30th Anniversary of the Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge Initiative

Three decades ago, Pro Bono Institute (PBI) Founder Esther F. Lardent, along with visionary leaders in the legal profession including PBI’s first Board Chair, James W. Jones, launched a bold movement to embrace pro bono as a core institutional value of law firms and not only a responsibility by individual lawyers. The Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge^® initiative was born from that vision — a pledge from law firm Challenge signatories to publicly acknowledge their institutional, firmwide commitment to provide pro bono legal services to low-income and underserved individuals and advance access to justice.

We celebrate our Challenge Signatory firms with special acknowledgment for the original Charter Signatories as well as John H. Pickering, partner at then Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering now known as Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr*^†, who signed on as the first official Law Firm Challenge Signatory. These signatory firms were pioneers in pro bono, setting an industry standard for pro bono that is embraced by the 134 Challenge Signatories that have pledged to dedicate their resources to pro bono legal services.

The Challenge also introduced a narrow but thoughtful definition of pro bono that has become the industry standard for large law firms and others. With a clear definition of pro bono and an annual reporting requirement, the Challenge serves as an accountability mechanism and benchmarking tool for collective pro bono efforts among major law firms.

This year’s milestone 30th anniversary of the Challenge comes when the need for pro bono legal services is greater than ever before. Continued commitment and engagement around pro bono are crucial to ensuring that our legal system remains true to its ideals. Law firm and other legal industry leaders have great power to promote justice today, just as they did 30 years ago when the Challenge was created. The support, investment, and encouragement of pro bono champions are essential to sustaining the strong foundation laid 30 years ago to ensure that pro bono thrives for decades to come.

A History of the Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge initiative

1989 – The Law Firm Pro Bono Project was launched

1993 – The Challenge was announced at a Law Day celebration attended by Associate Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan and Attorney General Janet Reno.

An initial group of 48 Challenge Signatories was recruited.

The American Lawyer adopted the Challenge definition of “pro bono.”

1995 – The Challenge was implemented with 175 Charter Challenge Signatories.

The first Report on the Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge was issued.

Law Firm Challenge Signatories performed approximately 1.6 million total pro bono hours.

1996 – Pro Bono Institute was founded.

2005 – What Counts? (first edition) was published, a guide of “what counts” as pro bono legal services under the Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge initiative definition.

Law Firm Challenge Signatories performed more than 20 million total pro bono hours since the implementation of the Challenge.

2006 – The Corporate Pro Bono Challenge^® initiative was launched.

2015 – Law Firm Challenge Signatories performed almost 60 million total pro bono hours since the implementation of the Challenge.

2020 – Law Firm Challenge Signatories performed more than 5.4 million hours of pro bono legal services, setting a new one-year high for Challenge performance.

2023 – PBI, after working for 18 months with the Defining Law Firm Pro Bono Working Group (Working Group), released an updated version of the Law Firm Challenge definition of pro bono and What Counts.

2024 – Law Firm Challenge signatories achieved a significant milestone – accumulating over 100 million hours of pro bono service since the implementation of the Challenge.