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Our Mission
The Vance Center advances global justice by engaging lawyers across borders to support civil society and an ethically active legal profession.
Since our founding in 2002, the Vance Center has made pro bono legal services available to hundreds of clients and strengthened the legal profession worldwide through sustained long-term initiatives, responsive structures, and international networks. We mobilize lawyers to take up their role as justice activists, working to uphold the rule of law, combat corruption, increase access to justice, and protect fundamental human and environmental rights.
We proudly take our name from Cyrus R. Vance – former U.S. Secretary of State, New York City Bar Association President, and prominent private lawyer – who exemplified ironclad commitment to fundamental rights through collaborative problem solving and the ethical imperative of pro bono practice.
The Vance Center helped found and co-manages the Pro Bono Network of the Americas, along with Fundación Pro Bono Chile. We are a member of the International Coalition on the Responsibility to Protect and the Coalition for an Effective African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and we have consultative status at the United Nations Economic and Social Council.
We fulfill our mission through two approaches:
- We provide pro bono legal representation to civil society organizations and international human rights bodies around the world, in partnership with leading law firms.
- We engage law firms, bar associations, law schools, and pro bono clearinghouses with innovative initiatives to strengthen an ethical pro bono practice, build systemic support for public interest law, and reduce barriers to a more diverse legal field.
Our Vision
An inclusive, participatory and equitable legal profession affords informed access to justice and just outcomes.
Our Theory of Change
We understand that access to justice does not entail only formal entry to and participation in legal institutions, but informed access to the possibility of just outcomes.
Our approach seeks to widen the circle of those who can participate in this meaning of justice.
Our agile structure allows us to respond and adapt to emerging needs as they arise, informed by input and guidance from frontline organizations. We draw on our extensive international network of legal practitioners and civil society partners, leveraging our knowledge, experience, and convening power to expand access and engagement in justice systems and the international legal community. Our well-established co-counsel model and direct collaboration with both pro bono lawyers and civil society groups ensure that we remain connected to the most impacted communities and individuals. Projects are proactively driven by the expressed needs of these communities and our partners, enabling their participation in critical decisions that impact their lives
This framework facilitates new opportunities to develop meaningful, active partnerships between diverse sectors of the legal profession and human rights arena that are not often in communication or collaborating. We contribute directly to shaping emerging law and encourage positive changes in behavior and policies within the legal field, while empowering local organizations to take the lead on these initiatives.
Our efforts expand the global understanding of and engagement with pro bono practice and its potential. We believe these efforts will lead to greater inclusion, participation, and equality, for those upholding justice and those seeking it.
How We Work
Areas Of Practice
The Vance Center helps clients with legal matters in four main thematic areas.
Learn MoreInitiatives
We build capacity for a culture of pro bono practice and an ethical, diverse legal profession.
Learn MoreNetworks
We work with a global network of law firms, pro bono clearinghouses, bar associations, and others across all programs and initiatives.
Learn MoreOur Reach
Putting Global Justice On The Map In
135+ Countries
Afghanistan
Albania
Algeria
Andorra
Angola
Argentina
Armenia
Australia
Austria
Azerbaijan
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Belarus
Belgium
Bermuda
Bhutan
Bolivia
Botswana
Brazil
Bulgaria
Burundi
Cambodia
Cameroon
Canada
Cape Verde
Cayman Islands
Central African Republic
Chile
China
Colombia
Comoros
The Democratic Republic of Congo
Costa Rica
Croatia
Cuba
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Djibouti
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
Egypt
El Salvador
Ethiopia
Fiji
Finland
France
Gambia
Georgia
Germany
Guatemala
Guinea
Haiti
Honduras
Iceland
India
Indonesia
Iran
Iraq
Italy
Jamaica
Japan
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Kenya
Kiribati
Democratic People's Republic of Korea
Kuwait
Kyrgyzstan
Latvia
Lao People's Democratic Republic
Lebanon
Lithuania
Macedonia
Madagascar
Malawi
Malaysia
Maldives
Malta
Marshall Islands
Mauritania
Mauritius
Mexico
Micronesia
Monaco
Mongolia
Morocco
Myanmar
Namibia
Nauru
Nepal
New Zealand
Nicaragua
Norway
Oman
Panama
Papua New Guinea
Paraguay
Peru
Philippines
Portugal
Qatar
Republic of Korea
Russian Federation
San Marino
Saudi Arabia
Senegal
Seychelles
Slovakia
Solomon Islands
South Africa
Spain
Sri Lanka
Suriname
Syrian Arab Republic
Swaziland
Sweden
Switzerland
Tajikistan
Thailand
Togo
Tonga
Trinidad and Tobago
Tunisia
Turkey
Turkmenistan
Tuvalu
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
United States
United Republic of Tanzania
Uruguay
Uzbekistan
Vanuatu
Venezuela
Vietman
Yemen
Zambia
Zimbabwe
Our Impact
664
Pro Bono Projects
337
Clients
439
Law Firms outside
the U.S.
the U.S.
2304
Law Firm Lawyers