Category: Publications

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

What are some of the ways that your legal department can obtain professional liability insurance for pro bono engagement? Which sources of coverage are most popular? The most recent CPBO Benchmarking Report answers these questions and more! There is a variety of malpractice insurance coverage options available for in-house counsel and legal departments engaging in pro bono, including adding an endorsement to an existing policy or purchasing a standalone policy, and many departments access a combination of options to ensure coverage. According to the 2014 Benchmarking Report, the majority of responding legal departments elect to partner with a legal services

While Congress continues to quarrel about the federal budget, your legal department may want to think about its own budget with regard to its pro bono program. CPBO’s 2012 Benchmarking Report asked departments a number of budget questions, including which of the following source(s) fund the pro bono program. For departments with a separate budget or a line item within the legal department’s budget, the 2012 Benchmarking Report found that the total amount allocated to the pro bono program within that budget varied across departments as follows: While budgeting aims to predict expenses accurately, occasionally departments under-budget. When this happens,

Claims against in-house counsel and their employers arising from pro bono legal services are nearly nonexistent. Nonetheless, no one wants to be the exception to the rule. While, legal departments, unlike law firms, do not always carry such insurance, CPBO’s 2012 Benchmarking Report demonstrates that there are a number of options available to legal departments. The following graphs from the report show the percentage of respondent legal departments that select each of the options: In-house counsel remain keenly interested in their options for professional liability coverage (sometimes referred to as a type of “sleep insurance” due to the infrequency of