NUS Pro Bono Group participates in PILnet Global Forum

In November 2019, the NUS Pro Bono Group (PBG) was invited to participate in the 2019 Public Interest Law Network (PILnet) Global Forum. The forum fosters a collaborative global network for promoting access to justice, offering presentations, trainings, interactive workshops, awards and social events over three days.

Associate Professor Helena Whalen-Bridge LLM ’02, Justin Foo ’22, and Damian Quek ’22 joined other panellists in the panel, ‘Law Students: Pro Bono’s Next Generation’. The session first examined the Singapore model of voluntary and mandatory student pro bono in law schools, and then contrasted Singapore models with approaches in Hong Kong and the United States. In the first segment, Helena provided an overview of student pro bono in Singapore while Damian and Justin shared their PBG experiences. They addressed the goals of student pro bono as well as the challenges posed by the PBG’s student-led projects, including the need for translation services and connecting students with practitioners for sustainable project growth.

The Pro Bono Marketplace showcased a diverse range of projects from international organisations. For two days, the PBG’s Core Team engaged with professionals and academics, sharing about the PBG’s many long-term and pipeline projects. The Marketplace was staffed and coordinated by PBG members Charmaine Cheryl Tan ’22, Jessica Then ’22, Shahira Banu ’22, Tan Pei Han ’22, Jannell Job ’22, Kalvinder Kaur ’22, Yeo Jing Wen ’22, Megan Wong ’22 and Nayo Leong ’22.

The PBG would like to thank students for their support of access to justice, and for their preparation and able representation of the group at the 2019 PILnet Global Forum.