November 16, 2023, marked the second annual EmPOWERing Pro Bono Day, a day of service for volunteer attorneys and legal staff from electric and gas companies, including Alliant Energy, Ameren Corporation, Avangrid, Con Edison, Dominion, Duke Energy, El Paso Electric, Entergy, Exelon, Otter Tail Power Company, PPL Corporation, and Public Service Enterprise Group Inc. (PSEG). Corporate Pro Bono (CPBO), the global in-house project of Pro Bono Institute (PBI), partnered with the legal department of Entergy Corporation and Edison Electric Institute (EEI) to organize the overall initiative.
EmPOWERing Pro Bono Day brought together volunteer attorneys and legal staff from electric and gas companies to provide pro bono legal assistance to address critical legal needs of underserved communities. Pro bono leaders from legal departments, often in partnership with legal services organizations and major law firms, organized more than 20 pro bono opportunities and trainings on or about November 16. EmPOWERing Pro Bono Day serves to spotlight the need to increase access to justice by providing legal services to low-income, marginalized communities, and promote in-house pro bono engagement and collaboration with law firms and legal services organizations.
More than 130 in-house volunteers from electric and gas companies participated in pro bono events that addressed issues such as life planning documents for seniors; legal name changes for transgender individuals; expungement of criminal records; deferred action for childhood arrival (DACA) clinics ; nonprofit tuneups; brief advice hotlines and referral clinics; and more. In addition to the events described below that were organized especially for this day of service, some pro bono volunteers took time on EmPOWERing Pro Bono Day to work on pending long-term pro bono matters.
The volunteers served more than 120 clients, with an expectation that more clients will receive services as a result of trainings that were held as part of EmPOWERing Pro Bono Day. At several events, volunteers developed new resources for a nonprofit or NGO that will use the resources to serve additional beneficiaries.
Companies organizing EmPOWERing Pro Bono Day 2023 events included Alliant Energy, Ameren Corporation, Avangrid, Consolidated Edison, Dominion, Duke Energy Corporation**, El Paso Electric, Entergy Corporation**, Exelon Corporation**, Otter Tail Power Company, and PSEG. Representatives of these companies committed many hours of work to making this event happen. Additional companies participating in events included PPL Corporation. Several firms and legal services organizations, listed below, partnered with the organizing companies’ legal departments to make these events possible.
Feedback from the volunteers and clients reflects that EmPOWERing Pro Bono Day was an incredibly impactful experience. For example, one volunteer shared “It is always a pleasure to serve our customers who have many needs!” Another volunteer said, “I believe the client I served was very appreciative of the advice received. This was my first time working on a domestic violence/Civil Protection Order clinic and I found the experience very rewarding. I would definitely assist with this clinic again.” Other volunteers talked about how the day of service was “extremely meaningful.” A nonprofit whose clients received services said that the volunteers had significantly reduced their client backlog, while another expressed thankfulness and gratitude for the service provided. This is just a sampling of the positive feedback from this year’s EmPOWERing Pro Bono Day.
CPBO thanks everyone who worked so hard to make EmPOWERing Pro Bono Day 2023 a success.
| Arkansas | Illinois | Louisiana |
| Minnesota | Mississippi | Missouri |
| New Jersey | New York | North Carolina |
| Pennsylvania | Texas | Washington, D.C. |
| National |
| Participating Legal Department | Law Firm Partner | Legal Services Partner |
| Entergy |
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Arkansas Appleseed |
Research – Housing Community Resource
Volunteers researched housing community resources for two hours to provide a comprehensive list of resources for those in need.
| Participating Legal Department | Law Firm Partner | Legal Services Partner |
|
Exelon |
Jenner & Block* |
National Immigrant Justice Center |
DACA Renewal Clinic (Chicago)
Volunteers will work with the National Immigrant Justice Center at a clinic to help Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) recipients complete and file applications to renew their protection.
| Participating Legal Department | Law Firm Partner | Legal Services Partner |
|
Entergy |
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Southeast Louisiana Legal Services |
Legal Resource Table – Customer Care Centers
Over the course of 8.5 hours, volunteers helped almost 30 clients with various legal topics and provided appropriate guidance for each individual.
