Verizon Pro Bono Clinic

On November 18, Verizon Communications Inc.** hosted its third Clinic in a Box^SM program with CPBO and DLA Piper LLP (US)*.   The Clinic, held at the Verizon headquarters in Basking Ridge, N.J., served seven nonprofit clients.

The Clinic began with an hour-and-a-half training session led by DLA Piper attorneys covering real estate, corporate, intellectual property, and employment law.  Following the training, Verizon attorneys worked in teams to conduct a legal audit of the nonprofits in attendance. 

Altogether, the nonprofit clients serve more than 28,000 low-income and otherwise disadvantaged people in the northern New Jersey region.  Clients offer a wide range of services, including assisting refugees, addressing adult literacy issues, and providing shelter to victims of child abuse and runaway youth.

The Clinic is one example of the great pro bono work Verizon and DLA work on together as a part of their award-winning, innovative partnership.

To learn more about the Clinic in a Box^SM model, contact Eve Runyon, CPBO director.

 *denotes a Signatory to the Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge^®
**denotes a Signatory to the Corporate Pro Bono Challenge^SM

Pro Bono Takes Berlin

This month, several hundred leaders representing bar associations, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), law schools, law firms, and in-house legal departments from around the world descended upon Berlin to convene around a compelling common interest: pro bono  and The PBEye was there!  PILnet Founder and Executive Director Ed Rekosh (more from Ed here)  told participants of PILnet’s fifth annual European Pro Bono Forum, “Your presence here is evidence that pro bono has arrived in Europe, and indeed is spreading around the world.” 

Sony Center in Potsdamer Platz Berlin

At a time when no state’s legal aid budget has escaped the global economic crisis unscathed, civic-minded legal professionals from countries that have traditionally regarded access to justice as strictly a state responsibility explored what role pro bono can play in helping to ensure that access to justice is not decimated.  Invoking the renowned words of William Booth, Oxfam Great Britain’s General Counsel Joss Saunders asked Forum participants, “Why should the devil have all the best tunes?”  Why, indeed?

According to Forum Co-chairs Anne Force and Jan Hegemann, “Increasingly, law firms and individual lawyers across Europe are rising to [the] challenge through pro bono projects, offering vital assistance to NGOs and support for their humanitarian missions . . . [There is] a growing recognition in the legal community of what pro bono can accomplish nationally and internationally.”  European pro bono leaders are beginning to embrace the notion that pro bono service also plays a key role in bolstering public perceptions about the legal profession and confidence in the justice system.  Panelists urged practitioners to eschew “glamor pro bono” in favor of the less glamorous pro bono work that meets critical legal needs.

Multinational and national firms, in-house attorneys and solo practitioners from forty countries shared innovative projects and partnerships, and explored new ways to harness pro bono power for the public benefit.  Bar representatives from various European jurisdictions proclaimed their commitment to the principle that access to justice is a fundamental human right and highlighted their efforts to institutionalize pro bono culture in their respective legal communities.

A workshop on business and human rights underscored the emerging international consensus that law firms and corporations have a responsibility to honor human rights, through pro bono service and corporate social responsibility, but also in the way they conduct their everyday business and law practice.  A4ID Executive Director Yasmin Batliwala introduced the NGO’s November 2011 discussion paper, Law Firms’ Implementation of the Guiding Principles on Business & Human Rights.  The Guiding Principles, a product of a pro bono partnership between Clifford Chance and U.N. Special Representative John Ruggie, were adopted earlier this year by the U.N. Human Rights Council.

Saunders challenged Forum participants from as far away as Sydney, Johannesburg, and Beijing to raise the pro bono banner, saying, “Pro bono is the right thing to do, it’s a career move, it makes better lawyers, and it has a multiplier effect.”  Then, quoting an African proverb in support of his plug for pro bono, Saunders added puckishly, “Corn cannot expect justice from a court made up of chickens.”

Touché, Mister Saunders – The PBEye hopes attendant legal professionals will heed his rousing (if slightly unconventional) call to action!

Were you in Berlin?  Drop us a comment, below, and tell us what inspired you at this year’s PILnet Forum . . .

