Content from the cpbo.org website has migrated permanently to the Pro Bono Institute website. As we consolidate resources into a single online platform, certain pages, documents, and links may be updated or relocated.
We appreciate your patience during this transition. If you require assistance locating a specific in-house pro bono resource or experience difficulty accessing content, please contact the CPBO team for support.
The Corporate Pro Bono (CPBO®) project is designed to substantially increase the amount of pro bono work performed by in-house counsel and to enhance the pro bono culture of in-house legal departments through technical assistance to the in-house community, targeted research and publications, online information and services, and outreach and educational programming.
A trusted source for innovative ideas, PBI launched the CPBO project to provide consultation, resources, and insights that will help in-house legal departments make informed and enlightened decisions about pro bono to meaningfully advance access to justice in their communities.
The CPBO project has developed a number of initiatives to advance in-house pro bono, including the Corporate Pro Bono Challenge® initiative, the industry-standard goal for commitment to in-house pro bono, and the Clinic in a Box® program, a proprietary, highly successful in-house clinic model that serves nonprofits and small businesses.
Since its inception, the CPBO project has worked with more than 1200 legal departments and more than 40 Association of Corporate Counsel Chapters to develop their pro bono programs and create pro bono opportunities in an effort to close the access to justice gap.
Questions about in-house pro bono? Contact the CPBO team.
Click here to view additional Corporate Pro Bono Resources.
Clinic in a Box® Program – These half-day clinics provide in-house counsel the opportunity to earn CLE credit during a training session followed by advising nonprofit organizations or small businesses on select topics or a legal audit of the organization. These clinics are produced in collaboration with legal departments, Association of Corporate Counsel Chapters, local nonprofit organizations, and major law firms.
Industry Pro Bono Days – Annual industry pro bono days bring together volunteer attorneys and legal staff from different industries to provide pro bono legal assistance to address critical legal needs of underserved communities and promote in-house pro bono engagement and collaboration. Participating companies, often working in partnership with legal services organizations and law firms, organize and participate in pro bono events of their choice on a designated day each year.
Training and Presentations – The CPBO team regularly presents on various in-house pro bono topics and provides training or speaks at events, to support and advance in-house pro bono. From industry-wide association meetings to legal department retreats, there are opportunities for you to learn from and get involved with the CPBO project.
Contact the CPBO project to learn more about in-house pro bono.
In 2006, at the urging of chief legal officers, the CPBO project launched an initiative enabling legal departments to identify, benchmark, and communicate their support for pro bono service. The Corporate Pro Bono Challenge (CPBO Challenge®) statement is now the standard for in-house pro bono. It is a simple, voluntary statement of commitment to pro bono service by legal departments, their lawyers, and staff. Today, there are more than 190 signatories to the CPBO Challenge initiative.
Specifically, the CPBO Challenge statement calls for chief legal officers to:
All CPBO Challenge signatories receive information, guidance, and tailored support to strengthen existing pro bono programs or to start new ones.
Join the Corporate Pro Bono Challenge initiative
By joining the CPBO Challenge initiative, legal departments elevate the importance of providing pro bono legal services to underserved, vulnerable communities and communicate their commitment to supporting their lawyers and staff in using their unique skills to close the justice gap.
To find current as well as historic data on in-house pro bono performance, read the Corporate Pro Bono Challenge Reports, and to learn more about the amazing work signatories have done to serve those in need, visit the PBI Signatory Showcase.
A: The need for pro bono legal service is tremendous. The U.S. legal system is facing a crisis in access to justice. More than 92 percent of the legal needs of low-income individuals in the U.S. go unmet.
Lawyers have a professional responsibility to provide pro bono assistance to those who cannot afford it and each lawyer, no matter his or her specialty, can contribute.
Pro bono brings value to employees, legal departments, and companies. Engaging in activities that allow legal staff to broaden their experience and make a difference in the community helps morale and enhances professional skills. It also helps individual members of a legal group bond together as a unit.
As corporations increase their corporate social responsibility (CSR) commitments and profile, pro bono service enables legal departments to contribute to the company’s CSR goals while demonstrating the added value and unique contributions that legal staff provide. Pro bono is an important and unique tool for the legal staff of companies to promote CSR.
A: PBI’s Corporate Pro Bono Challenge initiative is the only national benchmark that allows legal departments to track and measure the growth of in-house pro bono nationwide. It is an important and unique tool for departments to promote good citizenship.
By becoming a CPBO Challenge signatory, departments demonstrate a commitment to pro bono and encourage legal staff to do more. Departments have found that having a concrete and quantifiable, but voluntary, goal has helped to increase visibility, participation, and performance in pro bono while assuring legal staff that they will not be disadvantaged because of their pro bono participation.
A: Yes. The goals of the CPBO Challenge are all aspirational and are designed to encourage and promote pro bono throughout an organization’s legal department. There are no penalties for not meeting the goals.
A: Annually, PBI asks all Challenge signatories to complete a survey reporting the results of their pro bono program as measured by the CPBO Challenge Report. Except as reported in the aggregate, all responses are completely confidential: PBI will never release a department’s yearly audit answers without that department’s consent.
A: The CPBO Challenge initiative is the only national standard for in-house pro bono and the only standard with the backing and support of PBI and its CPBO project. It was created at the urging of chief legal officers and is grounded in the specific culture of in-house practice.
A: Law departments that do not have a pro bono program cite lack of time (or time flexibility) as the number one reason, so the impact of this issue cannot be overstated.
Meaningful pro bono is not limited to long term projects. There are many finite, time-limited opportunities that allow attorneys to fit pro bono into their schedule without agreeing to an open-ended time commitment.
The CPBO project is available to assist departments identify time-limited opportunities. Forming teams to work on a pro bono project, whether among legal staff within a legal department or with an outside law firm or legal services provider, divides the workload and can reduce the commitment. It also provides attorneys with the comfort of knowing that another attorney can provide coverage when conflicts arise.
A: The CPBO project is available to confidentially assist legal departments that are interested in starting, developing, and expanding their pro bono initiatives. Whether a department has questions about multijurisdictional practice restrictions, malpractice insurance, or identifying partner organizations and opportunities, we are available to provide tailored advice and guidance.
CPBO Challenge Signatory Digital Badge
This badge is provided to CPBO Challenge signatories to display their commitment to pro bono service. PBI invites you to demonstrate your company’s dedication to access to justice and encourage your colleagues to enhance their pro bono participation.
Learn more, and sign up to advance access to justice by becoming a signatory.
To support, enhance, and transform the pro bono efforts of in-house legal departments in the U.S. and around the world.
