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Lex Mundi Pro Bono Foundation e-Newsletter: July 2010

 

Lex Mundi Pro Bono Foundation Launches LawForChange Website

On May 1, 2010, the Lex Mundi Pro Bono Foundation launched LawForChange, a unique and innovative online legal resource that supports and strengthens the U.S. social sector (i.e., social entrepreneurs, organizations with a social mission, charities, and community and social welfare organizations). LawForChange provides legal information that social sector organizations need to increase capacity and achieve lasting social change in their communities.

This invaluable resource for the U.S. social sector was made possible by the collective work of Lex Mundi member firms in the U.S. The Lex Mundi member firms drafted state-specific content that will enable social entrepreneurs and nonprofits to minimize risk, think strategically, and better understand when to consult a lawyer for assistance. The information provided by the Lex Mundi U.S. member firms is a great example of how law firms can come together and utilize their talents and time to have a real and positive impact on organizations working to create social change in their communities.

At this time, LawForChange covers the U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. However, there is potential to work with Lex Mundi’s powerful global network of leading law firms to expand the model to the social sector in other countries around the world.

Please spread the word about LawForChange and let relevant members of your community know about this exciting new resource. Also, the Foundation continues to find ways to improve the website and welcomes any comments and suggestions.

To date, the following Lex Mundi member firms generously contributed their time and energy to making this effort possible:

Success Stories: Lawyers Helping Social Entrepreneurs Change the World

Two recent Lex Mundi Pro Bono Foundation projects highlight the pro bono work being done by Lex Mundi member firms and the impact that Lex Mundi member firm lawyers are having on the lives of the world’s poor and disenfranchised.

Lex Mundi Member Firms Help Root Capital Fight Poverty in Environmentally Vulnerable Areas

Root Capital is a nonprofit social investment fund that is pioneering finance for grassroots businesses in rural areas of developing countries. The organization provides capital, financial management training, and market connections to small and growing businesses that build sustainable livelihoods and transform rural communities in poor, environmentally vulnerable places. Since their launch in 1999, Root Capital has provided more than $200 million in credit to 290 small and growing businesses representing 375,000 smallholder producers in 30 countries.

Lex Mundi member firm lawyers have helped Root Capital review loan agreements, conduct due diligence on a prospective loan, and establish regional offices in multiple countries.

Individuals that contributed to these efforts include:

  • Shirin Philipp, Essence McGill Arzu, Michael Glanz, and Richard Schaul-Yoder with Foley Hoag LLP, Lex Mundi member firm for Massachusetts, USA
  • Ernesto Hütt Crespo with Facio & Cañas, Lex Mundi member firm for Costa Rica
  • Ana Raquel Villeda with Mayora y Mayora, S.C., Lex Mundi member firm for Guatemala
  • Luis Pellerano and Isabel L. Andrickson with Pellerano & Herrera, Lex Mundi member firm for the Dominican Republic

Commenting on the value of the legal services to his organization, William Foote, Founder and CEO of Root Capital, said, “Root Capital’s success and continued growth is dependent upon our ability to serve small and growing businesses in some of the world’s poorest rural communities. The support and guidance that we have received from Lex Mundi member firms has been critical. It has ensured access to quality legal counsel across borders and buttressed the loan documentation we use to finance otherwise ‘unbankable’ enterprises, thus building a strong foundation from which to scale our efforts. We are very thankful for Lex Mundi's guidance and dedication.”


Lex Mundi Member Firms Help Sustainable Harvest Coffee Importers Encourage Transparent Markets for Coffee

For generations, coffee farmers did not know who purchased their product, how it tasted, or if they would sell to the same buyer again. Sustainable Harvest is changing this cycle with the “Relationship Coffee” business model. Relationship Coffee operates with complete transparency and brings coffee farmers, importers, and roasters together on a level playing field. Since 1997, Sustainable Harvest has purchased more than $100 million in coffee from farmers in Latin America and East Africa. They have also channeled significant investments — nearly $1 million in 2009 — to these coffee-growing communities.

Lawyers at a number of Lex Mundi member firms have helped Sustainable Harvest promote fair and transparent markets for coffee by providing trademark support for a coffee traceability software program, assisting the organization in resolving work visa issues, filing for nonprofit status in Peru, protecting business methods and processes, and providing general counsel for ongoing legal needs.

Libby Evans, Director of Farmer Development Programs at Sustainable Harvest, commented, "Sustainable Harvest has been able to focus on improving the livelihoods of more coffee farmers worldwide as a result of partnering with the Lex Mundi Pro Bono Foundation.  Lex Mundi member firms have allowed us to focus on our work, while providing us with effective and efficient legal counsel."