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| Participating Legal Department | Law Firm Partner | Legal Services Partner |
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Entergy |
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Southeast Louisiana Legal Services |
Notary Clinic
Volunteers provided notary services to make documents official for clients.
| Participating Legal Department | Law Firm Partner | Legal Services Partner |
|
Entergy |
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Baton Rouge Bar Association, The Pro Bono Project |
Self-help Resource Centers
Eight clients were provided with general legal information in a variety of law matters and were able to ask questions and learn new information.
| Participating Legal Department | Law Firm Partner | Legal Services Partner |
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Entergy |
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Louisiana State Bar Association, freelegalanswers.org |
Free Legal Answers
In partnership with the Louisiana State Bar Association, volunteers were able to assist clients in answering their civil legal questions and guiding them through legal processes.
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| Participating Legal Department | Law Firm Partner | Legal Services Partner |
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Entergy |
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The Pro Bono Project |
Affidavits – Small Successions (Heirs Property)
Fifteen volunteers helped nine clients with affidavits related to heirs property in the state of Louisiana.
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| Participating Legal Department | Law Firm Partner | Legal Services Partner |
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Entergy |
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The Pro Bono Project |
Divorce Clinic
Volunteers provided information to six clients who were seeking guidance and information for divorce proceedings.
| Participating Legal Department | Law Firm Partner | Legal Services Partner |
| Otter Tail Power Company | Dorsey & Whitney LLP |
Nonprofit Tune Up (For MN attorneys and legal staff only)
The event will provide free legal assessments to local nonprofit organizations to help determine if said organization is operating in good overall legal health.
| Participating Legal Department | Law Firm Partner | Legal Services Partner |
|
Entergy |
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP | Mississippi Center for Justice (MCJ) |
Expungement Clinic
Thirty-two volunteers prepared expungement petitions for low-income Mississippi residents in partnership with the Mississippi Center for Justice (MCJ). They guided almost 65 clients from their service area. Some of the projects will continue to give back as the volunteers’ dive into drafting wills and expungement petitions, as well as policy research that will help hundreds, if not thousands.
| Participating Legal Department | Law Firm Partner | Legal Services Partner |
|
Ameren Corporation |
Lewis Rice LLC |
Legal Services of Eastern Missouri |
Wills and Advance Directive Clinic (St. Louis)
The clinic provided free legal services for income eligible clients relating to wills and power of attorneys. There was a total of 19 volunteers who came together, including the General Counsel, to serve 12 clients. Ameren worked with one of their preferred panel firms, Lewis Rice and the Legal Services of Eastern Missouri to assist income eligible elderly clients with health care directives and power of attorneys. The clients served were grateful for the help and a delight to work with.
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| Participating Legal Department | Law Firm Partner | Legal Services Partner |
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PSEG |
Gibbons P.C., and McCarter & English, LLP |
Volunteer Lawyers for Justice (VLJ) |
Access to Justice for People Experiencing Poverty
Volunteers worked to provide critical legal services to members of the community who are struggling with poverty by allowing access to justice. Five volunteers from PSEG’s in-house department participated, as well as four volunteers from Gibbons and two volunteers from McCarter. Together, they served 14 veteran clients by providing them with assistance and guidance on the following legal issues: criminal record expungement; driver’s license restoration; estate planning; child support; eviction defense; debt relief; and divorce proceedings. Feedback from veteran clients was a grand appreciation for clinic volunteers taking the time to assist them with their legal challenges.
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| Participating Legal Department | Law Firm Partner | Legal Services Partner |
| Con Edison | Safe Passage Project |
Safe Passage Project – Intake Clinic
Safe Passage Project invites young people to legal screening events in hopes of identifying available immigration forms of relief from deportation and providing children with free legal representation. Almost 40 Con Edison attorneys and staff conducted these screening clinics and aided these children so they did not have to face the deportation process alone. Safe Passage Project remarked that the event went great and the clinic was able to provide a great deal of assistance to their clients and significantly reduce their client backlog.
