Last year, the Thomson Reuters Foundation launched its 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.
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. Click here to read the 2014 findings.
TrustLaw is again inviting law firms to share information on their pro bono programmes for the 2015 Index. 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.
For law firms that would like to participate, the survey must be completed here 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 to be collected before answering the 31 survey questions.