When a group of street vendors in India had their permits revoked arbitrarily, they cried foul. The law was clear, and to an unbiased observer, there was no obvious violation that justified denying the vendors’ their livelihoods. But supporting a case like this through pro bono would take some outside the box thinking.

A member of Cisco’s legal team in India, Sonam Handa, aspired to hold Cisco Legal's first pro bono legal aid event in the APJC region. “Our India team wants to make a meaningful difference by addressing cases that impact our communities,” she says, “but Indian lawyers working in-house for a company cannot represent other clients in court, which makes legal aid work in the region more difficult.”

The country’s rules prevented the team from working on matters directly, so Handa set out to find another solution. “I engaged with the pro bono department of an external law firm we used for telecom work,” she explains. The firm helped the team identify potential cases, including the one for the street vendors. Then, the volunteers began working behind the scenes, “laying the groundwork for the firm’s litigation team.”

An appeal has been filed and an injunction for urgent relief requested to help the vendors. While the team eagerly waits to hear back from India’s justice system, they continue to seek out new pro bono opportunities, knowing more opportunities await. “If your heart is in the right place,” she says, “you’ll find creative ways of contributing, right?”

Published October 2024