Legal
LEGAL
PRO BONO PUBLICO
Pro bono, or ‘pro bono publico’ in full, is a Latin phrase meaning ‘for the public good’. The term is mainly used to refer to work carried out on a voluntary and unpaid basis by professionals as a public service. Pro bono activities are most closely associated with legal services. Particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States, law firms are encouraged by their professional associations to spend a certain number of hours annually doing pro bono work. While this is less often the case in Europe, pro bono work is becoming increasingly common here as well. We asked three law professionals from big firms in Zuidas for their take on working pro bono. Mounia Benabdallah Attorney at Law & Tax Partner @ Baker McKenzie Does Baker McKenzie have lawyers who do pro bono work? And, if so, in which areas of law? We have a deep-seated commitment to pro bono across the globe. In Amsterdam alone, almost a third of our lawyers worked on pro bono cases last year. We do this for a wide spectrum of organizations and in all fields of the law. To name a few, we were the only law firm to take part in the International Children’s Rights Moot Court conducted by Leiden University, and we advise organizations such as the UNHCR, but also Sensing Clues – a Dutch non-profit which implements technology in nature reserves across the globe to protect wildlife from poachers. Is it important to offer this service? And how so? As one of the largest large law firms in the world, we are committed to applying our legal expertise, resources and network to make a difference in major global and societal issues. We take this responsibility very seriously. It’s engrained in our culture - from the board room to our juniors, who are part of a generation that is naturally much more concerned about the future of our planet and the people on it.
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Text: Romy Lange
