Pro Bono Profile: Comisin Pro Bono - News - Latin Lawyer

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Pro Bono Profile: Comisin Pro Bono

Friday, 15th February 2013 Latin Lawyers seventh annual Deal of the Year Awards is being held in aid of three of the regions pro bono clearinghouses. In the first of three profiles, Joe Rowley talks to one of the founders of Argentinas Comisin Pro Bono about the baptism of fire of its first year and the organisations continuing efforts to raise the profile of pro bono work in the country

Argentinas Comisin Pro Bono was launched in the midst of an unfolding economic crisis that would prove to be the worst in the countrys history. Faced with the prospect of massive capital flight worsening an already deteriorating economy, the governments imposition of a freeze on withdrawals from domestic bank accounts sparked massive protests up and down the country and helped push middle-class Argentines, many of whom had also recently lost their jobs in state-owned industries, into poverty. It would
Fundacin Huerta Nio is one organisation to benefit from Comisin Pro Bono's assistance

be difficult to point to another period in recent Argentine history when demand for pro bono work would be in such high demand, yet the chance of a new pro bono clearinghouse succeeding far from

assured. The Comisin was founded in 2000 by a group of board members at the Colegio de Abogados de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires, the second oldest law association in the country, and included Zapiola Guerrico & Asociados partner Martn Zapiola, Klein & Franco Abogados partner Walther Klein, Prez Alati, Grondona, Benites, Arntsen & Martnez de Hoz (h) partner Jose Martinez de Hoz (h), Estudio Beccar Varela partner Damien Beccar Varela, independent legal practitioner Juan Cambiaso (who previously worked for Marval, O'Farrell & Mairal) and academic Martin Bohner. With institutionalised pro bono work still a relatively unknown concept in the countrys legal market, and with the organisation deluged by a soaring demand for legal assistance, Comisin Pro Bono had to move fast to raise awareness of the organisation in order to get law firms on board, while also putting in place structures resilient enough to filter the avalanche of pro bono requests it was receiving. Founder Zapiola says minimalistic rules that clearly set out the aims of the organisation and defined the type of projects it would help, were key to boosting awareness of the organisation. Twelve years later the success of that policy is clear; the rules have remained unchanged and the number of firms on its books has increased from six to 20, ranging from the largest firms in the market to some of the smallest. In Argentina we didnt have a concept of pro bono work as it is structured in the United States, remembers Zapiola of the reality before the Comisin was founded. Many lawyers already did charitable work for people they knew, or maybe the maid who worked in their house, but what we sought to do was make a difference in the quality of that pro bono work and putting in place standards of accountability. While its overheads may be modest with only one full-time coordinator and a skeleton staff the Comisins founders knew that securing reliable income would be key to getting the organisation off the ground. After a series of unsuccessful attempts at securing foreign funding, it turned to its law firm members, charging a membership fee for participation in the network and a voluntary donation based on the size of the firm. Law firms are always cutting costs, but what surprised us most is that they all paid the extra donation and we never had any problems collecting the money, says Zapiola, noting that this has continued even in recent years with

http://www.latinlawyer.com/news/article/44592/pro-bono-profile-comision-pro-bono/

15/02/2013

Pro Bono Profile: Comisin Pro Bono - News - Latin Lawyer

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many firms experiencing a drop in billable hours due to the governments meddling in the economy driving away investors. The motivation for setting up the Comisin was sparked by a presentation from the former Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice executive director Joan Vermeulen, in which she outlined the main features of pro bono schemes in the US. But the founders recognised that merely imitating the structures in the North America would not automatically make the organisation fit for purpose. In contrast to the US, where many firms dedicate a substantial among of pro bono work to individual cases, Zapiola explains that Argentinas existing networks of universities and legal organisations meant it was already possible for individuals to obtain legal representation. We recognised that as we only had limited human resources it was important for us to narrow our scope and concentrate on public interest cases that is cases that affect a range of people in a community or have a multiplier effect, he explains. In Argentinaour social problems have more to do with noncompliance with rule of law and a lack of transparency, so we decided to concentrate on that area. Work in that area soon started coming in. When Poder Ciudando, the Argentine chapter of Transparency International, approached the Comisin in 2001 to help gain access to documents detailing the economic interests of members of the government, it seemed like a match made in heaven and led to the organisation chalking up its first major success. In spite of a law ruling that the economic interests of the countrys 69 senators must be made available for public scrutiny, in practice the documents were effectively treated as confidential and kept under lock and key. After its own application to access the documents wasnt even acknowledged by the government, Poder turned to the clearinghouse, which put it in contact with two law firms belonging to the pro bono network to file a recurso de amparo. The case would prove to be a landmark, with Poder winning the case in the both first instance and after appeal, which led to all public official declarations being made available to the public. Other major successes quickly followed, with the Comisin winning two cases on behalf of disability campaigners against the municipal government on Buenos Aires. The first case saw the clearinghouse launch a collective action suit on behalf of disability charity Accesso Ya to make all private and public schools accessible to disabled students, while the outcome of the second forced the government to abide by its own rules to ensure that 5 per cent of positions in the municipal government are reserved for people with disabilities (up from a real figure of around 0.2 per cent) and led to new rules preventing the government from hiring new staff without first ensuring that this ratio is not reduced. With the Colegio de Abogados celebrating its centenary this year, Zapiola hopes that the Comisin Pro Bono will enjoy similar longevity. Together with recent work investigating the laws governing the treatment of addicts of paco, a highly-addictive and deadly base form of cocaine, and assisting Fundacin Huerta Nio, an NGO seeking to combat child malnutrition by teaching children and adults how to build and maintain community orchards, the clearinghouse's sights are firmly set on the next generation of lawyers. The ultimate goal is complete cultural change, says Zapiola. Now there is no division between pro bono lawyers and hired lawyers. Dedicating a certain amount of work to good causes is part of being a lawyer. Latin Lawyers seventh annual Deal of the Year Awards is being held in aid of three of the regions pro bono clearinghouses, including Comisin Pro Bono.

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http://www.latinlawyer.com/news/article/44592/pro-bono-profile-comision-pro-bono/

15/02/2013