Pro Bono Week Ireland 2022!

The fourth annual Pro Bono Week will take place from 21 to 25 November. Pro Bono Week Ireland is part of the EU-wide, European Pro Bono Week. This multi-city, week-long event celebrates the role played by volunteer lawyers, all across Europe, in supporting civil society and human rights organizations and promoting access to justice for those in need.

Here in Ireland, under the EU-wide theme of Pro Bono in Times of Crises, events throughout the week seek to highlight the culture, the work and most importantly the necessity of pro bono practice. The events have been coordinated by the Pro Bono Week 2022 Committee of Ireland, comprising of PILA (The Public Interest Law Alliance), a project of FLAC, A&L Goodbody LLP, Arthur Cox LLP, Mason Hayes & Curran LLP, Matheson LLP, McCann Fitzgerald LLP and Deloitte Ireland LLP.

Monday’s events will kick off with the online EU-wide Launch of Pro Bono Week from 1-2pm. Monday evening will see the official launch of Ireland Pro Bono Week. Attendees can look forward to joining industry leaders in discussing pro bono in Ireland and what can be done to Shape the Pro Bono Landscape. Attorney General, Paul Gallagher SC will officially get the week’s events started. His speech will be followed by a panel discussion with David Fennelly (FLAC Chairperson), Richard King (speaking from an NGO perspective), Sara Phelan SC, (speaking from the Bar Council perspective), a representative from Deloitte LLP (speaking from an in-house legal team perspective) and Aine Hynes SC (speaking from the Law Society perspective).

On Tuesday morning, FLAC’s Managing Solicitor, Sinéad Lucey will explain the Amicus Curiae Procedure for an NGO audience, and when and how to avail of the procedure. She will also be joined briefly by a member of the Arthur Cox team who will discuss the NGO Guide to the Amicus Curiae Procedure in the Republic of Ireland as a useful resource. On Tuesday lunchtime, legal professionals are invited to join an interactive climate action event led by Chancery Lane Project. The Chancery Lane Project team will guide attendees through practical activities to demonstrate the climate action steps lawyers can take. Lawyers from Arthur Cox, Byrne Wallace and Mason Hayes & Curran will also speak about their experiences.

On Wednesday lunchtime, Adam Finlay and Mary Brassil of McCann FitzGerald LLP will launch the data protection guides that have been created for NGO’s by the McCann FitzGerald LLP Data Protection team. These guides are intended to provide an overview of Data Protection Law and its application to the charity/not-for-profit sector.

Very significant changes are incoming in the area of capacity law in Ireland and on Thursday morning these changes will be explored. Under the new system, a relevant person whose capacity is in question can avail of a three tier system of assisted decision-making. This will be an information webinar aimed at NGOs will take place online. Brian Horkan and Fiona McNulty of Mason Hayes and Curran LLP will discuss the new regime.

On Thursday evening there will be a celebratory event, taking a look at the range of collaborative projects that the pro bono legal community has worked on together. At this event, the inaugural Pro Bono Pledge Ireland Report will be launched celebrating the achievements of the many talented lawyers involved in the Pro Bono Pledge Ireland and in a multiplicity of collaborative pro bono projects.

The week’s events will close with an NGO Pitch event hosted by PILA on Friday morning. The objective of this event is to connect Pro Bono Pledge Signatories that have committed to doing pro bono work with NGOs and Civil Societies that have projects in need of legal expertise.

For more information and to register, click here: https://www.pila.ie/pbw/