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clearinghouse_activities

Being Clear about your Clearinghouse's Aims and Objectives

Introduction

Pro bono clearinghouses need to be clear about whom they help and how they help them, in order to treat everyone seeking help with consistency. Doing this will allow other entities to know whether to refer people to the clearinghouse.

Similarly, it is important to be able to explain clearly to clients, lawyers and donors why the clearinghouse exists. If people are not familiar with pro bono work, they may misunderstand the purpose of the clearinghouse. Later chapters of this manual offer suggestions on how to communicate about why pro bono work is done and how a pro bono clearinghouse might be valuable.

Many clearinghouses have found that NGOs are sometimes unaware of their needs and are without legal knowledge. They are not eager to talk to lawyers as they are uncertain about the purpose of pro bono.

And it is not just NGOs who are confused about pro bono work.

Sometimes lawyers improperly consider services which are offered at a reduced price, on a “free consultation” basis, or where payment of legal fees is delayed until the end of a judicial procedure, to be “pro bono.”

Aims and Principles of a Pro Bono Clearinghouse

Pro bono clearinghouses generally exist to make some positive difference in society, particularly for those who are most in need. Some ways pro bono clearinghouses might describe the aims and principles of a clearinghouse are:

  • to improve access to justice;
  • to provide legal advice to all, regardless of race, background or creed;
  • to provide legal advice independent of politics and religion;
  • to promote the rule of law;
  • to act independently of governments, funders, law firms, NGOs and other groups;
  • to support national and international development;
  • to further specific goals, such as the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals;
  • to raise awareness of pro bono work;
  • to educate people about the law and development; and
  • to promote the use of law as a tool to achieve social justice.

In most jurisdictions, lawyers have exclusive access to practice law and to represent clients before a court. As a result, they have an ethical and professional obligation to provide legal services for those who would otherwise have no access to the legal system. A clearinghouse provides an easy and efficient avenue for lawyers to fulfill this obligation.

Developing pro bono locally, for example through a local bar association in one’s home jurisdiction, is important for many reasons. First, by gaining support from the local legal community the clearinghouse may best be able to meet the legal needs of clients in an accessible way. Second, the local pro bono community is an important resource for the clearinghouse’s financial sustainability. Finally, by supporting the local development of pro bono, a clearinghouse can improve the effectiveness of NGOs in their work for the public good and create a permanent infrastructure for pro bono work, while also promoting the legitimacy of pro bono and expanding the network of lawyers and law firms willing to perform such work in the future.

Global Pro Bono Activities

Sometimes a domestic pro bono clearinghouse will not be able to help with all the different types of legal requests that people or organizations have. For example, an organization may need advice on the law from a country other than the one it is located in, or it may need advice on international law or global comparative law. In these situations, it can be useful for a client to be able to approach a global pro bono clearinghouse, such as A4ID’s or PILnet’s Global Pro Bono Clearinghouse. These types of clearinghouses get requests and find lawyers to help from all over the world.

clearinghouse_activities.txt · Last modified: 2013/10/18 10:50 by jpbibby