The Pro Bono Roundtable held on May 20, 2025, brought together legal professionals from various firms and organisations to discuss strengthening support for Singapore’s social impact sector. Jointly hosted by Pro Bono SG (PBSG) and Cooley LLP, the event highlighted both the challenges faced by social impact organisations and the opportunities for the legal fraternity to provide meaningful assistance.
Understanding the Landscape
Ms Michelle Tan, Community Architect at The Majurity Trust, provided valuable insights into the social impact sector. The Majurity Trust functions as aphilanthropic organisation that connects donors with charities in Singapore through grant making informed by their insights on the ground. Through Foundry, their newest initiative housed at the former Elections Department building, The Majurity Trust now goes beyond the grant to co-work and journey with 28-30 charities at different stages of development.
“Everyone starts in the social sector from a point of passion,” Tan explained. “People feel for a cause, and there is a lot of initial drive to want to do good work.” However, organisations typically encounter challenges when transitioning from passion-driven initiatives to creating sustainable organisations.
One significant barrier, according to Tan, is the perceived inaccessibility of legal help. “Many charities have this really great sense of barrier to entry—that they can’t go to a lawyer for certain things,” she noted. Questions that professionals might consider basic, such as how to draft a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) or what a legal contract should include, often present as significant hurdles for these organisations.
The Corporate Perspective
Mr Sean Murphy, Partner at Cooley LLP and Mr Steven Holm, Associate at Cooley LLP shared their experiences supporting social impact participants at a townhall organised by Majurity, where Cooley addressed queries from Majurity’s grantee partners on topics such as board member selection and risk management. This collaborative format proved beneficial not only for the participants but also for the lawyers.
“It was a lot about listening to what they needed,” Murphy shared. The sessions enabled organisations at different stages to learn from each other, with more established charities sharing solutions to challenges newer ones were facing. Cooley could also focus on providing value that aligned with their expertise advising start-ups and the needs of the participants.
The lawyers identified several challenges in these engagements, including the varied needs across different organisations and the difficulty of directing participants to appropriate resources. Looking ahead, they expressed interest in continuing their collaboration with Majurity and standardising resources to enhance legal accessibility for non-profit organisations.
On the Ground: A Charity’s Perspective
Ms Moonlake Lee, Founder of Unlocking ADHD, offered perspective as a recipient of pro bono legal services. Lee, a former lawyer called to the Bar in three jurisdictions, founded the charity after discovering she had ADHD at age 50. PBSG played a crucial role in Unlocking ADHD’s formation and growth.
“When I first started, it really was a ground up,” Lee recounted.
An initial legal consultation on entity selection helped the organisation choose to establish as a company limited by guarantee (CLG) rather than a society, proving advantageous for their growth.
As the organisation developed, their legal needs evolved to include the reviewing and drafting of volunteer agreements, Intellectual Property (IP) transfers, grant agreement, employment contracts, and terms and conditions for their online community and programs including online transactions and refunds.
“There’s so much breadth and depth of work that is very much legal involved,” Lee emphasised.
Expanding Pro Bono Services
Ms Ng Li-yen, Manager of Non-Profit Legal Services (NLS) at PBSG, shared exciting developments in their NLS programme. Rebranded from AssistNPOs, the programme offers comprehensive support through a four-tier approach:
- Community Engagement: Town Hall sessions and office hours at Foundry
- Capacity and Capability Building: Publications, webinars, and legal workshops
- First Responder: Nonprofit legal clinics and upcoming Legal Health Check and Honorary Legal Advisor services
- Transactional Help: Pro bono/low bono legal assistance
Two upcoming initiatives were highlighted: the Legal Health Check, a PILnet resource adapted for the Singapore context by White & Case LLP, will help organisations identify key legal issues; and the Honorary Legal Advisor scheme will pair law firms with qualifying Institution of Public Characters (IPCs) for longer-term support over six months.
Ms Nicole Leong, Senior Associate at Dentons Rodyk & Davidson LLP shared her experience volunteering with PBSG’s Project Law Help Committee.
“Charities don’t have very complicated issues,” she noted. “Sometimes you just need law school 101 and maybe some commercial experience to help them.” She encouraged legal professionals to volunteer their time, emphasising the perspective-shifting nature of such work, particularly when supporting marginalised communities.
Bridging Gaps in Access
A recurring theme throughout the event was the challenge of reaching organisations that need legal assistance. Mr Richard Tan, Chair of the Project Law Help Committee, highlighted the importance of assisting resource strapped nonprofits. To address this, PBSG has focused on creating free online resources through publications such as Legalese (now in its third edition), the Governance Toolkit, and the Employment Law Handbook. PBSG also emphasised the importance of high-touch community engagement, with staff actively attending events and helping organisations complete application forms on the spot.
Various participants shared innovative approaches to engagement. Huang Junjie from Linklaters described their relationship lead system, where the firm works with and maintains regular contact with organisations to identify volunteering opportunities based the team’s volunteering interests. They also collect organisation activity calendars to plan volunteering opportunities strategically.
Moving Forward
The Roundtable concluded with calls for greater collaboration across disciplines. National University of Singapore (NUS) Law student, Mr Siah Bing Ze highlighted the role student-led pro bono consulting organisations like NUS 180 Degrees Consulting can play, and the potential to partner with other professional service providers like accountants and consultants.
Mr Daniel Choo, co-President of the Singapore Corporate Counsel Association shared their efforts to engage in-house counsel through initiatives like the HOPE award, which recognises in-house teams engaged in pro bono work such as Bloomberg in 2024.
As PBSG prepares to join Foundry as a resident organisation from July 1, 2025, the roundtable demonstrated the vibrant ecosystem developing to support Singapore’s social impact sector.
For more information on volunteer opportunities with PBSG, contact us at volunteer@probono.sg or visit www.probono.sg/volunteer.