Moscow NGOs Receive Legal Support
FrontLines - September 2009
By Lorin Kavanaugh-Ulku
Russian NGOs are now getting
free legal help to cope with new registration requirements and complex tax regulations.
USAID is strengthening Russian civil society by helping the NGOs get quality and affordable
legal support.
The Agency worked with law firms, the American Bar Association (ABA), and the Public Interest Law Institute (PILI) to create the Pro Bono Clearinghouse. In two years, the partnership secured commitments
from 16 international and six local firms to provide legal assistance to NGOs. Last year more than 90 cases were resolved—a value of $900,000 in legal services.
“The needs are much, much larger than what we are currently filling,” said Edwin Rekosh, the executive director of PILI. “We would like to scale up what we are doing in Moscow and grow this to extend across Russia.”
The concept of pro bono law, or the practice of legal firms donating free advisory counsel and services, is new to Russia.
During the transition from communism
to free markets in the 1990s, pro bono legal services weren’t a priority for local and international law firms struggling
to establish themselves. NGOs mainly solicited legal advice informally.
“The reason was probably
cultural,” said Alexander Lapidus, who oversees the clearinghouse
at PILI in Moscow. “There was this sense among these organizations that you don’t need legal counsel until there is a really big problem.”
“A lot of people recognized the need for a pro bono clearinghouse at the same time,” said Mikki Mahan, who is with White & Case in Moscow. “The ABA had been encouraging U.S. law firms to strengthen their pro bono commitment,
and USAID was making the rounds with the various law firms trying to get them onboard.”
PILI’s prior experience in the region helped it quickly adapt to the needs of Russia’s legal environment.
“When we started in Russia, we knew where we would encounter issues,” Rekosh said.
Through the clearinghouse, international law firms with a strong pro bono ethic inspired Russian firms to gain experience
in this sector. The local law firms, initially reticent to join the clearinghouse, found that the initiative represented an opportunity
to launch their own pro bono programs.
Word quickly got around the NGO community that legal services were being provided on a pro bono basis and that the lawyers were willing to take on challenging cases.
For example, clearinghouse firms have been working for the past two years to obtain
authorizations for Big Break, an organization that teaches life skills to 18-year-olds who are “graduating” from orphanages.
“Big Break wants to do everything by the law, and that takes a lot of time,” said Tatiana Zadirako, executive director of United Way of Russia. “They need seven separate authorizations
from various government ministries before they are fully authorized to provide trainings.”
The clearinghouse, in conjunction
with United Way of Russia and PILI, is also working to expand its reach by training Russian NGOs on a variety of daily operations including formation,
amending charter documents, taxation, creating foundations, and licensing and registration issues.
★
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