At the resoundingly successful launch of ProBono.Org at Constitution Hill, Johannesburg on 7 May 2007, a spectrum of South African
and American legal practitioners discussed the optimum ways to do pro bono work for maximum impact. Issues such as the draft
Legal Services Charter, the BEE code and corporate social responsibility were discussed, and the contribution that pro bono legal
services can make were analysed.

Two events were held in partnership with the Cyrus R Vance Center for International Justice Initiatives, New York City Bar.

The first event at the Old Fort Conference Room was a Round Table discussion on focused pro bono practices to ensure maximum
impact. ProBono.Org is the first initiative of its kind in South Africa. The organisation is mandated to provide a matching service
between the poor and the vulnerable who cannot access justice due to prohibitive costs, and the legal profession willing to render
pro bono legal services.

Odette Geldenhuys, Director of ProBono.Org, extended an open invitation to all organisations active in the field of access to justice to form partnerships and collaborate in order to broaden access. She also expressed a wish for many more pro bono initiatives, which will result in a multiplier effect with greater chances of making a dent in the huge unmet legal need in South Africa.

The discussants included:
Evan Davis (partner, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP, New York), Ed Turner (partner Shearman & Sterling LLP, New York),
Elizabeth Millard (former Managing Director, Credit Suisse, USA), Joan Vermeulen (Executive Director, Cyrus R Vance Center, New York), Odette Geldenhuys (Director, ProBono.Org).

The second event took place in the historic Women’s Jail Atrium, Constitution Hill. It was a great honour for ProBono.Org that
Justice Dikgang Moseneke addressed the launch reception. Justice Dikgang Moseneke is the Deputy Chief Justice of South Africa,
Judge of the Constitutional Court, and Chancellor of Wits University. Justice Moseneke, a proponent of the centrality of social
justice to the transformative goals of our Constitution, said the following during the fourth Bram Fischer Memorial lecture,
“… a creative jurisprudence of equality coupled with substantive interpretation of ‘socio-economic’ rights should restore social
justice as a premier foundational value of our constitutional democracy side by side, if not interactively with, human dignity,
equality, freedom, accountability, responsiveness and openness.”

At the ProBono.Org launch Justice Moseneke shared his thoughts on the key role of pro bono legal services, particularly to assist poor people and communities to access their constitutional rights. Justice Moseneke stated that ProBono.Org must strategically identify
those cases that will advance the plight of the disadvantaged, and ensure that they reach the Constitutional Court. He noted that the
alternative for poor people, who cannot use the measured means offered by the justice system, is to find other ways to look after
themselves. He expressed his shock that the claims of ordinary people are not reaching the Constitutional Court, and he pointed out
the importance of ProBono.Org as a facilitating mechanism. Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke thanked the specific law firms
who are already giving of their time freely.