Thomson Reuters Legal CEO Peter Warwick introduced a new international pro bono legal service during a session with former United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency Director Mohamed ElBaradei at LegalTech New York on Monday, February 1.

From the outset of the discussion, called "The Rule of Law and the Role of Verifying Compliance in Developing Nations," Warwick, a trustee of the nonprofit Thomson Reuters Foundation, challenged the roughly 200 lawyers and legal services professionals in the audience to take on new pro bono projects to help extend the rule of law around the globe.

The Thomson Reuters Foundation -- the charitable division of the global news provider and parent company of Westlaw -- has created TrustLaw, a Web site designed to bring together non-governmental organizations around the globe with the lawyers and major law firms that can offer pro bono services to help them extend the rule of law.

According to the TrustLaw site, the effort "will initially focus on good governance and anti-corruption issues, pulling together a variety of initiatives alongside fresh material by our expert editorial team. TrustLaw features a growing repository of information around anti-corruption and governance issues, including national legislation, international conventions, news, country profiles and law reviews from our own team, as well as from international institutions, law firms, governments, non-governmental organizations and others."

The TrustLaw project will also involve an attempt to help people access free legal assistance. "At the heart of the project is an ambitious electronic platform called TrustLaw Connect, designed to create a new 'marketplace' for international pro bono work," the site says. "Our goal is to spread the culture of pro bono globally, taking it to countries where it is not common practice."
 

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