Giving Thanks

The PBEye is taking some much needed turkey time this week.  We have much to be thankful for  — including everyone who has read our blog and, especially, all of our guest contributors.  While we’re taking time out to give thanks, we’d love to know what you’re most thankful for at this time of the year.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011 Mid-Year Hours Results Available

This summer the Law Firm Pro Bono Project again conducted a brief survey of Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge^® Signatories’ pro bono hours to detect trends at the mid-year point and to preview where 2011 may be headed based on the impressions and estimates of respondents from major law firms.

This survey serves as a snapshot in time of firms’ pro bono hours and participation estimates, and similar to the first half of 2010, a year in which pro bono at Challenge firms dropped 8.56 percent (yet was still the third highest year in the history of the Challenge), the results are mixed.  Respondents are more optimistic about their firms’ future pro bono hours for July-December 2011, with the majority predicting their firms’ pro bono hours will increase or stay the same for the last six months of this year.

Respondents also echoed our belief that quantitative metrics, most notable the Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge^®, are important, but not sufficient, indicators of the value of law firm pro bono service.  To that end, PBI is continuing with our ongoing effort to develop a framework that will enable firms to evaluate the impact and quality of their pro bono work.

For a copy of the Law Firm Project 2011 Mid-Year Pro Bono Survey Report, click here.

What trends in law firm pro bono service are you experiencing?  Leave a comment and let us know.

VIDEO: Meet the Face of Pro Bono

Just a week away from Thanksgiving, we at The PBEye are thinking about what we’re most thankful for.  Overall, we’re very thankful for all of our friends and supporters who spend so much of their time and energy fighting for access to justice for those in need.  We’re also thankful this year for having had the opportunity to meet Dewey Bozella and hear his words on the importance of pro bono at the 2011 PBI Annual Dinner.  Bozella, who spent 26 years in prison for a wrongful murder conviction, was freed two years ago with the help of pro bono counsel from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP*.  Below are Bozella’s inspiring remarks from the Dinner.

*denotes a Signatory to the Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge^®

CPBO Takes a Bite Out of the Big Apple

On November 2, our friends at CPBO headed north to the Big Apple.  They started the day meeting with members of the legal departments of two large corporations to assist with their efforts to formalize their pro bono programs.  Both organizations have robust community service efforts and individual attorneys who provide pro bono.  The next step is to put the policies and systems in place to empower more of their legal departments to use their unique legal skills to make a positive impact on their communities.  They are off to a great start and The PBEye is looking forward to reporting on their future successes.

Later in the day, CPBO gathered in-house attorneys from and around New York to discuss in-house pro bono.  CBS Corporation** generously hosted the meeting in its offices.  Representatives from CBS and companies including American International Group, Inc.**, The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation, Credit Suisse Group, Time Warner Inc., UBS, and Verizon Communications Inc. ** attended the meeting where PBI President and CEO Esther F. Lardent and CPBO Director Eve L. Runyon discussed a range of topics relevant to in-house pro bono, including:

• integrating non-lawyers into in-house pro bono efforts;
• multi-jurisdictional practice rule restrictions;
• partnering with law firms;
• increasing participation;
• desktop pro bono;
• finding projects that suit skills and time limitations;
• teaming among colleagues as a way to address limitations and concerns, as well as build morale;
• using national projects to expand a legal department’s pro bono program to include opportunities for smaller and regional offices; and
• collaborations among legal departments.

It was a great opportunity for both attendees and speakers to learn about the activities and challenges of other legal departments.  Fortunately, for those who are not in the New York-area, CPBO is available to help with your in-house pro bono needs.  And, if you are looking for a chance to meet with representatives from other legal departments, consider attending PBI’s 2012 Annual Conference (formerly the Annual Seminar and Forum on In-House Pro Bono), March 28-30, in Washington, D.C.  Be sure to keep checking this page for more information as it becomes available.

 **denotes a Signatory to the Corporate Pro Bono Challenge^SM

GE, Arnold & Porter, CLC Partner for Kids

In the summer of 2010, representatives from General Electric Company** and Arnold & Porter LLP*combined forces to help address some of the issues facing at-risk youth in the Washington, D.C. area.  The team met with the Children’s Law Center (CLC), an organization that provides free legal counsel to low-income children in the D.C. area, to formulate a plan.  After meeting with CLC, the organizations decided to focus their efforts on increasing access to special education resources.  

