Kim Kerker, Author at Pro Bono Institute

Hoosier Lawyer? As of January 1, 2020, They Don’t Have to Be From Indiana

November 26, 2019

On January 1, 2020, the pool of attorneys eligible to provide pro bono legal services in Indiana will expand, thanks to a recent order of the Indiana Supreme Court. Indiana joins 39 states and the District of Columbia in permitting non-locally licensed in-house counsel to provide pro bono legal services in the jurisdiction in which they practice law for their employer. These authorizations come in the form of practice rules permitting registered in-house counsel, or out-of-state attorneys more broadly, to deliver pro bono services. Such rules are a critical step in helping to address the shortage of available legal aid

A Shift to Service: Adapting to the Values of the Millennial Generation

August 23, 2019

A Focus on Service and How Pro Bono Work May Help In recent years, companies have focused increasingly on social responsibility and volunteerism within the professional sector. It’s no coincidence that this shift comes as the Millennial Generation, those individuals born between approximately 1981 and 1996, has assumed a prominent role within the workplace. According to a 2018 Pew Research Poll, millennials comprise more than one-third of the total labor force, giving them the greatest representation of any generation in the labor market. With projections that millennials will make up 75 percent of the labor force by 2030, the influence

Pro Bono Rules! How Policies Can Expand Or Impede Pro Bono

June 20, 2019

Ethical rules and pro bono policies in each state can either ease the way for attorneys seeking to provide pro bono legal services or erect road blocks in their path. With studies showing that approximately 80% of the civil legal needs of low-income Americans are unaddressed, how do we structure our laws, rules, and policies to encourage and cultivate a broader commitment to pro bono? Determining which statewide practices can best harness pro bono resources is a topic of important research. In a recent article, Professor Latonia Haney Keith discussed the consensus among pro bono leaders that implementing policies that expand

Your One-Stop Shop For Access to Justice: New Nonprofit Center Dedicated to the Philadelphia Legal Aid Community

June 17, 2019

A group of civil legal aid nonprofits have joined together in Philadelphia to construct a long-term solution for cost savings, reinvestment into programming, and collaboratively serving the region’s clients. Scheduled to begin construction later this year, the Philadelphia Equal Justice Center is a nonprofit, social-purpose center designed to house civil legal aid and social services organizations under one roof as a one-stop shop for legal aid, with the lofty goal of serving as an efficient model for communities throughout the U.S. and perhaps the world. The “EJC” is a pioneering concept. While nonprofit centers have operated successfully in other industries,

A First: Law Firm Pro Bono Annual Hours Exceed Five Million

June 13, 2019

Pro Bono Institute’s Law Firm Pro Bono Project has issued its 2018 Report on the Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge® Initiative. Firms reported performing a total of 5,070,533 hours of pro bono work in 2018 – an increase over 2017. This is the first time signatories have collectively exceeded the 5 million hours mark since the implementation of the Challenge in 1995. The Challenge Report examines the pro bono performance of firms that are signatories to PBI’s Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge initiative during the 2018 calendar year. Signatories have committed to contribute 3 or 5 percent of their annual billable hours (or,

Listening to Our Pro Bono Clients

May 21, 2019

“Recommending that law firms seek client feedback has become so commonplace and widespread in the industry that the advice is almost clichéd.” Jim Pagliaro Client relations and client feedback have become standard operating procedures on the business side of large law firms. Does the pro bono program adhere to the same values and follow the same standards? Let’s explore the variety of ways that listening to our pro bono clients can improve our delivery of pro bono services, enhance the professional development of firm attorneys, and have a lasting effect on the individuals and communities served. Assuaging Your Clients’ Fears

A Pro Bono Collaboration to Help Innocent Owners Recover Seized Property

May 14, 2019

In September 2016, United Airlines**, Seyfarth Shaw*, and Cabrini Green Legal Aid (CGLA) began a pro bono collaboration to help low-income individuals in Chicago recover vehicles and other property seized by the police during an arrest. This practice, known as civil asset forfeiture, originally intended to go after crime lords, drug cartels, and white-collar criminals, was being routinely turned against “workaday homes, cars, cash savings, and other belongings of innocent people who are never charged with a crime” in cities throughout the United States, as explained in a 2013 New Yorker article. In Chicago, police are authorized to seize property suspected of being

Chief Legal Officers Advocate for Funding of Legal Services Corporation

May 1, 2019

For the third year in a row, in response to the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) proposal to eliminate Legal Services Corporation (LSC), Corporate Pro Bono (CPBO), the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC), and the National Legal Aid & Defender Association (NLADA) worked with the in-house community to gather the support to ensure LSC is fully funded. This week, more than 260 general counsel and chief legal officers signed a letterdelivered to Congress advocating for LSC funding for FY2020. An impressive group of leaders, representing legal departments diverse in size, geography, and industry, joined this effort. As the largest funder

Financial Institutions Unite for Pro Bono

April 22, 2019

PBI is gearing up for the first-ever Financial Institution Pro Bono Day, Thursday, May 2, 2019. Financial institutions from across the U.S. are working together for a day of volunteering to provide a diverse range of pro bono legal services to vulnerable communities. Organized by Corporate Pro Bono, PBI’s project to support in-house pro bono, Financial Institution Pro Bono Day will spotlight the severe gap in legal services for underserved individuals in the U.S. and promote in-house pro bono engagement and collaboration. This guest blog, written by Mark Gittelman, Managing Chief Counsel – Bankruptcy and Business Reorganization for PNC Bank, tells

Rule Change in California Removes Barriers for In-House Pro Bono

April 12, 2019

The California Supreme Court recently loosened restrictions on the ability of non-locally licensed in-house counsel to engage in pro bono legal services, effective March 1, 2019. Corporate Pro Bono (CPBO) and the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) worked to advocate for amendments to the California Rules of Court and the State Bar Rules that would remove burdensome restrictions on pro bono practice for in-house counsel. Approximately three dozen Chief Legal Officers (CLOs) signed onto letters in support of the rule change. Prior to the amendments, in order to practice pro bono, non-locally licensed, registered in-house counsel were required to additionally

Author: Kim Kerker