The Pro Bono Wire is PBI’s online newsletter. We encourage Law Firm, In-House, and Public Interest pro bono leaders as well as other interested stakeholders to sign up to receive this valuable resource. Members of the Press are also encouraged to receive The Wire. To subscribe to The Wire, click here.
Read archived issues of The Wire here.
The PBI 2026 Annual Dinner celebrated PBI’s 30th Anniversary and exceptional pro bono achievements at New York’s iconic Gotham Hall on September 28. The Dinner was hosted by Co-Chairs Marcus Brown, Executive Vice President and General Counsel (Retired), Entergy Corporation**, and Jake Phillips, Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary, GE Aerospace**.
View the Dinner Program to learn more about the awardees, co-chairs, pro bono history, and the event’s sponsors. (For the best viewing experience, we recommend accessing the digital program on a mobile device or tablet).
Join Marcus Brown, Executive Vice President and General Counsel (Retired), Entergy Corporation, and Jake Phillips, Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary, GE Aerospace, as they discuss how corporate leaders can champion pro bono service across their legal departments.
This program is open to PBI Law Firm Pro Bono Project Members, participants in the PBI Corporate Pro Bono Community, and key legal services providers.
To join this webinar, contact the Law Firm Pro Bono Project team or CPBO Project team.
All other inquiries should be directed to pbi@probonoinst.org to learn more and join this program.
We encourage organizations to register multiple colleagues.
The PBI Leadership Series presents quarterly in-person and online programming to facilitate conversations with legal leaders to highlight how organizations are driving meaningful change and to help inform the future of pro bono and access to justice.
PBI seeks a creative, tech-savvy, entrepreneurial, and dynamic professional to join us as Development Manager. Reporting to the President & CEO and COO, this position will be responsible for overall fundraising activities and operations, including developing strategies and implementing specific action plans to meet annual sponsorship targets and membership goals. Key responsibilities include event fundraising, cultivation and stewardship, individual giving, and development operations.
A practical virtual program for Law Firm Members highlighting how colleagues are using AI and automation to enhance pro bono programs, including implementation tips for clinic workflows. Join us for this interactive discussion and learn how to introduce more technology into our day. To join this program, contact the Law Firm Pro Bono Project team.
Please contact the Law Firm Pro Bono Project team to access these recordings.
LEARN MORE ABOUT LAW FIRM MEMBERSHIP HERE
This summer, PBI welcomed Lindsay Ayers as the Director of the Law Firm Pro Bono Project. Lindsay would be happy to connect with you and learn more about your law firm pro bono program. Please do not hesitate to contact Lindsay for assistance or with questions: layers@probonoinst.org.
The PBI Corporate Pro Bono (CPBO) Community is a virtual space for in-house pro bono leaders to meet one another, share best practices and opportunities, and ask questions of peers. On bimonthly Community Calls, in-house pro bono professionals gather for candid conversation on a high-interest topic. Participants in the CPBO Community are also invited to participate in the quarterly PBI Leadership Series.
CONTACT THE CPBO TEAM TO JOIN THE COMMUNITY AND ATTEND PROGRAMS!
The PBEye blog has been reporting on recent developments as jurisdictions authorize Community Justice Workers (CJWs) — trained nonlegal professionals who provide select legal services to other community members — to address specific access to justice issues. Our latest blog series focuses on the implementation of CJW programs in three jurisdictions:
California Considers Community Justice Worker Proposal
UPDATE (as of September 25, 2026): Following the public comment period, the State Bar of California’s Board of Trustees on September 19, 2026, voted to advance proposed rules to the California Supreme Court that would authorize a Community Justice Worker model. The PBEye blog will continue to monitor these updates.
For more than four years, Unum Group’s legal department has been engaged in a deeply impactful pro bono effort: representing a family seeking asylum in the U.S. after fleeing persecution in their home country. What began as a single asylum application evolved into a long-term, department-wide commitment. Led by an in-house lawyer at Unum’s campus in Portland, Maine, and supported by a dozen colleagues across practice groups, the matter reflects the persistence, empathy, and sustained advocacy required in asylum work, where cases often unfold over many years.
PBI has recently updated its collection of ethics resources that apply to lawyers providing pro bono legal services in the U.S.
The CPBO team also updated two resources related to pro bono and multijurisdictional practice by non-locally licensed in-house attorneys.
Your On-Call Experts for In-House Pro Bono
Whether your legal department is building a program from the ground up, reinvigorating an established one, or tackling a specific pro bono challenge, PBI and its CPBO project can provide guidance, resources, research, and connections to keep your in-house pro bono program moving forward. READ MORE ON THE PBEYE BLOG
How AI is Reshaping the Pro Bono Landscape
As legal needs continue to rise, the pro bono community has an opportunity to harness technology in ways that expand both capacity and impact. While many organizations are still in the early stages of adoption, examples highlighted at the PBI 2026 Annual Conference and in the 2026 Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge Report and the 2026 Global Pro Bono Guide demonstrate the growing potential of AI and other advance technology to support pro bono service delivery. READ MORE ON THE PBEYE BLOG
The fifth annual EmPOWERing Pro Bono Day will take place on November 12.
There’s still time to be part of this industry-wide day of pro bono service. Led by the PBI CPBO project, Entergy Corporation’s legal department, and the Edison Electric Institute, EmPOWERing Pro Bono Day brings together legal departments across the electric and utilities industry, alongside law firms and legal services organizations, to provide free legal assistance to underserved communities.
The deadline to submit your EmPOWERing event is October 8!
LEARN MORE HERE AND REACH OUT TO THE CPBO TEAM WITH QUESTIONS
The PBI ExpertConnect Pro Bono Hub connects legal services and public interest organizations with expert services providers offering specialized pro bono support at no cost.
Not sure whether you have an ExpertConnect Hub request? Ask your team:
You do not need to have every detail figured out before contacting us.
LEARN MORE AND SUBMIT A REQUEST FOR FREE EXPERT SUPPORT TODAY
In September, the CPBO team hosted a virtual Clinic in a Box® program in partnership with the D.C. Bar Pro Bono Center and Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) National Capital Region. In-house attorneys and legal staff received training on governance assessments for nonprofits. Volunteers then worked in teams to guide local nonprofits through a virtual legal checkup covering D.C. nonprofit governance and tax compliance. In just a few hours, the nonprofit representatives had a better understanding of their organizational health, and the volunteers had a meaningful experience providing impactful limited scope pro bono services.
Please contact the CPBO team to learn more about how you can serve nonprofits and microenterprises through a Clinic in a Box program.
* denotes a Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge® signatory
** denotes a Corporate Pro Bono Challenge® signatory
† denotes a Law Firm Pro Bono Project® member
