Experience in Developing Pro Bono Practice

It is no secret that the existing model of providing free legal assistance within the framework of the Federal Law of November 21, 2011 No. 324-FZ “On Free Legal Assistance in the Russian Federation” is ineffective. The reasons are as follows:
1) insufficient funding;
2) a very limited circle of people who are entitled by law to free assistance;
3) lack of information among citizens that they can receive free legal assistance;
4) widespread nihilism among Russian lawyers and advocates regarding the need to provide free assistance.

However, the data from the correspondingsurveyreflected in an article published by Advokatskaya Gazeta in November 2017 (No. 9 and No. 10), show that along with an obviously negative attitude towards the provision of free legal assistance, there is the practice of using pro bono as a way of marketing or advertising legal services.

In this regard, the experience of the Samara region is indicative, where, on the initiative of the Samara regional branch of the all-Russian public organization "Association of Lawyers of Russia" (SO AYUR), a Center for providing legal assistance to socially oriented non-profit organizations and citizens seeking help from such organizations (Pro Bono Center) was created, designed to unite lawyers and people in need of help.

The work of the Center is based on the experience of PILNet, which has been successfully helping Russian lawyers realize their potential in pro bono practice for a long time. The key goals of the Center in Samara are the development of pro bono practice standards and the formation of a professional “eco-environment” and culture among lawyers and law students. The goals are ambitious, but quite achievable.

Professional standards for pro bono activities.

Dmitry Shabelnikov believes that in Russia there is no need yet to develop professional standards for pro bono activities. I would discuss this.

The current level of understanding of the social responsibility of the profession, the growing number of lawyers engaged in pro bono practice, and the need to establish minimal but fundamental criteria for the provision of free legal assistance put the solution of a number of tasks and problems on the agenda. The development of regional experience in these issues can contribute to its dissemination and use on a federal scale.

In particular, the question of who will act as the federal operator for the development of pro bono practice remains open. This could be the Russian Lawyers Association as one of the largest public organizations uniting lawyers, or the Federal Chamber of Lawyers of the Russian Federation. Or maybe some kind of association of leading Russian law firms, following the example of the Law Works project - an organization integrating 150 leading law firms in England and Wales, designed to centralize pro bono work among lawyers in Europe.

Survey, which my colleague from the international law firm DENTONS Glenn Collini and I conducted among Russian lawyers, showed that there is a certain circle of socially active lawyers and law firms ready to act as a “base” for the association. And we are talking not only about international law firms that traditionally engage in pro bono practice, but also about Russian ones.

Operating principles of the pro bono help center.

The Pro Bono Center in Samara operates on the basis of very simple but effective principles.

It accepts applications from entities in need of free legal assistance and sends them to lawyers and attorneys collaborating with the Center (experts). Since the assistance is provided pro bono, that is, free of charge, lawyers have no obligation to accept the proposed project. The decision depends on their workload, specialization and desire to implement the project.

Currently, the Center’s experts include private lawyers, attorneys, law offices, law firms, and universities.

It should be noted that initially it was decided to establish restrictions when providing legal assistance.

Thus, applications for the following questions are not accepted:
1) related to the implementation of entrepreneurial activities;
2) arising in connection with the deliberate participation of the person seeking help in illegal activities, transactions contrary to the fundamentals of law and order and morality, and other obviously insignificant transactions, as well as in connection with the abuse of his rights by the specified person;
3) not having a legal nature;
4) related to criminal proceedings.

Work in the Center is ensured by the director, who has been me since the creation of the organization and to the present day.

The head of the Center is appointed by decision of the executive committee of the SO ALA in agreement with the chairman of the Council of the SO ALA for the term of office of the said executive committee.

The head of the Center accepts and processes applications submitted via electronic communications or in person.

The next day after receiving the application, experts are notified of the existence of a request for free legal assistance by sending such an application to participants in the assistance system. The request message may be provided with additional comments (for example, about urgency).

If there is consent to provide free legal assistance from the expert, confirmed by email, the head of the Center notifies the applicant and coordinates his subsequent interaction with the expert.

Working with non-profit organizations

Currently, 13 socially oriented non-profit organizations cooperate with the Pro Bono Center. Of the requests received, only two were not accepted, including because they did not meet the Center’s work criteria.

Among the requests the following can be noted.
1. A non-profit organization (museum) contacted the Center with a request for assistance and legal support to protect rights in connection with the revocation of the license of JSC JSCB GAZBANK, which housed its current and deposit accounts.

2. A request was received from the Samara regional public organization of disabled children and their parents with a request to provide advice to an individual who is being helped by the specified organization.

3. An autonomous non-profit organization requested a legal examination of the charter for its registration in the Office of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation for the Samara Region in connection with the previous refusal of state registration.

Another area of ​​the Center’s activities is conducting seminars for NGOs.

In less than a year of work, two seminars were organized and held. One of them concerned issues of intellectual property in the activities of non-profit organizations, the other – registration, accounting and control of non-profit organizations.

During the work of the Center, a rather interesting circumstance was discovered. We were worried that the experts would not be able to cope with the number of requests from NGOs. However, in practice, situations arose when several experts responded to one request at once.

In conclusion, I would like to support Dmitry Shabelnikov’s thesis about the need to increase the prestige of pro bono practice in the legal community. This is one way to increase the number of lawyers involved, best facilitated by discussions, forums, research and awards.

Thus, in the Ulyanovsk region, one of the leading regions where the process of providing free legal assistance is systematically organized at a high-quality level, an annual regional interdepartmental legal award “Lawyer Pro Bono” has been established. And in the Samara region, annually, as part of the “Lawyer of the Year in the Samara Region” award, the winner in the “Free legal assistance” nomination is determined.

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The article was first published in the Advokatskaya Gazeta publication:source