Building empathy, helping the community: Why donors amplify NUS Law’s pro bono efforts

Helping the least, last and lost in society—that’s the ethos of pro bono service.

While the recognition of the pro bono efforts of NUS Law students is at the heart of each Pro Bono Awards ceremony organised by the Centre for Pro Bono & Clinical Legal Education, the students can contribute in the way they desire because of the steadfast financial support of donors who believe in the worthiness of their cause. Each Pro Bono Award ceremony accordingly also proudly features the presentation of donor grants from the generous donors to the students. These critical funds help financially support the students’ efforts to effect meaningful change in the community, allowing students to serve a diverse group of beneficiaries including migrant workers, and vulnerable persons such as the elderly, sexual assault survivors and youths at risk.

At the 8^th Pro Bono Awards Ceremony held on 21 February, the NUS Law Class of 1992 Pro Bono Grant, the NUS Law Class of 2017 Pro Bono Grant, and the RHTLaw Asia Subhas Anandan Pro Bono Grant were presented in support of seven noteworthy pro bono projects.

The NUS Law Class of 1992 Pro Bono Grant was presented by donor representative Vijai Parwani ’92 to Building of Bridges, Project Parachute and the NUS-FIDReC collaboration. Through Building of Bridges, the project group aims to raise legal awareness among migrant workers about the laws governing their industry, while the students working on Project Parachute will work towards promoting access to justice for sexual assault survivors through its collaborations with NUS CARE Unit and AWARE. Lastly, the NUS-FIDReC collaboration seeks to increase access to justice by raising awareness on common issues of dispute between vulnerable consumers, namely seniors and the youth, and financial institutions.

The NUS Law Class of 2017 Pro Bono Grant was presented by donor representative Charlene Wee ’17 to fund the Project Legal Awareness for Youths Mentorship (PLAY) and Law & You. PLAY focuses on the mentorship of secondary school students from various neighbourhood schools, empowering these at-risk and vulnerable young people to be more confident individuals through legal workshops centred on topics such as drugs and addiction, mediation, cyberbullying and harassment, and regular engagement sessions.

Law & You aims to promote access to justice for migrant domestic workers in collaboration with various organisations such as the Humanitarian Organization for Migration Economics, the Foreign Domestic Worker Association for Social Support and Training, the Archdiocesan Commission for the Pastoral Care of Migrants & Itinerant People, the Centre for Domestic Employees and the Alliance of Domestic Employees Outreach, by raising awareness of their legal rights and liabilities while working in Singapore.

The RHTLaw Asia Subhas Anandan Pro Bono Grant was presented by donor representative Yang Eu Jin ’97 to the NUS Criminal Justice Club (CJC) in support of the Thai-Ed with Love initiative. The NUS CJC seeks to raise awareness about criminal law in Singapore and provide opportunities for students to engage with the criminal justice system through seven sub-branches including the Recourse Initiative (formerly known as the Innocence Project Singapore), the Military Justice Project and the Criminal Law Digest, while Thai-Ed with Love is an overseas pro bono exchange in collaboration with Thammasat University’s Pro Bono Society that is organised by the NUS Pro Bono Group.

This year’s exchange, Thai-Ed with Love 2024, was a five-day trip involving out-of-classroom experiences and an exchange of ideas to enrich the learning and understanding of laws and pro bono cultures in Thailand and Singapore.

What sparked the creation of these grants? For the Class of 2017, the spirit of paying it forward was the driving force. Mr Nguyen Vu Lan, Mr Yee Guang Yi and Ms Charlene Wee, representing the Class of 2017, said, “Just as how our seniors have always been helpful and supportive of our endeavours while we were in NUS Law, we wanted to pay it forward by doing something for our juniors, through the setting up of the NUS Law Class of 2017 Pro Bono Grant.”

For the Class of 1992, their Pro Bono Grant was established to celebrate their 20th anniversary. Against the backdrop that pro bono was not a requirement in their then curriculum, the Class was inspired to fund sustainable and innovative pro bono projects to galvanise law students to lend a helping hand to those in need. Their aim is to expose students to the real world of legal practice to hone their soft skills. Said Mr Gregory Vijayendran, Mr Andrew Chan Chee Yin and Ms Judy Chang, representing the Class, “We wanted the law students to feel a sense of purpose, as we are aware of the high attrition rate of young lawyers within the first few years of practice, when they face the relentless grind of billable hours.”

