In Hungary, many signs of social inequality are becoming more and more common, as
a consequence of it civil charity and volunteering is becoming increasingly indispensable:
Whether we are talking about inequality in material terms or cultural capital, and
there is also a growing gap between the lowest and the highest social classes in terms
of infrastructure. Because of the complexity of the problem, civil society can only
respond to it with a wide range of activities. For example, in the "Teach for Hungary"
mentoring programme, after a short training course, university students are involved
in the development of children who are in difficult circumstances behind, or members
of the Szeged Lifeguard and Fire Fighter Service, after obtaining (or already having)
the appropriate qualifications, help professional units in case of need. Alongside
others the lawyers also react to existing social problems and sudden crisis situations.
For example, period of pandemic time (CIVID-19), several bar associations kept a public
list of lawyers those who do probono to people in need. Or in 2015 in time of the
refugee crisis, the lawyers have been acting pro bono, for people in need, and the
Ukrainian-Russian conflict also many lawyers started getting involved in pro bono
work.
In our country, the pro bono work isn’t mandatory for lawyers and legal clinic isn’t
compulsory work for students. It can be seen that it is not only in times of crisis
that such cases are undertaken; and the number of law students in the law clinic work
is growing too, despite the fact that few universities have in their schedule this
type of programme. So the question arises: what are the motivations behind civic activism?
How do those in the legal profession who see their social responsibility see their
own legal profession? What kind of effect on their values is the inherited prestige
of their chosen job? How do they perceive the possibility and framework for legal
pro bono work in their country? In my presentation, I will attempt to answer these
questions based on the results of three empirical data surveys conducted among (1)
first-year law students, (2) law students doing legal clinic work, and (3) members
of the Hungarian Bar Association.
The data collection is still in progress, but it can be said that most of the students
believe that a lawyer must have a high level of empathy and help those in need, yet
they participate in legal clinic work primarily to gain professional experience. The
motivation of lawyers is characterized by a mixed motivational structure.
Despite all this, the concept of pro bono has not yet spread in Hungary, there are
many students and lawyers who call it pro bono when they give legal advice to their
immediate family members.
