thus increase their impact. It also assists them to influence legislation and policy decisions, protect rights and build a strong rule of law, in order to meet international development aims.

In partnership with lawyers and development organizations, A4ID also works to raise awareness and share knowledge about the role law can play in tackling poverty in order to develop more effective and sustainable responses to development challenges.

A4ID grew out of the Oxfam 1,000 City Lawyer Initiative following the Asian Tsunami of December 2004. It became a separate organization in 2006 and has grown rapidly to become a global pro bono leader.

PILnet was created after the fall of the Berlin Wall, when the countries of Central and Eastern Europe were re-inventing themselves. At that time, the law was seen by many as a means of state control rather than an instrument for the common good. With seed funding from the Ford Foundation, PILnet was established in 1997 (then as the Public Interest Law Initiative in Transitional Societies) at Columbia University to promote the use of law as a tool to serve the interests of the whole of society rather than those of a powerful few. In 2002, PILnet established an office in Budapest, Hungary, from which it coordinated efforts across Central and Eastern Europe. Subsequently, PILnet established offices in Russia (2004) and China (2008) to address the on-the-ground needs of its international fellows as well as apply its unique approach of activating, empowering and connecting those that use legal tools to work in the public interest.

In 2007, PILnet became an independent non-profit organization (then the Public Interest Law Institute) and established a New York office; PILnet adopted its current name in 2011 to better reflect its strategy of bringing together global networks devoted to delivering justice and protecting rights.

In order to inspire lawyers to advance the public interest and strengthen the ability of civil society to influence laws and policies and assist individuals in need, PILnet develops pro bono (or volunteer) legal practice around the world. Although in recent years, lawyers and firms have become increasingly willing to undertake pro bono matters, they often lack a direct connection to the community. PILnet’s pro bono clearinghouses in Hungary, Russia, China and its cross-border Global Pro Bono Clearinghouse serve to bridge that gap between lawyers seeking opportunities to provide free legal help and those who need it.

PILnet also helps replicate its model by providing technical assistance, know-how exchange and other forms of coordination to partner clearinghouses developing in other European countries, such as Poland, the Czech Republic and Romania. It also organizes the annual European Pro Bono Forum to provide a dynamic, multi-national platform for exchange of information, skills transfer and networking related to pro bono activities in continental Europe and beyond.

This Manual draws on A4ID’s, PILnet’s and otherothers’s experiences of starting and managing pro bono clearinghouses.

The intention of this Manual is not to say that there is one right way to start and manage a pro bono clearinghouse. There is not. Instead, careful thought is required, taking into account culture and context so that a clearinghouse meets local need appropriately and effectively. It is hoped that this Manual will act as a starting point for that process so that the shared learning of PILnet and A4ID can help to inform and encourage others working to enable access to lawyers for those otherwise unable to afford it. _

The following guide offers practical tools, advice and personal accounts for how to start and maintain a clearinghouse. The first three chapters provide general, introductory information. Chapter One introduces the reader to the organizations responsible for this manual, Advocates for International Development and the Public Interest Law Institute. Chapter Two is a glossary of basic terms related to pro bono practice and clearinghouses generally. Chapter Three introduces the concept of clearinghouses and establishes the framework for Chapter Four: Procedures for Establishing & Running a Clearinghouse. This chapter chronologically details the procedures for setting up and successfully maintaining a clearinghouse, including who will be helped, how to involve the legal community, referring matters and follow-up communications. Chapters Five and Six focus on communication. Specifically, they detail how to create a supportive environment for pro bono practice and how to develop a strategy for publicizing the pro bono activities of the clearinghouse. Finally, we provide brief chapters on financial sustainability and useful contacts.

Throughout the manual, we provide examples and refer to documents that we believe illustrate and supplement what is being discussed in the text of the guide. The Appendix contains this set of documents, which are included for illustrative purposes only. These tools provide examples of the different ways clearinghouses operate, so we encourage you to use them practically. There is no right way to run a pro bono clearinghouse, and varying cultures and contexts will dictate how you operate yours. It is our hope that learning from the experiences of other clearinghouses will serve as a positive example and will help guide the creation your clearinghouse.