March Madness is winding down as we head into the Final Four this weekend, and we hope that your brackets are doing as well as ours. The good news is that the excitement doesn’t have to stop on Monday evening after we crown a new champion. The PBEye is thrilled to announce that PBI is partnering with several governing bodies on a new program – Pro Bono Madness!
Over the past few years, we’ve seen a rise in various types of informal competitions (i.e., between different offices or practice groups) to boost pro bono performance within law firms. We were inspired by these successful initiatives to create our own audacious tournament to promote pro bono by pitting our country’s law schools against one another. All law school alumni must fulfill a burdensome reporting requirement, whereby they submit confidential information to PBI about their personal pro bono activities for the previous calendar year. Starting in 2016, any university without 100 percent pro bono participation among its law school alumni will not be eligible to enter the NCAA tournament. As an extra incentive, unreliable data received by PBI will be reflected in the school’s seeding, pursuant to a complex algorithm. During each round of the tournament, we will reveal on prime time specials on ESPN 5 which schools come out on top in head-to-head bracket battles for the most pro bono hours. How will your school stack up?
Stay tuned for more information about how you can support your alma mater while promoting access to justice!
P.S. Happy April Fools’ Day!