By Alyssa Saunders, Director, Corporate Pro Bono
At all stages of your pro bono program, the Corporate Pro Bono (CPBO) project of PBI is here to help with confidential technical assistance, templates, and other helpful resources so you never have to start from scratch or expand your pro bono efforts alone.
Since PBI launched the CPBO project in 2000, the project has been the premiere resource for legal departments interested in starting or enhancing their pro bono programs. The CPBO team have experience consulting with GCs and CLOs, in-house counsel, legal operations teams, paralegals, community service and social impact teams, and other stakeholders to advance in-house pro bono.
We tailor our guidance to each department, considering size, geography, staffing, legal needs, culture, and available resources. This results in a one-of-a-kind model that fits the needs and goals of any in-house pro bono program.
Starting a Pro Bono Program
For a department beginning its pro bono journey, technical assistance from the CPBO team starts with an introductory conversation and develops into a detailed roadmap for launching your pro bono program. Whether you’ve been tasked with building out a program, or you’d like to make the business case for pro bono to leadership, we can help.
For companies considering pro bono for the first time, the process can raise a long list of questions: Who should lead the effort? Do we need a formal policy? How do we identify appropriate projects? How do we secure leadership support and recruit volunteers?
The CPBO team helps you to answer those questions and build a strong foundation by providing practical guidance. Some examples include:
- developing program policies and procedures;
- surveying employee interests;
- building internal support in the legal department and in the company for the program;
- establishing a pro bono committee or leadership structure;
- addressing considerations and risks such as malpractice insurance, conflicts, and unauthorized practice of law;
- identifying volunteer opportunities that are a good fit for your geographic location, corporate values, community needs, and employee interests;
- connecting departments with potential partners; and
- providing template documents.
Strengthening an Existing Program
Established programs can also benefit from technical assistance to assess what’s working, identify opportunities for growth, and respond to transitional moments. Our self-assessment and maturity-model resources can help you scale the impact and momentum of your program. For example, we can help teams:
- navigate leadership changes or reorganizations;
- address changing employee interests or needs;
- grow and sustain volunteer participation, including staff who are not attorneys;
- launch signature projects, and
- revise and implement pro bono policies.
To help departments understand the broader field, we provide a birds’ eye view of in-house pro bono through PBI’s CPBO Challenge® initiative and Benchmarking Reports. We can also provide tools and resources related to internal metrics-tracking and benchmarking.
Finding the Right Opportunities
Identifying meaningful pro bono work that fits your department’s needs and goals can require substantial research. Utilizing the extensive PBI network, the CPBO team assist companies in identifying pro bono opportunities in locations of interest or on particular subject matter areas; that engage globally distributed legal teams; and that build connections with peer and public interest organizations.
Through technical assistance, the CPBO team can also help departments think beyond one-off projects and explore signature projects and deeper collaborations with public interest partners, law firms, and legal departments.
Several of PBI’s recurring programs originated from requests by individual legal departments, including the Financial Institution Pro Bono Day® event, EmPOWERing Pro Bono Day, and the Corporate Pro Bono Community Group.
Ready to Take the Next Step?
Most in-house pro bono leaders are doing their work on top of a full-time job. Think of us as an extra set of hands! Your project or idea does not need to be fully developed before starting a conversation with us. We can be your thought partner in addition to identifying implementation strategies.
Whether your legal department is building a program from the ground up, reinvigorating an established one, or tackling a specific pro bono challenge, PBI and its CPBO project can provide guidance, resources, research, and connections to keep your in-house pro bono program moving forward. Reach out to the CPBO project to request technical assistance for your department today!