Findings from a rapid survey of legal needs amongst Civil Society Organisations in the Thomson Reuters Foundation’s TrustLaw network, the largest pro bono legal service in the world.
Overview
Civil society organisations (CSOs) globally are facing some of the biggest challenges in decades, from sweeping cuts to international aid budgets, to increased political pressure and scrutiny, to authoritarian leaders weaponising the law to cut off CSOs from their support networks.
In September 2025, TrustLaw, the Thomson Reuters Foundation’s global pro bono service, surveyed our CSO members to understand how their legal needs had changed over the past 12 months, and what they were expecting in the coming 12-24 months. Most respondents were small, grassroots organisations with fewer than 50 staff, distributed across the world.
Report snapshot
of CSOs reported rising legal needs over the last year
A figure that increases to 65% in Asia and 70% in North America.
cited new and/or stricter laws targeting civil society as the driver of this rise
A further 34% attributed it to funding changes or cuts
now rank loss of funding among the top 3 most serious risks to face their organisation
A figure that rises to 81% for those working specifically in human rights defence.
Increasing compliances are impacting funding, especially for ongoing projects as it leads to delay in receiving funds to run the project effectively. Also, there are grey areas and not everyone is knowledgeable of the requirements.
We have had to let go around 2000 staff globally. We are also closing several country operations and downscaling a large majority of country operations – of course this impacts the humanitarian assistance we are able to offer, which has severe consequences for those communities most at risk and marginalized – both on the short and longer term.
The actions from the state take different forms – from freezing accounts, unleashing the tax man, raiding office premises, lodging online smear campaigns about being agents of foreign interests, leaking banking information online (sometimes doctored). This has directly affected us in the last year, and it has affected our partners and other allies where we operate from.
Key recommendations
Meeting this moment requires more pro bono support, but also more diverse and strategically organised support. This includes:
- Deepening the pro bono bench, especially in context where pro bono is newer or less
formalised, to improve access for CSOs to local expertise. - Building longterm partnerships that combine oneoff advice with capacity building,
training and preventive risk management. - Engaging a broader ecosystem of legal actors – law firms of all sizes, inhouse legal
teams, bar associations, universities and specialist clinics – and connecting them more
systematically with CSOs including with the support of clearinghouses like TrustLaw. - Supporting strategic litigation. In particular, one respondent highlighted the importance
for CSOs to be able to tap into lawyers who can help with strategic litigation and
push back on the most damaging new regulations, and on laws clearly infringing on
established human rights.
About the author
TrustLaw
TrustLaw, an initiative of the Thomson Reuters Foundation, is the world’s largest pro bono legal network. Working with leading law firms and corporate legal teams, we facilitate free legal support, ground-breaking legal research and resources for non-profits, independent media and social enterprises in over 190 countries. By spreading the practice of pro bono worldwide, TrustLaw wants to strengthen civil society and drive change. If you have ideas for resources we could develop or legal research projects that would be of assistance after reading this guide, please contact us. If
you are a non-profit or social enterprise in need of legal support, you can find out more about the service here and join TrustLaw for free.
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