Author: dlipscomb

In April, the U.S. Department of Justice announced a new initiative to encourage federal inmates who have committed low-level crimes to petition for executive clemency. Since the announcement, more than 16,000 prisoners have completed electronic surveys to apply for reduced sentences, and it’s likely that tens of thousands of additional surveys are in progress. Clemency Project 2014, a working group composed of lawyers and advocates from the Federal Defenders, the American Civil Liberties Union, Families Against Mandatory Minimums, the American Bar Association, and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL), is in the process of recruiting and organizing pro

Interested in a good read for the upcoming long weekend? Check out last December’s five-part series in The New York Times about a family living in a homeless shelter in Brooklyn, NY. Through the story of 11-year-old Dasani, who is one of 22,000 homeless children in New York, “Invisible Child” shines a harsh light on the alarming increase of homeless youth in recent years and our nation’s problem of vast inequality. It’s one of the most powerful pieces we’ve read this year. We’ve previously discussed how even the most well-meaning and sensitive pro bono volunteers can have a hard time

Recruiting season at major law firms will be here before we know it, and many law students around the country are looking to join firms where pro bono is an integral part of the culture. Every year we are honored to be able to promote our Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge® Signatories and their demonstrated commitment to pro bono. Accordingly, last week the Law Firm Pro Bono Project distributed its annual Challenge poster to the career services offices of all ABA-accredited law schools. The poster lists every Challenge Signatory, raises the visibility of these firms to make them more attractive

It’s time to discuss the elephant in the room for many law firm pro bono programs – Succession Management Planning (SMP). #165039019 / gettyimages.com SMP is a continuous process that focuses on ensuring leadership continuity, in part by identifying and cultivating talent from within the firm to guarantee a smooth transition from one leader to the next. Thinking about the sudden or planned departure of pro bono leaders is neither easy nor comfortable and as a result, SMP, understandably, often takes a backseat on law firms’ pro bono “to-do lists.” However, it is important that firms create clear succession management

This week, we observed Yom HaShoah – Holocaust Remembrance Day, a time to commemorate the approximately six million Jews who perished in the Holocaust. Imagine having your family and childhood destroyed by the Nazis, only to be tormented by the crushing burden of poverty in old age. This is unfortunately the reality for many survivors worldwide, with one in four of the 140,000 Holocaust survivors in the U.S. living at or below the poverty line. There are inspiring opportunities for pro bono lawyers to get involved and help survivors with their legal needs. One pioneering example is Bet Tzedek’s Holocaust