Barbora Pálešová is Program Coordinator with the Pontis Foundation.
The Pontis Foundation established in 1997 focuses on the development of civil society in Slovakia and on solving organizational problems of local non-profit sector. Barbora Palesova is a Program Coordinator providing supports to organisations in the area of disability, education, older persons and children’s rights. Barbora shares her experience of a recent field study trip to Ireland and the Public Interest Law Alliance.
About three weeks ago, I was visiting Dublin and PILA kindly offered to organise a short learning exchange for me. I am a program coordinator at Pontis Foundation – a Slovak organisation that connects and motivates businesses, organisations and individuals to cooperate and bring about positive change in virtually any area they wish to. My job is to connect lawyers willing to offer pro bono help and NGOs, who need but cannot afford legal advice – I manage a clearinghouse called Attorneys Pro Bono, one of many programs of the foundation.
The time for the exchange suited my schedule perfectly. Having started to work for Attorneys Pro Bono only a few months ago, I had numerous questions and I was very curious to see how other clearinghouses cooperate with the law firms, NGOs and perhaps individual clients who are in need of free legal advice. Before my arrival, Rachel and Eithne made sure they knew what I was expecting of the visit and what kind of firms/organisations I was curious to visit.
After a short introduction to FLAC and PILA’s work; we visited a launch of the latest report by the Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice (a PILA NGO) ‘Developing Inside: Transforming Prison for Young Adults’. I enjoyed the speeches and was pleasantly surprised by the choice of speakers, who did not include academics only but also a young student, who, based on her experiences with an Irish prison brought a personal view on the topic. It was interesting and sad at the same time to see how differently young adults in the criminal justice system are treated in Slovakia. While it was clear the situation in Ireland is not without its challenges; it was only recently that an Office of the Child Ombudsman has been established in Slovakia and has already been criticised by the United Nations.
Next we met with one of PILA’s most active law firms A&L Goodbody. In our program we are currently experiencing a slight unbalance between the amount of requests for legal advice and the capacities of the lawyers to accept the cases. I was therefore very interested to learn more about the position in Ireland and the motivation behind the lawyers’ involvement in pro bono legal work. It was wonderful to hear the firm’s take on pro bono; to learn how they structure their pro bono practice and reward and recognise pro bono work. The day finished with a visit to a FLAC advice clinic in the Citizen Information Centre in Finglas which I also found very inspiring.
The next day PILA arranged for me to meet with Mercy Law Resource Centre (MLRC). Pontis recently launched a legal clinic for the homeless people in Slovakia. It was wonderful to meet Maeve Regan the law centre’s managing solicitor who gave me a lot of valuable advice and useful tips. I have already put this into practice and arranged a meeting of the clinic lawyers and partner organisations to discuss what parts of the MLRC clinic could be useful for our homeless clinic in Bratislava.
However, the biggest value of the trip was probably in the conversations I had with Eithne and Rachel. While our respective clearinghouses have distinct operating models and approach to pro bono differs; we have the same goals and work with very similar partners in civil society. Sharing the experiences between ourselves was ultimately what I really needed to get my drive and passion back after a number of some very busy months. I returned to Slovakia with new ideas and I am very curious to start implementing and testing them over the summer! Thank you PILA and FLAC and I hope we can return the favour sometime soon as well!