* Any views expressed in this opinion piece are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Blogged by Edwin Rekosh, director of the Public Interest Law Institute (PILI)
I am sitting here in the offices of a major law firm in the centre of Paris marvelling at the diversity and breadth of pro bono experience developing throughout Europe.
The occasion is a workshop for pro bono clearinghouses on the eve of our European Pro Bono Forum. The workshop has drawn participants from more than a dozen European countries, from Ireland to Russia, as well as locations much further afield.
But what is most exciting to see is the degree to which this very diverse group of individuals has become so deeply immersed so quickly in the practical mechanics of setting up the infrastructure to support pro bono.
As a participant from Brazil said to me just now, in passing by during the break, the most remarkable thing is how everyone is debating the same issues, despite the diversity of contexts.
It is very exciting to see the Public Interest Law Institute’s 4th European Pro Bono Forum, and the first one we are organising outside Budapest, come together in such a spectacular way.
The Forum, which will formally open in Paris on Thursday morning, has topped all our records by attracting 280 registered participants from 38 countries.
In attendance will be about 125 lawyers from over 50 law firms and more than half a dozen in-house legal departments of major corporations.
In addition to the intermediary clearinghouses attending our workshop today, the pro bono clients of those lawyers, both current and prospective, will also be on hand. In total, representatives of over 100 NGOs will be participating, joined by bar officials, academics and journalists.
Organised in cooperation with the Paris Bar, the event has drawn an impressive delegation of more than 60 French lawyers, who will have much to discuss as pro bono appears to have reached a tipping point in France.
The Batonnier, or head of the Paris Bar, will be speaking at the opening tomorrow, and in the lead up to the Forum he has already underlined the important, if new, role that pro bono practice has to play in France.
Other speakers at the opening will include Aryeh Neier, president of the Open Society Foundations, and Michael Smyth, a prominent UK lawyer.
Much of the Forum will take place in the form of 15 workshops on topics ranging from the basic - for those new to pro bono - to the cutting edge, including a focus on important issues of the day, such as human rights, the environment and poverty reduction.
My thanks go out to TrustLaw for providing the opportunity to a much larger audience to get a glimpse of what is happening this week in Paris. Once we get started with the Forum itself, I intend to provide a couple of updates, in the interest of sharing at least a few of the insights gleaned during the next few days.
