Legal Officer - TrustLaw (NAC) - TR Foundation

About Thomson Reuters Foundation
Join a team which leverages media, legal and data-driven expertise to strengthen independent journalism, enable access to the law and promote responsible business.

The Thomson Reuters Foundation is the corporate foundation of Thomson Reuters, the global news and information services company. As an independent charity, registered in the UK and the USA, we aim to foster free, fair and informed societies by harnessing the power of the media, the law and data intelligence. We do this by informing, empowering and equipping key actors working in our areas of focus so that their decisions can have a positive impact on people, society and the environment. Our unique combination of media and legal expertise enables us to deliver targeted capacity-building programmes, research, news, legal support and convenings that support our mission. Together, we can shape a prosperous planet where no one is left behind. 

TrustLaw
TrustLaw is the leading global pro bono legal service. TrustLaw helps high-impact civil society organisations, social enterprises, and non-profit independent media to grow, streamline their operations and navigate complex laws and regulations by connecting them with free legal assistance from the best law firms and corporate legal teams around the world. We also deliver groundbreaking legal research on key social and policy issues that our members use to support their advocacy and law reform efforts, and deliver innovative capacity-building workshops.

About the Role

The Foundation is recruiting a dynamic Legal Officer to help expand, strengthen and innovate our TrustLaw programme in North America & the Caribbean. Reporting to the Legal Program Manager, North America & the Caribbean, and working closely with the regional Program Officer, the Legal Officer will manage legal pro bono projects from TrustLaw’s community of civil society organisations, social enterprises and independent media organisations and support the team on thought leadership initiatives. In this opportunity as a Legal Officer, your responsibilities will include: 

• Scoping legal pro bono requests from our community of civil society organisations, social enterprises and independent media organisations so that the requests clearly explain the legal needs for lawyers to advise on.
• Managing pro bono requests, including connecting the pro bono client with lawyers, collecting feedback and following up with the parties involved.
• Designing, scoping and overseeing the development of cross-border legal research projects, tools, resources and other content that address the most critical social and policy needs facing our members.
• Supporting TrustLaw’s regional portfolio of law firms, corporations, referral partners, pro bono clients and other key stakeholders in North America & the Caribbean to ensure TrustLaw regional quality and growth metrics are met.
• Actively pursue and cultivate relationships with law firms to secure their commitment to pro bono projects, employing persuasive communication strategies to highlight the impactful role they play in advancing social justice through TrustLaw initiatives.
• Administering the service, for example through inputting into databases, planners, and trackers, running Salesforce reports, ensuring members have up-to-date contact information, inputting into quarterly reports, responding to requests for information, etc. in a timely manner.
• Supporting the implementation of a regional strategy to expand and activate TrustLaw membership, ensuring we serve the best NGOs, social enterprises and independent media organisations, as well as the strongest law firms and corporate in-house legal teams.
• Contributing to the TrustLaw global annual strategy.
• Seeking out and developing fruitful relationships with potential partners and members to further the mission of TrustLaw.
• Executing a robust communications, engagement and outreach strategy that includes member events and promotion of TrustLaw publications.
• Maintaining a high profile in North America & the Caribbean by attending, supporting and coordinating events for TrustLaw and the Thomson Reuters Foundation, including by speaking publicly on our work at panels, roundtables, panel discussions, workshops, conferences or other speaking engagements.
• Assist with other duties as required.

About You

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