PBI Signatory Showcase Interview with Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America
Allianz Life commits to pro bono through partnerships with nonprofits, such as Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services, the Minnesota Elder Justice Center, and LegalCORPS. They offer critical legal services to underserved communities, including estate-planning assistance for low-income seniors, preparing health care directives, and offering legal advice for small businesses and nonprofits. For our latest Signatory Showcase, we interviewed Jeff Mason, Associate General Counsel and Senior Counsel – Litigation and Regulatory, at Allianz Life about this program and how it not only provides essential support to vulnerable populations but also strengthens internal team cohesion at Allianz Life.
Please tell us about these clinics.
For the last few years, Allianz Life’s Pro Bono Program has sponsored and staffed multiple pro bono clinics in partnership with local nonprofits. First, in partnership with Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services and the Minnesota Elder Justice Center, Allianz Life has held clinics offering basic estate-planning services to local seniors in need. During these clinics, Allianz Life volunteer attorneys and legal professionals meet in-person with pre-screened clients to prepare basic wills, health care directives, financial powers of attorney, and transfer on death deeds.
Second, in partnership with LegalCORPS, Allianz Life has staffed brief advice clinics for small start-up businesses and nonprofits. During these clinics, Allianz Life volunteer attorneys and legal professionals meet virtually with client start-ups in brief, 30-minute consultations to provide legal advice on a variety of legal matters, such as entity formation and registration, contract drafting, tax, governance, and other matters.
What has been the role of Allianz Life in these projects?
Allianz Life’s role has been focused primarily on organizing and staffing the clinics with Allianz Life attorneys and legal professionals. Allianz Life’s Legal Pro Bono Committee solicits employees to volunteer during the clinics and, working with our partner nonprofits, provides training to volunteers and organizes and administers the clinics.
Are there any organizations that the department collaborates with? If so, why are these partnerships so important?
Yes – Allianz Life has partnered with three nonprofits for these clinics: Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services, the Minnesota Elder Justice Center, and LegalCORPS. These partnerships are critical because the partner organizations identify and pre-screen clinic clients and provide infrastructure, training materials, and support for volunteers. This support maximizes Allianz Life’s contributions by freeing the company to focus on providing the legal workforce to staff the clinics.
What impact has this pro bono work made?
First and foremost, these efforts have afforded important legal services to underserved populations who otherwise would struggle to obtain them and, in many cases, would have to forego them altogether. For example, although low-income households are less likely to have estate plans, they arguably have a greater need for estate planning than do more affluent households. Pro bono estate planning can provide important tools to limit costs (e.g., probate) that otherwise could consume a substantial portion of a low-income household estate. It can prevent the loss of property due to intestacy, such as the family home, which is often the primary asset. And it can provide peace of mind for vulnerable populations.
Pro bono work also provides important benefits to Allianz Life. It increases department cohesion, builds rapport among employees who may not regularly work together, and deepens connections with company values, all of which contribute to happier and more-engaged employees.
What would you say is the most challenging part of this type of project?
The greatest challenge with this type of project is identifying the opportunity and building the model for a successful clinic. The greatest assets in tackling both of those challenges have been the nonprofit organizations with which we have partnered. A secondary challenge is engaging employees who may not have much pro bono experience, for example because of constraints on time or a relative lack of experience in the subject matter of a particular clinic. We have been able to address these challenges through a number of efforts, including offering training for volunteers and through promotion and participation by senior leadership within the legal department. In addition, Allianz Life encourages participation by permitting employees to volunteer during normal business hours using company-provided volunteer hours and by pledging a company donation to the partner nonprofits for each employee who participates.
| Each year, the signatories to the PBI Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge® and Corporate Pro Bono Challenge® initiatives provide important pro bono services to underserved, disadvantaged, and other individuals or groups unable to secure the legal assistance needed to address critical problems. The PBI Signatory Showcase spotlights some of the amazing work signatories have done to serve those in need. |