Washington, D.C. has an exceptionally high prevalence of disability among children, with more than 12,000 children who have disabilities requiring special education accommodations.  Many schools and health clinics often fail to provide special education services, and, more often than not, low-income families do not have the abilities to seek legal representation in order to obtain resources for their children — so the work of the GE/Arnold & Porter partnership is particularly important in the D.C. area.

In developing the special education representation efforts, the partnership set about ensuring the sustainability of its model.  Lawyers new to pro bono or special education law watch a videotaped training session in order to orient themselves with special education representation and the community.  Each case is assigned one General Electric attorney and one Arnold & Porter attorney, ensuring attorney availability for urgent needs.  In addition, each case is monitored by a CLC staff member who may also provide training on an as-needed basis and answer questions as they arise.  

Evelyn Becker, CLC’s pro bono director, said of the partnership, “We are grateful to General Electric and Arnold & Porter for helping to forge this new avenue of representation in the District in order to offer more comprehensive services for our clients.  Without their enthusiasm or dedication, this would not have been possible.”

Are you involved in an interesting partnership? We’d love to hear more about it!

*denotes a Signatory to the Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge^®
**denotes a Signatory to the Corporate Pro Bono Challenge^SM

Pro Bono to Honor Those Who Serve

“In an unbroken line of valor stretching across more than two centuries, our veterans have charged into harm’s way, sometimes making the ultimate sacrifice, to protect the freedoms that have blessed America. Whether Active Duty, Reserve, or National Guard, they are our Nation’s finest citizens, and they have shown the heights to which Americans can rise when asked and inspired to do so.” — President Barack Obama (2010)

This Veterans Day, Americans will recognize the sacrifices of the country’s veterans with parades, memorials, and tokens of appreciation. Providing pro bono services to eligible veterans is a unique opportunity for lawyers to repay those who served our country.  Inspiring examples of pro bono work for our veterans include:

• Hewlett-Packard Company’s** signature project to assist veterans throughout the year;
• Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP’s*† work on a class-action lawsuit on behalf of more than 4,300 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, who had been illegally denied the monetary and medical benefits to which they are entitled by statute;
• Morrison & Foerster LLP’s*† representation that resulted in a landmark decision that veterans who apply for benefits, not just those who already receive them, have a right of due process under the Fifth Amendment; and
• Verizon Communications Inc.** in partnership with DLA Piper LLP (US)’s* support  for disabled veterans who are eligible to receive Combat-Related Special Compensation from the Department of Defense.  In addition, the DLA Piper San Diego offices operate a signature project, Serving Those Who Serve Our Country, which is dedicated to providing legal and community services to the veteran and active duty military population of San Diego County.

How are you honoring our veterans through pro bono service?  Leave a comment and share your experience.

And look for more guidance on veteran-related pro bono issues at the 2012 PBI Annual Conference, March 28-30, in Washington, D.C.

* denotes a Signatory to the Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge^®
** denotes a Signatory to the Corporate Pro Bono Challenge^SM
† denotes a Member of the Law Firm Pro Bono Project

VIDEO: Why Do Pro Bono?

Why do pro bono?  It’s a question that The PBEye loves hearing because there are so many good reasons.

For starters, it may help you live longer.  You can literally change the world with pro bono.  With enough dedication to pro bono, you can help someone get his life back.  Or maybe you do pro bono because you believe that access to justice is a fundamental human right that no one should be denied.  We could go on and on, but we’d rather let you hear it from those who do it every day.

Give Me One Reason

We spend a lot of time thinking, talking, and writing about why lawyers, law firms, and legal departments should do pro bono work.

In case you (or Tracy Chapman) need yet another reason to do pro bono work, we were encouraged to see recent reports about scientific research that demonstrates that volunteering leads to longer and healthier lives.

The Corporation for National and Community Service also found that volunteering leads to greater longevity, higher functional ability, lower rates of depression, and less incidence of heart disease. “Volunteers help themselves to better health while helping others,” according to a study by the Corporation for National and Community Service

Want to live longer?  Try doing some pro bono work.

Why do you do pro bono work?  Leave a comment and share your motivations.