Kindly hosted by DLA Piper, the 2026 Brussels Pro Bono Roundtable marked the second year of the Pro Publico and Pro Iura Awards. It brought together law firms, civil society organisations, coordinators and friends who believe professional skills should serve the public interest.
The awards are only the visible peak of what this community does every day. Behind each one is a team that stayed late on a brief, a coordinator who made the right introduction at the right moment, and an organisation that trusted lawyers with a problem it couldn’t solve alone.
Pro Publico EU Law Award: Cleary Gottlieb, for Blue Marine Foundation
The EU Law Award recognises collaborations where EU law was the mechanism that moved something forward. It went to Cleary Gottlieb for its work with the Blue Marine Foundation, an ocean conservation charity working to protect 30% of the world’s ocean by 2030.
Thanks to the connection made by their global pro bono director Byron Spring, Cleary’s team produced an article-by-article legal comparison of the EU’s EMFAF Regulation against the European Commission’s 2025 fisheries subsidies proposal. This was precise, technical work that most civil society organisations cannot access on their own. It informed a joint NGO briefing endorsed by 65 organisations, shaping a major coalition’s position during live EU budget negotiations.
The award was presented by Elisabeth Druel, of the Blue Marine Foundation. Congratulations to François-Charles Laprévote, Wanjie Lin, Johan Stagstrup, Christopher Andersson, Augustin Bourleaud and Eduard Kayn, under the coordination of Byron Spring.
The other nominees:
- Mayer Brown, for its work with the European Implementation Network, which works to make sure human rights rulings, such as those of the European Court of Human Rights, are actually implemented. The team built a legal evidence base on how SLAPPs operate in the Greek legal system, which now feeds directly into EIN’s advocacy with the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers.
- DLA Piper, for its work with the School for Moral Ambition, which helps talented professionals redirect their careers toward the world’s most pressing problems. The team mapped the rules on tax and social security when moving between EU member states, so fellows know their obligations and the School knows what to file, and where.
Pro Publico Leadership Award: Latham & Watkins Brussels Pro Bono Committee
This award is about building a culture of pro bono, not a single generous act. It went to the Latham & Watkins Brussels Pro Bono Committee (Flavia Leme, Axelle Aubry, Pablo Luongkhan-Garcia and Anna Escrigas Canameras, in collaboration with Lauren Meyer and Alex Webster).
Over several years, the committee has coordinated support for close to two dozen organisations. It combines patient organisational work with rapid crisis response, all carried by the same core group of people. The award was presented by Director of Civil Society Europe, Carlotta Besozzi.
The other nominees:
- Staś Kuźmierkiewicz at Covington & Burling, who has personally coordinated pro bono work across labour rights, public health, migration, animal welfare and civil society funding. One person, quietly threading pro bono through nearly every corner of the firm’s practices.
- The Clifford Chance Pro Bono Committee, led by Sonia Belhassen and Victoria Baltrusch with Milena Robotham, which delivered at least eight matters in a single year.
Pro Publico Impact Award: Hogan Lovells and the Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice, for Free Press Unlimited
Described as the closest call of the evening, the Impact Award recognises the most significant documented real-world outcome. Journalist Claudia Duque was tortured by Colombia’s former Deputy Director of the secret police, José Miguel Narváez. As his conviction went to appeal, a multi-office Hogan Lovells team, working with the Vance Center, built an amicus curiae brief for Colombia’s Criminal Court of Appeal. It argued, under international human rights law, that her torture was retaliation for her journalism, not incidental to some other activity as the lower courts had suggested.
The award was presented by Marco Meo, lawyer formerly at Free Press Unlimited. Congratulations to Jorge Valdés King, Juan Arturo Dueñas, Orlando Cabrera, Andrea Pérez, Emma Ekon, Gemma Martínez, Amrita Deshmukh, Claire Dumbill, Aida Rodríguez, Beatriz León Xian, Beatriz Martínez and Leanne Lucas, coordinated by Lila Gasca, Marion Fischer, Yasmin Waljee and Jaime Chavez-Alor.
The other nominees:
- Latham & Watkins, for its work with an umbrella organisation defending the rights of minorities across Europe. When staff contracts were ending and their right to stay safely in Belgium was in question, the team delivered a memorandum against a hard deadline. As the nomination put it, this was about people’s safety.
- Reed Smith, for its work with the Blue Marine Foundation. An integrated Athens-Brussels team traced the legal safeguards meant to ensure that millions in EU aquaculture subsidies paid out in Greece comply with environmental rules. This gives Blue Marine and its local partners the legal grounding to engage constructively with Greek and EU authorities on implementation and compliance.
And at the same event: the Pro Iura Awards
Our partner Pro Iura presented four awards of its own during the evening: the Pro Bono Leadership & Dedication Award, the Pro Bono Impact Award, the Collaborative Spirit Award and the Transparency Champions Award. Pro Iura also shared its upcoming work on research and strategic litigation opportunities.
What’s next for Pro Publico
We closed the evening with four new and ongoing initiatives:
- A Practical Guide for Belgian nonprofits, covering the full lifecycle from incorporation to dissolution. We are still looking for firms to take a chapter.
- The EU Civil Society Platform where, with the PILnet, our European Pro Bono Alliance will showcase pro bono legal matchmaking to a wider audience of civil society organisations.
- A platform for climate-related emergencies, offering pro bono legal help to people affected by wildfires, floods and other disasters.
- A Pro Bono Recognition List, an annual public list recognising every lawyer who reaches a minimum number of pro bono hours.
SAVE THE DATE: the next Brussels Pro Bono Roundtable takes place on Thursday 4 February 2027 (18.00-21.00) this time gently hosted by Van Bael & Bellis, and will focus on launching the Recognition List. Come ready to shape it.