Highlights from Pro Bono Institute Annual Conference: Project Development & Volunteer Engagement

At the Pro Bono Institute (PBI) 2025 Annual Conference earlier this year, pro bono experts from in-house, law firm, and legal services organizations gathered to share their expertise and to collaborate about the future of pro bono. Here, the PBEye blog highlights two sessions that focused on pro bono project development and volunteer engagement, in different contexts: global pro bono and rapid response pro bono. These sessions are illustrative of the expert panelists, interactive in-depth discussions, and practical takeaways that PBI Annual Conference sessions provide.

Global Pro Bono Development

At the session titled “Global Projects as Opportunity for Cross-Cutting Collaboration,” the speakers and attendees discussed effective strategies for how law firms, legal departments, and public interest organizations can partner around the world to do pro bono.

Panelists Jennifer Cheung, Assistant Director of Pro Bono, Mayer Brown*; Julia Gilfillan, Special Program & Operations Lead, Accenture**; Anastassiya Miller, Program Director: Civic Space, PILnet; and Angela Vigil, Pro Bono Partner and Executive Director of Global Pro Bono, Baker McKenzie*^†, examined how pro bono programs and collaborations may be global in scope but must be local in execution.

Here are five takeaways from this program:

1. Center local voices. Successful global pro bono programs start by engaging with local civil society organizations, NGOs, local bar associations, and local lawyers on the ground, to understand the community’s needs. Listening to these stakeholders may change your view of what pro bono project to engage in.
2. Build pro bono culture. In jurisdictions without an existing pro bono culture, match volunteer interests to opportunities where possible. Start with bite-sized projects, which can build engagement, momentum, and increased commitment to pro bono. Incorporate pro bono into business meetings to help institutionalize the work.
3. Leverage cross-border partnerships and infrastructure. Pro bono leaders and volunteers can use platforms like PILnet or TrustLaw to find vetted local partners and opportunities. Partner with large international firms as well as smaller local boutiques in the location you seek to serve.
4. Adapt to practical and legal constraints. Be aware of constraints including the jurisdiction-specific rules that govern pro bono. Some local pro bono regulations may not allow traditional pro bono projects.
5. Empower leadership beyond lawyers. Global pro bono leadership can come from individuals who are not practicing attorneys. Passionate individuals from across an organization can champion projects effectively. Corporate citizenship teams can be great partners in building pro bono.

Preparing for the Unexpected

Developing pro bono projects in response to sudden events — whether a natural disaster or a change in the legal or regulatory environment — can be a challenge even for seasoned pro bono leaders. The panelists at the session Mobilizing Volunteers when the Unexpected Happens shared their best practices for pro bono leaders who are designing rapid-response pro bono projects.

Panelists Tamara Serwer Caldas, Pro Bono Partner, Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton*, Jacqueline Haberfeld, Global Director and Pro Bono Counsel, Kirkland & Ellis*, and Cari King, Deputy Director of Pro Bono Partnerships & Collaboration, Georgia Legal Services Program led an interactive program where attendees participated in small groups to problem-solve a scenario requiring a rapid response to address a vulnerable population’s legal needs.

Here are five takeaways from this program:

1. Do an assessment. Before creating any new rapid response project, evaluate who else is operating in that space. Do not encroach on the work of others, or duplicate efforts. Be willing to bring resources to collaborate with existing partners rather than compete with others working in your area of interest.
2. Maximize impact by meeting the clients’ actual needs. Pro bono leaders should not assume there is a legal need that is appropriate to address immediately after a disaster or other unexpected event. Speak to the potential clients – or to the organizations that are working with that population – to understand their needs and priorities. In a disaster, basic human needs will take priority over legal needs. Also consider language access, disability access, and cultural competency to serve clients well.
3. Keep volunteers engaged. Don’t recruit volunteers too early, before you understand the clients’ needs. Keep as short as possible the time between the training for the service opportunity and the deployment of volunteers, so the training is fresh and the interest level is high. Continue to inform and engage volunteers to ensure they understand that the disaster doesn’t end when the media cycle ends; some legal needs may surface months after the disaster or event takes place.
4. Take time to make a project plan. Even when developing a rapid response, organizers must think carefully about project logistics, technology needs, personnel needs, and ownership of each task. Even in an emergency, the quality of the work cannot suffer. Taking shortcuts in delivering the pro bono legal services harms not only the clients but also the reputation of the participating organizations.
5. Scalability and replicability are key. Pro bono project design should not be proprietary. A project model can start in one place and then be scaled up to include or replicated in other locations. Be willing to share models, methodology, software, and other techniques with peer pro bono leaders.

To watch these 2025 PBI Annual Conference sessions referenced above, or to learn more about the PBI Annual Conference, please contact Pro Bono Institute at pbi@probonoinst.org. To read about other informative sessions from the 2025 Annual Conference click here.

* denotes a Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge^® signatory
** denotes a Corporate Pro Bono Challenge^® signatory
† denotes a Law Firm Pro Bono Project^® member