Con gusto compartimos con nuestra comunidad los resultados del Latin Lawyer and the Vance Center’s Pro Bono Survey 2017 donde el Centro Mexicano Pro Bono y su directora Ivette Montero fueron mencionados.
Agradecemos a las firmas de abogados mexicanas por su apoyo sincero y sumarse a nuestra misión.
A continuación un extracto de lo que se menciona en el documento publicado en Noviembre de 2017.
Even in countries with longer pro bono traditions, new initiatives are popping up to plug gaps in demand. In 2016, Mexico welcomed its third clearing house, Centro Mexicano Pro Bono, which aims to include a broader base of legal practitioners than existing set-ups by allowing non-bar members to join. Indeed, pro bono in Latin America has taken such great strides in the last few decades that legal communities around the world are looking to the region for inspiration. Those spearheading Spain’s rst clearing house are looking to Latin America for guidance.
The vital role that pro bono has played in helping communities recover following the recent spate of natural disasters gives an idea of how crucial a service it has become. In Mexico, for example, all three clearing houses – Appleseed México, Centro Mexicano Pro Bono and Fundación Barra Mexicana – have combined their efforts in the aftermath of an earthquake in September that killed over 200 people in Mexico City alone.
Latin Lawyer and theVance Center would like to thank the following for their help in encouraging rms to take part in our survey and for their feedback on their local pro bono communities: the Comisión de Trabajo Pro Bono in Argentina, Brazil’s Instituto Pro Bono, the Fundación Pro Bono in Chile, the Fundación Pro Bono Colombia, the Costa Rican Comisión Pro Bono, the Dominican Republic’s Fundación Pro Bono, Fundación Barra Mexicana, Appleseed and Centro Mexicano Pro Bono in Mexico, CIDSEP in Paraguay, the Alianza Pro Bono in Peru and ProVene inVenezuela.
Similarly, Ivette Montero launched Mexico’s third clearing house, Centro Mexicano Pro Bono, in 2015 because she felt there was a need for a more inclusive organization. “There was interest from in-house lawyers, smaller firms and lawyers that are not part of the bar to get involved in pro bono,” she says. Fundación Barra Mexicana, naturally enough, only admits lawyers that are bar members, while Appleseed Mexico is predominantly a grouping of large or US headquartered firms.
This screening function means that those that work at clearing houses must have a particular skillset. “[They] need to have sophisticated knowledge to be able to approach lawyers, but also be people that can go to culturally distinct environments and be able to engage with the people there,” says Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP’s Todd Crider. For example, Harvard-educated lawyer Ivette Montero, who is the director of Centro Mexicano Pro Bono, says that her involvement with non-profit organizations means that she is “close to [these organizations’] needs” and can identify what legal assistance is most helpful.
Participating firms
Latin Lawyer and the Vance Center would like to thank all the rms that took the time to complete the survey. We list the participants below with the exception of those that requested to remain anonymous.
Mexico
- Alessio Robles y Gonzales SC
- Baker McKenzie
- Basham, Ringe y Correa
- Bello, Gallardo, Bonequi y García SC
- BSN Bufete Sanchez Navarro S.C.
- Chevez, Ruiz, Zamarripa y Cía SC
- Creel, García-Cuéllar, Aiza y Enríquez SC
- Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle SC
- González Calvillo, SC
- Greenberg Traurig SC
- Hogan Lovells
- Jones Day
- Kuri Breña Sánchez Ugarte y Aznar
- Ritch, Mueller, Heather y Nicolau, SC
- Sánchez Devanny
- Von Wobeser y Sierra SC
