Corporate Pro Bono Archives - Page 5 of 19

The Power of Stories and Pro Bono

May 2, 2017

Long time readers of The PBEye might remember a blog post from 2014: Television and Pro Bono: An Innovative Approach. The post detailed how Viacom Inc.**, one of the world’s premier entertainment brands, combined the medium of television with the unique skills of its legal department and production staff to engage in pro bono. To increase public awareness of gender-based violence and the implications of Kenya’s 2006 Sexual Offences Act, Viacom worked with the producers of its television program, Shuga: Love, Sex, Money, to incorporate important legal information into the storyline and leverage the program to educate the Kenyan community and viewers

CLO Letter in Support of Funding LSC Reaches 195 Signatories

April 18, 2017

In response to The White House Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) recommendation to eliminate federal funding for the Legal Services Corp. (LSC) for FY18, 195 chief legal officers and general counsel from across the U.S. have signed their names to a letter in support of funding LSC at $450 million for the next fiscal year. The National Law Journal pointed out that the signatories represent numerous industries and some of the country’s biggest companies. Why are so many general counsel committed to supporting LSC? As the largest funder of civil legal services in the U.S., LSC funds the legal aid

Learn More about In-House Pro Bono Budgets

March 21, 2017

This March, CPBO releases the latest installment in its infographic series, aimed at making complicated in-house pro bono issues easier to digest. The newly published infographic is titled “In-House Pro Bono Budgets”. The new publication touches on: expenses, budgeting, and foundation funding. The data comes from not-yet-released responses to the 2016 CPBO Benchmarking Survey. Among other statistics, the infographic reveals that the largest expenses covered in annual budgets include trainings of volunteers and refreshments at events. In addition, 50% of respondents whose pro bono programs received support from the company’s foundation or CSR department report in 2015 they received more

Webinar Recap — In-House Pro Bono Partnership: Self Help Resource Center

March 7, 2017

On February 16, PBI hosted the webinar “In-House Pro Bono Partnership: Self Help Resource Center” which provided an in-depth look at the 2016 CPBO Partner Award Recipients. The CPBO Pro Bono Partner Award recognizes innovative team approaches to pro bono work involving in-house legal departments, law firms, and public interest groups. The 2016 CPBO Partner Award honored the pro bono partnership between Entergy Corporation**, the Louisiana Civil Justice Center, and the Orleans Parish Civil District Court, to develop and support the Orleans Parish Self Help Resource Center (SHRC). The SHRC is a help desk that assists thousands of unrepresented low-income

Guest Blog: Sixth Annual ACC Northeast Chapter Clinic in a Box® Program

January 17, 2017

Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky, and Popeo†* was honored to once again join with the Association of Corporate Counsel Northeast Chapter (ACC-Northeast), CPBO, and Lawyers Clearinghouse, to host a Clinic in a Box® program to provide pro bono legal services to local nonprofit organizations for the sixth year in a row. For the 40 in-house volunteers, the day started with a 90-minute training session led by Mintz Levin Attorney Anthony Hubbard who discussed bylaws and retired Casner & Edwards Partner Dick Allen who covered conflicts of interest (COI) policies. After the training, volunteer attorneys broke into small teams and met

Free to Practice Pro Bono in Wisconsin!

January 3, 2017

Effective January 1, the more than 225 registered in-house counsel in Wisconsin may provide pro bono legal services without unnecessary restriction. Previously, in-house counsel licensed and in good standing in other jurisdictions and registered to work for their employer in Wisconsin were permitted to provide pro bono legal services only “to qualified clients of a legal service program.” See Wis. SCR 10.03(4)(f) (cmt.). The road to this change began several years ago when the Wisconsin ACC Chapter took up the issue. At the chapter’s urging, on October 7, 2015, the State Bar of Wisconsin filed a petition to amend the

CLOs on the Intersection of Pro Bono and CSR at the 2016 ACC Annual Meeting

December 22, 2016

A highlight of the in-house pro bono programming offered at the ACC Annual Meeting was a session featuring Susan Lees, executive vice president and general counsel for Allstate Insurance Company**, and Amy Weaver, executive vice president and general counsel for Salesforce**. The session, moderated by Eve Runyon, president and CEO of PBI, opened with Lees and Weaver discussing their experiences in starting and growing pro bono programs, as well as providing tips for how in-house departments could start, expand, or rejuvenate their pro bono programs. The speakers offered advice to the audience such as: partner with ACC chapters, law firms,

Guest Blog: Caterpillar’s Commitment to Renewal House and its Residents

November 1, 2016

We at The PBEye are inspired every day by the Corporate Pro Bono Challenge® signatories. In celebration of the 10th anniversary of the launch of the CPBO Challenge® initiative, we are showcasing some of their projects with the hope that they inspire you, too. From its inception in 2006, the Caterpillar Inc.** Pro Bono Program in Nashville has covered a spectrum of legal matters from researching social security laws in the U.S. to inheritance rights in Kenya; from assisting young immigrants with their deferred action immigration paperwork to helping the elderly and indigent through our simple wills and powers of attorney clinics. Our longest standing

Guest Blog: Review-A-Rama Takes Off: UHG and CVLC Mobilize Volunteers for Vets

October 25, 2016

We at The PBEye are inspired every day by the Corporate Pro Bono Challenge® signatories. In celebration of the 10th anniversary of the launch of the CPBO Challenge® initiative, we are showcasing some of their projects with the hope that they inspire you, too. Legal communities across the country are turning toward unbundled legal services to improve access to justice. In 2015, inspired by this trend and by the possibilities of expanding justice for Connecticut’s disabled veterans, UnitedHealth Group** (UHG) and The Connecticut Veterans Legal Center (CVLC) launched Review-a-Rama, a model for limited-scope pro bono assistance by in-house legal staff. UHG and CVLC are now

Guest Blog: Partnering in Chicago to Make a Difference

October 11, 2016

We at The PBEye are inspired every day by the Corporate Pro Bono Challenge® signatories. In celebration of the 10th anniversary of the launch of the CPBO Challenge® initiative, we are showcasing some of their projects with the hope that they inspire you, too. For more than two years, Discover Financial Services** volunteers have joined with DLA Piper*† and LAF, a Chicago legal services provider, to host a free legal services clinic in the Woodlawn neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago. The monthly clinic began in 2009 in response to the critical, unmet legal needs many low-income families in the area face, including housing and

Category: Corporate Pro Bono