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| Participating Legal Department | Law Firm Partner | Legal Services Partner |
| Duke Energy | Parker, Poe, Adams, and Bernstein | Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy |
Wills for Seniors
Twenty-two in-house volunteers assisted with preparation and execution of estate planning and related documents, including wills, durable powers of attorney, and health care powers of attorney. They were able to serve over 20 clients, which whom provided an overwhelmingly positive response. There was an emphasis on the need for this type of support and many messages of thankfulness and gratitude for the service provided.
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| Participating Legal Department | Law Firm Partner | Legal Services Partner |
| Exelon |
Blank Rome |
Wills for Heroes |
Transgender Name Change Clinic (Philadelphia)
Volunteers will guide low-income transgender, gender non-conforming, and non-binary clients with name change applications.
| Participating Legal Department | Law Firm Partner | Legal Services Partner |
| El Paso Electric, Entergy |
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP |
Houston Volunteer Lawyers (HVL) |
Wills Clinic Training
HVL & Akin Gump will host a live/virtual training clinic for volunteers interested in helping low-income Houstonians with estate planning needs. These matters require 10-15 hours over the course of 4-6 weeks.
| Participating Legal Department | Law Firm Partner | Legal Services Partner |
| El Paso Electric |
Casa of El Paso |
Guardian Ad Litem Program
CASA of El Paso trains volunteers in the El Paso Texas area willing to serve as guardians ad litem for children in their program. A CASA is a Court Appointed Special Advocate volunteer who works with abused and neglected children in the court system.
After completing a 30-hour training class provided by CASA of El Paso and being assigned to a case, Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASAs) begin visiting the child regularly. Volunteer Advocates work closely with, but independent of, Child Protective Services (CPS) and attorneys.
| Participating Legal Department | Law Firm Partner | Legal Services Partner |
| Entergy | Duggins Wren |
Texas Rio Grande Legal Aid |
Research – Early Childhood Center Toolkit
| Participating Legal Department | Law Firm Partner | Legal Services Partner |
| Alliant Energy | Legal Action of Wisconsin, Urban League of Greater Madison |
Expungement
Volunteer attorneys work with clients to review their backgrounds and help remove barriers to employment, education, driver’s license reinstatement, obtaining housing, and more.
| Participating Legal Department | Law Firm Partner | Legal Services Partner |
| Exelon | Jenner & Block |
DC Volunteers Lawyer Project (DCVLP) |
Civil Protection Order Clinic
Exelon attorneys in the Washington, D.C. Office partnered with Jenner & Block LLP and the DC Volunteer Lawyers Project (“DCVLP”) in a Civil Protection Order Clinic where Volunteers assisted survivors of domestic violence in drafting Petitions for Civil Protection Orders (CPOs), Amendments to existing CPOs, and Motions to Reinstate CPOs. Supervisors from DCVLP provided volunteers with training prior to the clinic, as well as support during the clinic. Through the efforts of our volunteers, six clients were provided with critical legal services this week.
| Participating Legal Department | Law Firm Partner | Legal Services Partner |
| Avangrid, Inc., PPL | Baker McKenzie* |
Justice in Action
The Justice in Action Sprint is a day of action in support of legal rights through substantive pro bono projects. At the Sprint, volunteers had the opportunity to work on projects related to human rights, tackling division and access to justice. Volunteers were trained at the start of the day and then divided into small teams to work on specific assignments. Six in-house volunteers from Avangrid worked on important research regarding how marginalized youth can get key identification materials such as driver’s licenses. This work will then be used by additional volunteers to staff an identification hotline.
| Participating Legal Department | Law Firm Partner | Legal Services Partner |
| Dominion Energy | McGuireWoods* |
Wills, Powers of Attorney, and Advance Medical Directives Training
Dominion Energy, in partnership with McGuireWoods, created a team of almost 20 volunteers to provide a virtual CLE training regarding Wills, Powers of Attorney, and Advance Medical Directives, ahead of an opportunity to participate in an in-person clinic next year. This training enabled volunteers to participate in a Wills Clinic to provide the gift of security to clients in our community.
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* denotes a Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge® signatory
** denotes a Corporate Pro Bono Challenge® signatory
† denotes a Law Firm Pro Bono Project® member
