Experiencing Pro Bono Culture in Mexico City

Photo above: Jennifer Eldridge and Crystal Doyle, Chicago office 

In October 2017, I was fortunate to travel to Mexico City to work with our New Perimeter partner Mexico Appleseed and co-teach a course with Crystal Doyle (Chicago) on serving survivors of domestic violence through pro bono work. We presented the course at three of Mexico City’s premiere law schools: Universidad Panamericana, Tecnológico de Monterrey, and Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México. The course reviewed a wide range of ways lawyers can assist survivors of domestic violence, including representation in seeking civil orders of protection and on immigration, family, and housing matters. Our mission was to show them different pro bono areas and to get students thinking about their own passions and what causes they might want to pursue in their pro bono. We spent our time with engaged, enthusiastic students excited to learn where they could serve their community. But over the course of our trip, we learned as much as we taught.

Our visit occurred just weeks after a brutal earthquake that killed 370 people, including 220 people in Mexico City, injured more than 6,000 people, and leveled 40 buildings. In almost every conversation we had, people spoke about the earthquake, asking if loved ones were alright, if their homes were habitable, if they were having any difficulties.

That concern permeated the legal community—in the immediate aftermath, volunteer attorneys partnered with Mexico Appleseed to create and staff an information helpline for people who had experienced losses due to the earthquake. Lawyers prepared a guide for helpline volunteers to use when speaking with earthquake victims and help them navigate tricky legal issues. These issues (property loss and wills and estates to name two) were often not the volunteer lawyers’ specialties. To them, it didn’t matter because they saw a need and served that need. What struck me most was that many volunteered their time despite experiencing their own losses in the earthquake. To crib an old saying, volunteers don’t necessarily have the time—they just have the heart. And I saw that in masse in response to the earthquake.

Pro bono is steadily growing in Mexico City, and this earthquake response is a textbook example of how enthusiastic Mexico City lawyers are to get involved in their community. It was personally inspiring to see lawyers put their own losses aside in order to help their neighbors. Their selflessness inspired me to recommit to my own pro bono, and I look forward to seeing the impassioned work that Mexico City will continue to do moving forward.