Pro Bono Clearinghouse Manual

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====== Clearinghouse Activities ======

===== 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.

==== Importance of Access to Local Legal Advice ====

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.
Pro Bono Clearinghouse Manual

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