Today a charity programme, Laweyrs for Kids, has gone online at Lawyersforkids.ru, a philanthropic effort by the Russian legal community, designed to bring relief to sick children.
The programme, in place since 2011, pays the legal costs awarded to trial lawyers (counsel) to charities for the relief of children with serious health problems, many of whom require expensive treatment or extensive surgery. The scheme also allows lawyers to take on pro bono cases for charities.
Today the Laweyrs for Kids scheme is supported by 7 law firms and their principals (clients) from Moscow, St Petersburg and elsewhere in Russia. The Lawyersforkids.ru website describes the experiences of lawyers in recovering legal costs for their principals, and the charities sponsored for many years.
The Laweyrs for Kids scheme is open to any socially minded law firm (legal practice) and/or company (principal). Write us in your own words if you wish to join the effort and tell us about your charity projects, and specifically your arrangements for donating legal cost awards to social enterprises. Affiliation with the scheme is contingent upon the approval of the board of trustees, which includes the law firms that are scheme affiliates. Your application having been accepted, you will receive, as evidence of your affiliation with the scheme, a Scheme Affiliate badge, which you will be able to display on your corporate website and in your content.
The mission of the Laweyrs for Kids programme is to introduce the practice of donating legal cost awards to charities and involve in it as many members of the profession as possible. Our crusade is a drive for better outreach by the Russian legal profession to those most in need.