By Sara Andrews & Lisa Dewey
In the US legal profession, it is a
well-entrenched principle that
lawyers have an ethical obligation
to provide pro bono legal
services to poor clients. The American Bar
Association, in its Model Rules of Professional
Conduct, states that “every lawyer has a professional
responsibility to provide legal services
to those unable to pay,” and the association
recommends that each lawyer donate a
minimum of 50 hours of pro bono service per
year. (In Latin, pro bono means “for good.”)
But outside the United States and a handful
of other countries, including Australia
and the United Kingdom, the practice of
pro bono has been slow to emerge within
legal
circles. In many countries, government
support for legal aid has limited the need
for private lawyers to offer free services.
Bar associations in some countries, moreover,
have favored protectionist policies
that inhibit the pursuit of pro bono work.
In certain jurisdictions, providing free legal
services is forbidden.
In recent years, though, interest in pro
bono work has increased among lawyers
worldwide. Pro bono clearinghouses that connect
lawyers with clients who need assistance
have emerged in Africa, Asia, and Europe.
Conferences on pro bono hosted by organizations
like the Global Network for Public
Interest Law (PILnet) draw private-sector
lawyers from countries throughout Europe
and Asia. Significantly, meanwhile, a growing
number of global law firms are extending
their pro bono efforts to developing regions.
Various factors have contributed to the
expansion of pro bono legal work. Austerity
measures in many countries have decreased
government funding for legal aid. At the
same time, deep gaps in access to justice
continue to affect the world’s most vulnerable
populations. Closing those gaps will
require far-reaching and creative solutions.
Pro bono services on their own cannot meet
the need, nor can they replace government-funded
legal aid. But they can certainly help
broaden access to legal assistance.
Global law firms are in a particularly good
position to expand the scope of pro bono
work. Many of them have offices in developing
countries or strong relationships with local
firms in those countries. In addition, an increasing
number of global firms employ full-time
pro bono lawyers. These lawyers have
experience in managing pro bono programs
and in figuring out how their colleagues can
maximize the impact of those programs.
Our firm, DLA Piper, is one example
of this trend. DLA Piper has about 4,200
lawyers and operates in more than 30 countries.
Through New Perimeter, its nonprofit
affiliate, the firm sends teams of its lawyers
to work on pro bono projects in a wide range
of countries—projects that support access
to justice, social and economic development,
and the creation of sound legal institutions.
(We both help manage New Perimeter.)
Of course, not all law firms have the resources
needed to support pro bono projects
outside their home country. And some people
reasonably argue that lawyers should focus
their pro bono efforts on problems in their
own community. But we believe that global
law firms can and should push the boundaries
of pro bono legal practice. Lawyers from
these firms can encourage and equip lawyers
in underserved countries to engage in pro
bono work. They can also provide expertise
and resources to strengthen legal systems
and the rule of law around the world.
Training for Good
Inspiring and enabling lawyers around the
world to incorporate pro bono projects into
their practice is an important service that
global law firms can provide. Training the
next generation of lawyers about the value
of donating a portion of their time to public
interest work will promote a culture that
favors
pro bono service.
Through New Perimeter,
DLA Piper lawyers are training
law students in three
Latin American countries
(Brazil, Colombia, and
Mexico)
and in Turkey about
the nature and purpose of
pro bono legal services. This
training “really opens your
eyes,” says Isaac Jacobo de
Leon Mendoza, a law student
in Mexico. “It tells you
that you’re a lawyer starting
a professional career. Not everyone
has that [qualification],
so you need to share
that [asset] with less fortunate
people.” Another lawyer
from Mexico, who went through New Perimeter training when she
was a student, told us that the training inspired
her to start the first-ever pro bono
program at the firm where she now works.
The impact of these training projects extends
further, according to Maru Cortazar,
executive director of Mexico Appleseed,
an organization that partners with New
Perimeter.
“To change culture is not an easy
thing to do, but when lawyers and [law] students
see what is happening in other parts
of the world, they are motivated to do pro
bono,” she says. “We are now receiving calls
from the legal departments of corporations
and from universities and law firms. They
are asking us to give them cases, because
they are willing to work on pro bono.”