The following lawyers at Lex Mundi member firms have generously contributed their time and expertise:

Other Recent Events

Over the past few months, the Lex Mundi Pro Bono Foundation participated in several other important events:

  • On March 19, Alston & Bird LLP, Lex Mundi member firm for Georgia, USA, hosted a breakfast for Lex Mundi member firm representatives who gathered in Washington, D.C. to attend the Pro Bono Institute’s Annual Seminar. The breakfast was an opportunity for the group to network and to share lessons and experiences regarding supporting social entrepreneurs with pro bono legal services. After the breakfast, Chloe Holderness, Managing Director of the Lex Mundi Pro Bono Foundation, attended the PBI Annual Seminar in order to share information about the Foundation’s model and to learn from the experience of other pro bono service providers.
  • On April 14-16, the Foundation attended the Skoll World Forum in Oxford, England, an annual event that unites the world’s leading social entrepreneurs with partners that can accelerate their impact.  As a participant, Chloe Holderness met with Skoll awardees from around the world to determine how the Foundation can best support their legal needs with pro bono resources.
  • On April 22, Dave Roll, Associate Director of the Lex Mundi Pro Bono Foundation, participated in a Criterion Ventures Structure Lab seminar in New York City, discussing the new and traditional forms of structuring social enterprises.  Roll reflects, “[the seminar] enabled me to explore…the corporate structures and hybrid forms – the new and the old – that accommodate mission, financing, growth, governance and merger and exit strategies."
  • On June 8th, Dave Roll attended the Fourth Sector Network and The Aspen Institute’s Program on Philanthropy and Social Innovation’s conference on “Establishing an Appropriate Policy Environment for Fourth Sector (For-benefit) Organizations” at the Aspen Institute in Washington, D.C.  Meeting with leading social innovators, academics, and legal and policy experts, Roll explored the roll of pro bono law in the emerging “fourth sector” as the boundaries between the public, private, and social sectors become increasingly blurred.
  • On June 16-18, the Foundation joined media innovators and community leaders at the Future of News and Civic Media Conference at MIT, exploring how new technologies can shape the future of news and civic media. The Foundation was awarded a grant by the host of the conference, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, to provide pro bono legal services to Knight News Challenge Winners and other global innovators in journalism and civic media around the world.
  • On June 16-19, the Foundation participated in the Lemelson Foundation and MIT’s fourth annual EurekaFest, a multi-day celebration designed to empower a legacy of inventors through activities that inspire youth, honor role models, and encourage creativity and problem solving. The Lemelson Foundation supports the Lex Mundi Pro Bono Foundation’s work, with a particular focus on supporting invention-based social innovators.

To view a complete list of recent news events and announcements, please visit the Lex Mundi Pro Bono Foundation’s “News and Events” web page at http://www.lexmundiprobono.org/lexmundiprobono/News.asp.


About the Lex Mundi Pro Bono Foundation

The Lex Mundi Pro Bono Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit affiliate of Lex Mundi, the world’s leading association of independent law firms.  (For more information about Lex Mundi, please visit http://www.lexmundi.com/.)  Utilizing the talents and resources of Lex Mundi’s powerful network of 160 top-tier commercial law firms in 100 countries around the globe, representing approximately 21,000 lawyers, the Foundation matches experienced lawyers who provide first-class legal services to social entrepreneurs on a pro bono basis, enabling them to carry out their missions of positive social change and to improve communities and the lives of the poor and disenfranchised.

The Foundation defines social entrepreneurs as “transformative change makers,” individuals and organizations that use entrepreneurial and innovative ideas to improve communities and the lives of the poor and disenfranchised.  Because Lex Mundi member firms are leading, full-service law firms, they have the experience and expertise to provide critically important assistance to social entrepreneurs, thus helping them become successful agents of positive social change.

The Foundation is a “matchmaker” and does not practice law. Rather, it identifies effective social entrepreneurs through referrals by its partners/collaborators.  These organizations include the Skoll Foundation, Ashoka Innovators for the Public, Acumen Fund, Draper Richards Foundation, Global Fund for Children, Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, Echoing Green, Lemelson Foundation, and Mercy Corps.  For a complete list of the Foundation’s collaborators, please CLICK HERE>>.  The Foundation is constantly exploring additional collaborative relationships with potential partners that support innovative and entrepreneurial social change makers.

The Foundation is unique in that there is no other global organization that is focused exclusively on providing pro bono legal services to social entrepreneurs.  The Foundation aspires to become one of the world’s premier pro bono legal service organizations and to reach many more social entrepreneurs.

To learn more about the Lex Mundi Pro Bono Foundation and its current projects, please visit http://www.lexmundiprobono.org/.  For all inquiries, please contact Chloe Holderness at Tel: 1.202.429.1630.

On behalf of the Lex Mundi Pro Bono Foundation, we would like to thank everyone who has been part of our success to date.

Carl Anduri, President
Chloe Holderness, Managing Director
David Roll, Associate Director
Courtney Ivins, Program Associate
The Lex Mundi Pro Bono Foundation is a charitable affiliate of Lex Mundi, the world’s leading association of independent law firms.
The Lex Mundi Pro Bono Foundation does not practice law.
Copyright © 2009 Lex Mundi
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