What is the TrustLaw Index of Pro Bono?
Last year, the Thomson Reuters Foundation launched the first annual TrustLaw Index of Pro Bono. The Index looks at how much pro bono work law firms are undertaking on a country-by-country basis around the world and identifies global trends in the pro bono marketplace.
The 2014 Index, compiled with data from over 100 firms, representing 36,000 lawyers in 69 countries, showed that respondent firms donated 1.55 million hours of free legal support in 2013 worth $388 million. See the 2014 findings here.
How can your firm contribute to the 2015 Index?
1. Complete the online TrustLaw Index of Pro Bono survey by Monday 6 April 2015. Before completing the survey, please read the TrustLaw Index of Pro Bono Definition of Qualifying Pro Bono and Survey Questions. These tools explain the information you will need to collect. There are 31 questions.
- Spread the word – the more firms that contribute, and the more countries we can analyse, the greater tool the Index will be. Please share this email in your firm, with your legal networks, and with other firms and lawyers.
Who can contribute?
Law firms in every country across the world are invited to contribute, irrespective of size, specialism or how much pro bono they do.
Why did we create a global index of pro bono?
Collecting information about pro bono enables us to highlight success factors, show how much pro bono is being done on a country-by-country basis, and give a picture of the global pro bono market. Over time, the Index will show how the pro bono sector is evolving and will uncover emerging trends.
The Index is an invaluable tool to spread the practice of pro bono by highlighting successful pro bono programmes, providing benchmarks on engagement levels in different jurisdictions and demonstrating the amount of pro bono being done globally. In many countries, pro bono is an emerging area, and showing different ways of supporting pro bono initiatives, such as setting up a pro bono committee, incentivising pro bono and setting pro bono targets, can help lawyers the world over decide what is best for their firm.
What information will we publish about your firm?
The only information that will be attributable to your firm will be:
- The average number of pro bono hours per fee earner, per year, in each jurisdiction your firm operates.
• The percentage of fee earners undertaking ten or more hours of pro bono per year.
Please see the definitions of Qualifying Pro Bono and Qualifying Fee Earners for further guidance.
Country profiles – The Index will be published on a country-by-country basis, not on a global level. For example, if you complete the survey for your firm’s pro bono activities in India, this information will be included in the India analysis only.
What is rest of the data used for? The additional information requested will be collated and published on an anonymous basis, or used to inform the TrustLaw Index of Pro Bono’s industry analysis. This includes the structure of pro bono practices, types of pro bono matters, whether pro bono is considered for determining compensation of fee-earners, and levels of partner involvement. None of this additional information will be accredited to individual firms.
To understand how your firm’s information will be included, see the 2014 Index findings.
What if you can’t provide some of the information?
We understand that each law firm has different policies concerning the publication of data. While we wholeheartedly encourage you to complete the full survey, we will accept partial submissions.
When will the TrustLaw Index of Pro Bono be launched?
The TrustLaw Index of Pro Bono will be launched in May 2015. All contributing firms will be invited to a series of launch events in major cities around the world.
Who is TrustLaw?
TrustLaw is the Thomson Reuters Foundation’s global pro bono legal programme. We are the largest free pro bono service in the world, and connect law firms and corporate legal teams across 170 countries with high-impact NGOs and social enterprises working to create social and environmental change.
Questions
For further information, please contact the TrustLaw team.
Email: trustlaw@thomsonreuters.com
Phone: +44 20 7542 0240
