Le juriste d'entreprise - CIO de l'université Panthéon-Assas

POINT DE VUE | ACTION PRO BONO
PILnet : The Global Network
for Public Interest Law
Interview with Edwin Rekosh,
executive director and founder
of PILnet.
36
Edwin Rekosh
tives is the development of pro bono
legal assistance in support of organizations
serving the public good. Companies
and globalized law firms across Europe
are looking for ways to meet their corporate
social responsibilities, make an
enduring impact on their communities,
and contribute to the realization
effective use of pro bono resources identify
their legal needs. We then match
those needs with pro bono lawyers from
large firms and corporations. We also
work with a growing network of partner
pro bono hubs around the world,
including Alliance des Avocats pour les
Droits de l’Homme in France.
As the executive director and
founder of PILnet : The Global
Network for Public Interest Law,
you work closely with lawyers
and the legal establishment to
advance the rule of law and
human rights. Can you tell us
how you came to found PILNET,
and can you describe its work
More than 15 years ago, after the fall
of communism in Europe, I established
a small initiative to support the work
of human rights groups in Central and
Eastern Europe as they sought to engage
with their countries’ newly emerging
constitutional orders. We continue that
work today, but on a global scale. With
thriving offices in Europe, Russia, and
China, a growing Middle East program,
and an expanding circle of partners
in Brazil, Nigeria, India, and beyond,
PILnet collaborates with hundreds of
local partners to develop alliances that
advance the rule of law, protect rights,
deliver justice, and build strong, transparent
societies.
One of PILnet’s most important objec-
« One of PILnet’s most important objectives is the
development of pro bono legal assistance in support
of organizations serving the public good »
of justice. Through pro bono support
for charitable organizations, commercial
lawyers are able to advance vital
causes ranging from anticorruption and
children’s rights to education reform and
environmental protection.
How can an in-house lawyer or
a commercial firm employing
corporate lawyers take
part in PILnet’s work
PILnet plays a key role in promoting and
spreading pro bono culture internationally
through our annual European Pro
Bono Forum, which will be held this
year, 24–25 October, in Warsaw. We
also operate multiple pro bono clearinghouses,
which lay the foundations for
pro bono partnerships by helping local
and international humanitarian organizations
that are well-positioned to make
Through its pro bono clearinghouses,
PILnet has been able to set up successful
collaborations linking in-house counsel
at corporations such as Microsoft, GE,
Google, Nestle, Merck, Accenture, and
Caterpillar with local NGOs in Europe
and around the world. Projects have
ranged from training Russian law
students in business ethics, assisting
with anti-corruption banking legislation
reform in Montenegro, and providing
extensive legal research aimed at stopping
the exploitation of women working
in Nepal’s dance bars.
Pro bono support also comes in the more
traditional but crucial form of legal support
for the administration and governance
of NGOs. Advice on employment
contracts, charity registration, and taxes
helps secure the nuts and bolts of a successful
and sustainable organization.
Juriste d’Entreprise Magazine N°17 – Juillet 2013