social lawyering

Despite a Delhi ministry government order to return them to employment, the situation for the workers remains uncertain*

Shireen Irani – executive director of online network for pro bono legal assistance i-Probono , tells the Hindu that the “push for volunteering” at the Indian legal workplace in the last three years has evened out the number of male and female lawyers registering on her website, to volunteer.

The site is free to use for people posting pro bono work and lawyers offering help, and requires lawyers to register with basic information including areas of expertise and speaking language.

Apart from acting as a bridge where people in need and lawyers offering pro bono assistance liaise on their own terms, i-Probono also assists the International Justice Mission with finding lawyers to conduct sessions on sensitising legal professionals to women victims of sex trafficking, oppression and slavery. [The Hindu Businessline]

If you didn’t know the exact address of the office, you’d be certain to miss it in the busy North Mumbai suburb. There are no signs and Michelle Mendonca’s business card, as legal director of the International Justice Mission (IJM), merely lists a PO box.

The only giveaway that you are at the correct place is a security keypad locking an unmarked door inside the building.

What drives successful lawyers and graduates to forge a career path in civil society despite myriad challenges and the financial hit? And why are there not more of them? We ask them to find out.