The Hintalovon Foundation is a Hungarian nonprofit committed to enforcing and promoting the rights of children in Hungary. Our Budapest office worked with the Foundation's Child Rights Clearinghouse on four matters involving different areas of child protection law. Amidst a widespread campaign against migration, we advocated for a refugee family in court. We also prepared a legal opinion for child victims of bullying and humiliation at school. And we provided legal advice to two families in difficulty, with the aim of restoring communication between parents and children and avoiding the children's separation from their family of origin.

Below, Laszlo Fenyvesi, a junior associate in our Budapest office, shares his thoughts on the experience.

How and why did you choose to become involved with this public interest client?

The Hintalovon Foundation is a fairly new initiative in Hungary. They approached us to see if we would be interested in assisting them with various legal cases. Although we had not worked on family law matters in the past, we welcomed the opportunity to work in an area of law that we had limited experience in, as we were eager to expand our knowledge base and to experience the pleasure of taking on and meeting new challenges.

Why do you think Dentons was the right firm to handle these matters?

We were right for the engagement primarily due to our innovative approach to resolving issues at the intersection of law and public policy, and the Firm's strong commitment to social responsibility.

Can you talk about the teamwork behind your effort?

The team was organized and the workload divided very much as we would for billable matters. The work was coordinated and managed by  a partner in such a way as to ensure that every member of the team was involved, while at the same time allowing individual team members to take ownership of their share of the work, in order to keep everyone motivated.

What challenges did you face and how did you overcome them?

As mentioned above, children's rights law is not an area in which Dentons Budapest specializes. But we were able to compensate for this with high-quality lawyering and an innovative approach to legal problem-solving.

Do you have a favorite memory from the experience?

It's difficult to pinpoint a favorite memory, but I will say that every member of the team shares pride in the fact that our work for the Foundation is truly appreciated. One sign of this is that we are always invited to its Christmas parties and other social functions. These interactions have helped us to establish an even closer relationship with the Foundation.

Were there any skills you found were important in handling the matter that don't ordinarily come into play in your regular practice?

Given the fact that these cases were outside of our wheelhouse, we needed to adopt a completely different mindset when we began our  work on them. Our ability to do so proved to be the most important factor in our ability to achieve the desired outcomes.

Protecting children from abuse and neglect is a major societal concern. Did your work for the Foundation receive wider exposure?

PILnet, a global network for public interest law, recognized Dentons Hungary as the Pro Bono Law Office of the Year in 2017. In announcing the award, PILnet noted our office's contribution to children's rights  and the labor and data protection compliance audits we conducted for environmental NGO Greenpeace Hungary. Our lawyers also provide, under a framework of cooperation between the Foundation and the Town of Budaörs, walk-in consultations to individuals seeking legal assistance, information or referrals. We were delighted to receive the following note from Hintolovon founder Szilvia Gyurkó and lawyer Nóra Sánta.