TrustLaw Publications

TrustLaw Programmes involve an enormous amount of resources from law firms and in-house legal teams, resulting in research that can benefit not only the NGO or social enterprise for whom the research was undertaken, but many others in that country, region or field.

We want to make sure that as many people and organisations can benefit from the research, into which our law firms and in-house legal teams will often invest hundreds of thousands of dollars of pro bono labour. This is why the Foundation will publish and distribute the research, making it as widely available as possible. If you would like copies of any of these reports please get in touch.

Title:

Creating Jobs in Europe: Legal and Regulatory Frameworks of Microenterprises and Microcredit in Europe

Overview:

The European Commission has adopted a variety of strategies to reduce poverty and increase the number of people in work, with microcredit promoted as one of the EC's flagship programmes. However, a number of major obstacles exist to prevent the development of microenterprises.

Microfinance organisation Adie International requested assistance through TrustLaw Connect to map the regulatory environment and existing barriers to development of microcredit, microenterprises and self-employment in all 27 Member States of the European Union.

This report was researched and compiled on a pro-bono basis by law firms Latham & Watkins and Orrick, with the assistance of 17 other law firms and in-house legal teams across Europe.

The complete list of law firms involved in the study were Orrick, Latham & Watkins, coordinating the research, as well as; Eisenberger & Herzog, UGGC & Associés Brussels, Djingov, Gouginski, Kyutchukov & Velichkov, Ioannides Demetriou LLC Cyprus, Balcar Polansky Eversheds, Gorrissen Federspiel Copenhagen, Advokatu birojs VARUL, Dittmar & Indrenius, Szecskay Attorneys at Law, Budapest, A&L Goodbody, Kleyr Grasso Associés, Zammit & Associates, Holland Van Gijzen, General Electric in-house legal team, Morais Leitão, Galvão Teles, Soares da Silva & Associados, DLA Piper Dinu SCA and Wolf Theiss.

Find out more

The Impact:

- Following publication of the report the European Commission called a conference on "Improving the regulatory environment for microcredit" in Brussels, where the report was widely disseminated. See pictures here.

- The launch of the report has been covered internationally: in the US, UK, and in Asia and the Middle East. Check out coverage on Kiva, European Microfinance Network, Capital for Communities, Microfinance Focus and the Microfinance Centre.

- Adie, together with Orrick, Latham & Watkins and the 17 other firms, won the first TrustLaw Impact Award for promoting entrepreneurship in Europe in December 2011

- Can microcredit fuel jobs in crisis-hit Europe? See the TrustLaw article, and Youtrust.org multimedia package.

Title:

Achieving Justice for Victims of Rape and Advancing Women's Rights: A Comparative Study of Legal Reform

Overview:

The aftermath of the catastrophic earthquake in Haiti in January 2010 saw a dramatic increase in sexual violence and gave fresh impetus to long standing calls for rape law reform. International women's rights organisation MADRE requested this research to support the subsequent reform of rape legislation.

The report reviews rape legislation and procedures in Brazil, Canada, France, South Africa, Sweden and the United States and supplies concrete examples of laws and policies that implement women's human rights. It includes models for statutes, protocols for victim services, and guides to police and prosecutorial procedures which respect the experiences of victims and advance gender justice. Morrison & Foerster led and coordinated this research, working with DLA Piper, Latham & Watkins and Reed Smith. Aside from the Haitian context, the research undertaken should be equally useful for the development of gender-based violence laws all over the world.

Should your organisation work in this field and be interested in exploring further research on this topic, do get us in touch with our team on trustlaw@thomsonreuters.com

Background:

• In 2011 the Thomson Reuters Foundation hosted a first-of-its-kind forum of Haitian government official, police, lawyers, prosecutors, doctors and women's groups in Port-au-Prince, alongside MADRE and their local partner KOFAVIV. The goal was to find practical ways to ensure better protection, care and justice for Haitian women and girls. Read more

• This report forms part of Thomson Reuters Foundation's Haiti in Focus programme, bringing together free legal, humanitarian and media programmes to provide support for Haiti's recovery.

Title:

Strategies to Maximize your Philanthropic Capital: A Guide to Program Related Investments

Overview:

Mission Investors Exchange help philanthropic foundations achieve their goals through innovative ‘programme related investments’ (PRIs). PRIs allow foundations and other philanthropic organizations to move beyond traditional grant-making and deploy a wide range of financial tools thus promoting innovation and improving the flow of funding to NGOs and social enterprises.

For all the advantages inherent in PRIs, many foundations are still to make full use of them because of a lack of familiarity and questions about legal or tax-related requirements. Linklaters has compiled a guide that clarifies the legal considerations involved with making PRIs in the United States. Strategies To Maximize Your Philanthropic Capital contains guidance on what qualifies as a PRI, what types of documentation are important, and when external legal counsel may be needed. It also offers samples of legal documents that may be necessary in developing, negotiating, or managing a PRI.

This guide, the first of a series designed to assist the burgeoning field of impact investing, should be of particular interest to Foundations, but equally useful for organizations trying to access new sources of financial support.

Background:

• This publication will be launched at the Mission Investors Exchange National Conference, 8th May, Seattle. Sarah Kroon Chiles, Vice President of Thomson Reuters Foundation, will present the guide on the panel Legal Fundamentals of Program-Related Investing alongside Karen Haque, (Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation), David Levitt (Adler and Colvin), and Jon Van Loo (Wood LLP).

- Read more on TrustLaw: Program-related investments add to array of finance tools for philanthropists