It seems that an increasing number of law firms in Poland are willing to provide pro bono aid to NGOs which would otherwise not be able to afford expensive legal services. Centrum Pro Bono, an organization which matches lawyers with urgent cases, has witnessed this trend first hand – a growing number of law firms are volunteering through its program.

“A pleasant surprise here is a trend of law firms located outside of Warsaw wanting to help,” said Julia Kluczyńska of Centrum Pro Bono. Over the past two years her organization has matched 100 cases with lawyers working on a pro bono basis.

Cezary Wyszyński, the president of Fundacja Viva!, which helps mistreated animals, has made use of such legal services several times. “We needed legal aid in seizing a property which housed [abused] animals. We got detailed legal expertise on our rights as a foundation. Another time we obtained legal assistance in closing an illegal fox-breeding farm,” he said.

Mr Wyszyński said he had been surprised at how quickly the lawyers had come to his organization’s aid. “Knowing how busy lawyers are, I thought if somebody worked on it pro bono, he would do it [only] when he found extra time,” he said.

Another beneficiary of the practice is the Center for Citizenship Education, which has used pro bono legal aid several times in copyright issues. The center’s Agnieszka Brzezińska admitted that her organization could not have afforded it otherwise.

“If each 45-minute consultation costs zł.300, receiving extensive pro bono aid an average of five times a year gives us [quite] an annual savings,” she said.

Providing pro bono legal services is commonplace among law firms in the West. Even large firms have a policy stipulating that a certain number of hours must be dedicated to pro bono cases. This has not been a tradition in Poland, but the custom is becoming entrenched here nonetheless.

“Nobody is forcing us to do this. Working pro bono is part of a lawyer’s job. Thanks to such cases I am able to see the needs of Polish charities, and I get personal satisfaction from helping them,” said Jan Kaczmarczyk, a trainee lawyer at Hogan & Hartson.