As for RHTLaw Asia, their intention was simple: to honour the late Mr Subhas Anandan, a founding partner of the law firm who left an indelible mark on the legal community as a fervent advocate for pro bono work. Speaking on behalf of RHTLaw Asia, Mr Yang Eu Jin and Mr Azman Jaafar said the Grant was established as a testament to his commitment and dedication to taking on pro bono projects.

Here, we speak to the donor representatives to find out more about how pro bono work has a positive impact both on beneficiaries and prospective lawyers, and how they hope their Grants will leave a positive legacy.

Q: How important is it for law students to engage in pro bono work?

Class of 2017: 

Engaging in pro bono work is crucial. Apart from ensuring that law students get a chance to give back to society and assist the less privileged, it also provides students with practical experience in real-world settings, something that is hard to come by in class. Students can develop essential skills in the areas of legal research, client interviewing and management, drafting of documents and, if they are fortunate enough, some form of oral or written advocacy.

Class of 1992:

It helps that they work with the underprivileged, vulnerable and disadvantaged groups in our society, so that they develop a greater sense of appreciation for what they have and to realise that it is within their means to use their legal skills to help those in need. All the more power to those law students who are so inspired by their experience, that they do pro bono work beyond their mandated hours.

RHTLaw:

We view fostering the spirit of service as an indispensable component of legal education, and what better way to inculcate this than by extending assistance to individuals within our community who find themselves in need but who do not have the means to hire legal representation.

Q: What impact does pro bono work have on the craft of lawyering?

Class of 2017:

Pro bono work should be (additionally) viewed as an opportunity to step outside one’s comfort zone. For example, taking on a Criminal Legal Aid Scheme (CLAS) matter often requires a commercial litigation or corporate lawyer to navigate the issues and procedures of criminal law, which are significantly different from the usual work. These challenges help develop a better, more well-rounded lawyer.

Class of 1992:

For junior lawyers, pro bono work is a confidence builder and reduces their learning curve in making judgment calls in cases they are involved in. As they do more and more pro bono work, they will be undertaking more first chair or second chair responsibilities. We have seen how juniors mature in their growth as legal professionals with greater self-confidence. As they do well in the cases they undertake, they feel a sense of pride and professionalism which bodes very well for their inner motivation and sustainable “fuel” to last the course in practice.

RHTLaw:

It is essential to apply what you learn in law textbooks to real life situations. Upon being called to the Bar, clients seeking your counsel will be placing their trust in your legal advice, irrespective of your level of seniority. Pro bono work serves as a good training ground, given the diverse array of needs among individuals seeking legal assistance. Engaging in such endeavours not only enriches the students’ understanding of the law but hopefully also cultivates qualities such as empathy and resourcefulness.

Q: What effect do you hope your Grant will have on the pro bono “scene” at NUS Law?

Class of 2017:

We believe that there is immense energy and passion amongst the students at NUS Law to do pro bono work. The Grant is intended to fuel that spirit and continue to encourage a pro bono culture. These students are the future of the legal industry. It is our hope that the Grant will help to imbue a sense of public service that will sustain even when they eventually go out into practice, and foster an understanding that the legal fraternity can and should do its best to ensure there is access to justice across the community. To date, the Grant has been awarded to projects that are or were intended to help youths-at-risk, start-ups, and migrant and foreign domestic workers.

Class of 1992:

We hope it will have a catalytic influence on pro bono initiatives. Our class has always been aspirational and inspirational about doing good. At one level, the Grant is an external memorial of internal values. We have, and have had, many champions of pro bono, including the late Ms Malathi Das who (together with Senior Counsel Jimmy Yim) conceptualised the setting up of our Law Society’s pro bono office. We hope the Grant will be a beacon of light to draw many to start their pro bono journey in law school. It is also a clarion call for law undergraduates to do pro bono in practical and creative ways to meet gaps in access to justice in the lives of the less fortunate and poor.

RHTLaw:

We hope that the Grant will continue to support worthy pro bono initiatives developed and championed by the students themselves, and encourage more students to contribute to such initiatives. Ideally, all law students should have the opportunity to engage in some form of pro bono work.

 

With the donors’ steadfast financial support, the students have been able to translate their ideas into projects on the ground that can more effectively help people, and relate legal theories to real world scenarios. In the words of Mr Nguyen, the Class of 2017 was moved to set up their Grant to pay it forward. May the spirit of giving inspire the students to continually serve the community even after graduation, and to return to NUS Law to support future undergraduates to do the same.