Brazil presents a notable opportunity for
New Perimeter. Recently, for example, the bar
association in São Paolo lifted restrictions
on pro bono work. For the past two years,
New Perimeter has collaborated with several
organizations—including Fundação Getúlio
Vargas Law School; Instituto Pro Bono, a
Brazilian nonprofit; and PILnet—to deliver
a week-long course on pro bono in that city.
The course enables law students, along with
people from all parts of the Brazilian legal
profession, to contribute to a conversation
about access to justice in their country.
New Perimeter has also joined with
several groups—including Bridges Across
Borders
Southeast Asia Community Legal
Education (BABSEA CLE), an international
nonprofit that supports university- and
community-based legal education programs;
Herbert
Smith Freehills, a UK-based global
law firm; and the office of the Australian
Government
Solicitor—to develop a curriculum
for Southeast Asian law students that
covers legal ethics, access to justice, and other
issues. In Myanmar, with funding from the
United Nations Development Programme,
BABSEA CLE and New Perimeter are helping
to bring clinical legal education programs
to university law departments throughout
the country. Through these efforts, New
Perimeter
and its partners aim to help faculty
members train a new generation of pro-bono-minded
lawyers.
Strengthening the Law
In countries that lack a robust legal infrastructure,
global law firms have a vital role
to play in helping to strengthen legal institutions
and to advance the rule of law. They
can do so in various ways—from providing
educational services that build legal capacity
to assisting in the creation of new laws or
new legal systems.
In Namibia, New Perimeter has worked
to expand access to justice in all parts of the
country. The legal profession in Namibia is
small, and most Namibian lawyers live in
the capital city, Windhoek. As a result, legal
services have been out of reach for the nearly
70 percent of Namibians who live in rural
areas. New Perimeter provided assistance
to the Namibia Paralegal Association (NPA),
an organization that deploys more than 200
lay advocates. These advocates provide a
wide range of services to rural Namibians
who would otherwise have no means to defend
their rights. DLA Piper lawyers, through
New Perimeter and in collaboration with the
University
of Maryland School of Law, developed
an up-to-date manual for NPA advocates
and created a program that helps train
advocates on the substance of the manual.
In Kosovo, New Perimeter worked over
a 10-year period to strengthen the rule of
law and to build the legal capacity of that
nascent country. A team of DLA Piper lawyers
traveled frequently to Kosovo and—in
partnership with the National Center for
State Courts, a US nonprofit that supports
improvements in judicial administration—helped local groups draft the laws that
formed Kosovo’s prosecutorial and court
systems. Alongside that effort, DLA Piper
lawyers provided mentoring and training to
lawyers in the Kosovo Ministry of Justice.
To help Kosovar lawyers operate within the
newly created justice system, New Perimeter
held seminars on topics such as legal ethics
and the conduct of lawyer disciplinary proceedings.
New Perimeter also joined with
local
lawyers to develop strategies to increase
the representation of women and ethnic
minorities
in the Kosovar legal profession.
Global pro bono work can have a significant
and lasting impact. In 2010, the
Kosovo Assembly passed—and the president
of Kosovo then signed—the laws that
New Perimeter helped to develop. Many of
the lawyers who received training via New
Perimeter have assumed senior leadership
positions in government or in civil society.
Arben Xheladini, formerly a lawyer in the
Ministry of Justice, is now a legal advisor
to the European Union Rule of Law Mission
in Kosovo. “The period when I was in close
contact with the experts from DLA Piper
was of decisive impact on my career,” he
says. “The benefits I gained were not only
professional but also [related to] increasing
self-confidence and courage.”
Law firms reap tangible benefits from
this type of work as well. Those benefits
include opportunities for team building,
the promotion of cultural literacy and
leadership skills among employees, and
improvements
in employee recruitment
and retention.
Lawyers at DLA Piper report
that participating in New Perimeter projects
increases
their level of professional satisfaction.
Take Jeremy Lustman, a partner at
the firm who worked on a pro bono teaching
project in South Africa. “On a personal
level, it was very special to spend a week
with DLA colleagues from various practice
groups and offices,” Lustman says. “This experience
provided an opportunity to learn
from each other, and [it made] us better integrated
colleagues.”