Ukraine Sees Pro Bono Peak due to Russia’s Invasion

Kinstellar has been involved in pro bono services from the very beginning. Operating mainly in central, southern, and eastern Europe, and situated as far as Turkey, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, Kinstellar’s offices are situated in countries with emerging economies. This gives the firm a lot of opportunities to engage in pro bono work.

Despite some setbacks in a period without central pro bono management, the amount of overall pro bono hours done by Kinstellar are increasing each year. However, the biggest peak came in 2022, mainly due to the war in Ukraine. All of our offices joined the effort, resulting in a record of almost 5,200 pro bono hours – done mostly by the Kyiv office.

This office has always been very active with pro bono work, so once the war started, we hugely increased its workload to help Ukraine in the best way possible – through our professional knowledge and experience.

A large number of international and Ukrainian NGOs, as well as private companies supporting Ukraine, came to help or expanded their activity in the country. These include the International Rescue Committee, Soborna Ukraine, the UN Refugee Agency, Ukraine Justice Alliance, PILnet and dozens of others.

Kinstellar registers charity funds and other types of NGOs and provides full support to such clients, advising them on corporate, employment, tax and regulatory issues, among others. The firm also advises various pro bono clients on the supply of humanitarian aid, cars and protective equipment. We also advise on relocation, arranging accommodation and other types of support to refugees. The war not only affected people, unfortunately, but also animals, so we cooperate with various organisations dealing with donations, supplying food, arranging shelter and finding new families for abandoned animals.

 Most of our lawyers were      engaged in these pro bono activities before      the war started. In addition to legal work, we also take part in community investment initiatives and donate money (both at the firm and personal level) to various funds and initiatives, such as the Ukrainian Red Cross Society, Children of Heroes, Phoenix Wings, YurFem and others. 

We also currently cooperate with the Ukrainian government on United24, a unified platform for donations to Ukraine, initiated by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.