The Ukraine Pro Bono Collaborative won the award for “Pro Bono Initiative of the Year” at The Lawyer European Awards 2023.   

The Ukraine Pro Bono Collaborative (UPBC) is a joint pro bono project among the law firms Allen & Overy, Bird & Bird, Dentons, Hogan Lovells, Norton Rose Fulbright and White & Case, and the NGO European Lawyers in Lesvos (ELIL).

Based in Warsaw, the project brings together Polish and Ukrainian pro bono lawyers to provide legal information and assistance to refugees arriving from Ukraine. The project is managed by Dr. Filip Czernicki, a Polish lawyer with a PhD from the Warsaw University Law School. 

Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022, almost 1 million refugees have fled to Poland.  To fill the pressing need for free legal support for refugees, PILnet and UNHCR approached ELIL about establishing a pro bono project in view of ELIL’s extensive experience from having established the first-ever collaborative pro bono project for refugees in Greece in 2019. 

Every day, a pro bono lawyer from one of the six firms is on duty at one of the five sites in Warsaw to assist with inquiries as they come in. There is also a duty phone to assist with queries from people in other Polish cities. The lawyers advise on a wide range of issues including access to accommodation, children’s rights and guardianship, employment, setting up a business, social welfare, passports and IDs, residency permits, returning to Ukraine, and travel to other countries.

Over the past year, lawyers from the UPBC have provided more than 3,000 hours of free legal advice and have assisted 5,695 people. Of those assisted, 71% were women, many of whom were seeking assistance on behalf of their children. 

Atanas Politov, Europe Positive Impact Director at Dentons, commented, “Dentons is a strong supporter of the collaborative pro bono model, which involves working together with NGOs such as ELIL as well as our peers from other law firms to amplify our impact and really make a difference to people in need.”