Our Programs

In many countries in Latin America and Africa, threats to the rule of law and other democratic values and principles; discrimination on the basis of gender, ethnicity, widespread poverty and other factors; and threats to the environment continue unabated. Laws and policies that would provide protection do not exist or are not respected. Millions suffer violations of their basic rights in their daily lives but have no way of seeking redress, because they are unable to afford the legal assistance they need or because the institutions of democracy that should ensure access to justice do not exist or are so fragile as to be ineffective. State-funded legal aid is typically woefully inadequate to meet the demand for legal counsel and representation.

The Vance Center seeks to harness the knowledge and expertise of members of the legal profession and the power of the law to overcome those challenges. We do this through three programs: our Pro Bono Program; Cross-Border Solutions Program; and Pro Bono Referral Program.

1. Through our Pro Bono Program, we develop the capacity of members of the legal profession to meet the legal needs of the poor and marginalized and advocate on their behalf for justice reform.

   • We coordinated the drafting and introduction of the Pro Bono Declaration of the Americas. The PBDA is a formal statement of a lawyer's obligation to provide pro bono legal services to persons and communities unable to afford the costs of legal representation. It has been signed by more than 400 law firms, bar associations, corporate law departments, law schools, and NGOs in Latin America, the U.S., and Canada. The Declaration is available in English, Spanish and Portugese in the Library section of this website.
   • We help members of the legal profession in Latin America and Africa develop ways of identifying pro bono opportunities and of delivering pro bono legal services effectively and efficiently, so that the benefits reach the people and communities who are most in need.
   • We prepare and distribute tools for use by law firms, bar associations, law schools and NGOs seeking to set up or expand their pro bono programs and provide technical implementation supportincluding:
     • A compendium of pro bono projects undertaken by PBDA signatories.
     • A manual in English and Spanish on setting up pro bono programs.
     • A special series of articles called "Herramientas" that focused on tools that can be used to improve pro bono work and partnerships between law firms and NGOs.
     • Status reports on the PBDA which track progress on implementing the Declaration.
     • Organization of workshops at which different components of the profession share ideas about ways of setting up, administering and implementing pro bono program and projects.
     • Consultations with clearinghouses about structuring their services.
     • Assistance to bar associations about setting up pro bono referral services.
     • Consultations with law schools about integrating legal social responsability pedagogy in their curriculums and clinics.
   • We organize conferences and workshopsthat create opportunities for exchanges of information and ideas among members of the legal profession who want to promote access to justice and justice reform. Examples include:
     • A conference that took place in Santiago, Chile in April 2011 called, "Pro Bono and the Legal Profession: Strengthening Access to Justice" that was attended by more than 250 members of the legal profession -- judges, public-interest and private sector lawyers and law professors -- from across the Americas. A report about the conferece is available on the Library section of this website.
     • A conference that took place in April 2008 in Arusha, Tanzania, at which practitioners in the regional human rights systems of the Americas and Africa exchanged ideas about strategies for promoting and enforcing human rights through those systems. A report about the conference is available on the Library section of this website.
   • We organize training programsfor members of the legal profession who wish to develop their ability to do work that benefits the public interest.
     • A training that took place in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in November 2010 entitled, Fashioning and Monitoring Compliance with Remedies in Structural Reform Litigation." Attended by more than 100 Argentine judges, judges and attorneys from the United States, India, South Africa and Argentina discussed challenges involved in enforcing judgements issued in public interest cases, and effective strategies for designing enforceable remedies. Materials from the training are available on the Library section of this website.
     • A training program for U.S. lawyers interested in practicing in regional human rights systems that took place in New York and Washington, D.C., in March 2010.
   • We firmly believe that the more diverse the legal profession is, the better able it is to understand the needs of vulnerable and disadvantaged communities. We therefore seek to increase equal representation in the legal professionthough:
     • The South African Visiting Lawyer Program, which brings corporate lawyers from disadvantaged backgrounds in South Africa to work at law firms and corporate legal departments in New York City for one-year terms. Program participants enhance their corporate and international commercial practice skills while in New York. Upon returning to South Africa, they have become partners at leading law firms and assumed high positions in government and financial institutions in South Africa. They have also become active in their communities by, for example, mentoring black high school students seeking to become lawyers and by taking on pro bono assignments. As of mid-2011 37 South African lawyers had participated in the Visiting Lawyers Program since its inception in 2001. Thirteen New York law firms and the legal departments of six financial institutions have hosted them in New York: Citigroup; Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton; Clifford Chance; Cravath, Swaine & Moore; Credit Suisse; Davis Polk & Wardwell; Goldman Sachs; JP Morgan Chase; Kirkland & Ellis; Mayer Brown; Merrill Lynch; Morgan Stanley; O'Melveny & Myers; Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison; Shearman & Sterling; Simpson Thacher & Bartlett; Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom; Sullivan & Cromwell; and Weil, Gotshal & Manges.Program participants are selected on basis of a rigorous and competitive process. Generally information about the application process is made available by the Vance Center and the Law Society of South Africa in January or February of each year for placements that begin in the following September.
     • The Women in the Profession Program, which has been introduced in several countries in Latin America including Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Peru, enables lawyers to share ideas and develop best practices for the hiring, retention, advancement and promotion of women lawyers.

2. Through our Cross-Border Solutions Program, we build pro bono partnerships that develop innovative solutions to problems common across the globe.

   We identify public interest issues with global impact, such as women's rights, disability rights, environmental sustainability and then build cross-border teams of lawyers, advocates from NGOs and others who work together to develop solutions.

3. Through our Pro Bono Referral Program, we provide NGOs with access to pro bono legal assistance and lawyers with opportunities to engage in international pro bono work.

   We connect U.S. and foreign pro bono counsel with NGOs that are engaged in efforts to promote social justice and human rights in Africa and Latin America in need of legal assistance. The projects may take the form of research, transactional support, technical advice, preparing amicus briefs or acting as co-counsel. The work of the lawyers who have participated in projects referred to them under this program has resulted in law reform and greater protection for individual rights and rule of law.

To learn more about our programs, contact us