A&L Goodbody – Utilising the legal skills of our people for maximum impact

Year:

2013

Company Description:

A&L Goodbody is internationally recognised as one of Ireland’s leading law firms. The Firm advises both domestic and international clients across every facet of business law.

Business Issue:

Attracting and retaining our employees is very important to A&L Goodbody as we firmly believe it is our people who make us stand out from our competitors.  As part of our Corporate Responsibility strategy, pro bono is at the centre of all our community involvement. We believe we make the most impact by using our skills, knowledge and training to deliver what is most needed in the community. We also believe that it plays a fundamental role in the discharge of our ethical and social responsibilities.

Solution Applied:

A&L Goodbody’s pro bono practice is at the centre of our community programme called Step Up. We ask all our solicitors to engage in at least 15 hours per year in CR activities which includes pro bono work.

We work in partnership with domestic and international “clearing houses”, including the Public Interest Law Alliance, Business in the Community and Thomson Reuter Trustlaw Foundation. They match our expertise with specific legal needs in non-governmental organisations, community organisations and law centres.

In the last year, 95 of our solicitors delivered 1200 hours in providing high quality legal services at no cost to 35 community and voluntary organisations.

In February 2013, the Public Interest Law Alliance (PILA) approached A&L Goodbody to embark on an exciting collaborative project with the Irish Refugee Council to pilot a unique pro bono service for people claiming refugee status in Ireland. The project involves A&L Goodbody lawyers advising and representing IRC Law Centre clients pro bono in the first interview stage of the asylum process.  By piloting this project, A&L Goodbody is contributing to an unmet need of increased access to justice for individuals who are looking for refugee status.

The IRC-A&L Goodbody collaboration is the first of its kind in Ireland and is now being adopted by the Firm as part of our commitment to pro bono work.

Company Benefits:

Our lawyers involved in pro bono case work benefit by developing their skills, learning new skills and applying them to address new challenges.

Stakeholder Benefits:

The social enterprises and community and voluntary organisations (and their service users) benefit from receiving timely, clear, useful legal advice.  The following are testimonials from some the community partners we engaged with through our pro bono practice in 2012:

“Thank you for the professional and committed work to date on the Board Manual for DALC. You have no idea what a valuable support your company are providing.”

Pauline McGaley, Dublin Adult Learning Centre (DALC)

“It was a great experience for us because of the very professional and efficient work of Aisling and Rachel [ALG Solicitors].”

Cairde , www.cairde.ie 

“Johanne [ALG solicitor] is very helpful, strategic and innovative…she has also a great passion for education and equity.”

St Vincent de Paul

Challenges

Some legal issues are more common than others and can mean that the same practice area is dealing with the majority of the pro bono legal queries.

Tip

To avoid the same practice area dealing with the majority of pro bono legal issues, it is advisable to partner with as many organisations as possible, national and international, to meet your pro bono programme objectives.

Department Involved:

The programme is coordinated by Sinead Smith, CR Manager, scsmith@algoodbody.com