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Shifting Gears: Navigating Pro Bono During COVID-19

January 21, 2021

2020 put the viability of virtual pro bono clinics to the test. The American Bar Association (ABA) hosted its 12th Annual Celebration of Pro Bono October 21 – 31, 2020, also known as Pro Bono Week. Due to the pandemic, the event’s annual theme was “Rising to Meet the Challenge: Pro Bono Response to COVID-19.” Regardless of the remote circumstances, bar associations, legal departments and law firms across the country successfully collaborated to host virtual pro bono clinics during or around the time of Pro Bono Week.

We checked in with several in-house pro bono leaders to hear their insights on the challenges and successes of navigating pro bono services in a virtual setting.

Serving Immigrants Through Pro Bono in a Pandemic

December 8, 2020

As the pandemic and election results continue to headline newspapers and networks, pressing humanitarian issues remain at the Southern U.S.-Mexico border. In 2018, approximately 2,800 families were separated under the “zero-tolerance” policy. Separated children are treated by the immigration system as unaccompanied children[1] while their parents were deported awaiting their claims pending in the US. Although the family separation policy was rescinded, agencies including the Office of Refugee Settlement (ORR), the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Health and Human Services (HHS), and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have failed to establish a successful reunification system.

Advancing Environmental Justice Through Pro Bono

November 16, 2020

The coronavirus has laid bare the urgent need for environmental justice and its relevance in combating institutional racism. COVID-19 is disproportionately affecting Black, Indigenous, Latino, and other people of color and low-income communities. The institutional and structural inequalities in this country have put certain communities at a disadvantage to combat this virus.[1]

Get Ready to Celebrate a Virtual Pro Bono Week

October 13, 2020

This year marks the American Bar Association’s (ABA) 12th Annual Celebration of Pro Bono. This event is meant to encourage local communities to plan events that focus on pro bono work and celebrate the lawyers who have donated their time to provide legal services to those unfortunate. During these pressing times of COVID-19, it is even more important to highlight the pro bono work individuals and organizations are doing. This year’s theme, aligning with current events, is “Rising to Meet the Challenge: Pro Bono Response to COVID-19”. This event will last from October 21 – 31, 2020, with many bar associations, legal departments, law firms, and other groups hosting their own Pro Bono Week events throughout the country.

Pro Bono Fairs Then and Now: Don’t Let Distance Interfere with Your Fair!

September 30, 2020

PBI’s Corporate Pro Bono project (CPBO) has worked with legal departments and Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) chapters over the years to host in-house pro bono fairs. Pro bono fairs are a great opportunity to introduce in-house attorneys and legal department staff to local legal services organizations that offer pro bono opportunities. In-house attorneys and staff interested in pro bono participate in presentations by local legal services organizations about pro bono opportunities, and networking with pro bono peers. Historically, coffee and croissants were on the menu, too.

Thinking Long-Term in the Age of COVID-19: Implementing a Deferred Associate Program

September 24, 2020

Anyone following pro bono is well aware that COVID-19 has created a perfect storm for access to justice. Just as during the Great Recession (December 2007 through 2009), millions of Americans, who would otherwise have jobs, find themselves unemployed. In fact, according to the Pew Research Center, nearly twice as many Americans found themselves out of work after the first three months of the pandemic as were unemployed after three years of the Great Recession. (20.5 million Americans were out of work at the end of May 2020 compared to 6.2 million in February of 2020 — an increase of 14.3 million, whereas the Great Recession increased joblessness by 8.8 million.[1]) This alone creates a one-two punch to the gut of access to justice by increasing the need for legal services and reducing the public’s ability to pay for such services.

NY COVID-19 Pro Bono Task Force Channels the Spirit of Volunteerism

September 22, 2020

PBI recently spoke with former Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman, of counsel at Latham & Watkins and chair of the NYC Covid-19 Recovery Task Force, to hear more about what the task force has been up to since its establishment in April and his debut on PBI’s podcast in July.

A Second Chance through Expungement

September 10, 2020

With the pro bono legal community’s recent increased focus on racial justice and criminal justice, Pro Bono Institute (PBI) and its Corporate Pro Bono project (CPBO) have seen a growing interest in pro bono work related to criminal expungement. Pro bono work includes both direct legal services to low-income individuals with criminal records and advancing progressive policy reform.

Voting for Racial Justice: How Pro Bono and Voting Rights Align

September 1, 2020

Voting is one of the most valued rights in America today, and as the Supreme Court noted more than a century ago, it is “preservative of all rights.” However, the battle for enfranchisement has been anything but straightforward. When America was founded, the right to vote was determined by the states and largely the exclusive province of white, property-owning men over the age of 21. It wasn’t until 1856 that all white men were given the right to vote, and it took another 14 years for men of color to gain the right to vote by law. However, laws are no better than their implementation, and our history is rich with examples of prejudicial barriers designed to keep eligible voters of color from the polls (e.g. poll taxes, literacy tests, and impersonation/intimidation) for generations after the U.S. Constitution was amended to proscribe racial discrimination at the state level regarding voting rights. Women didn’t gain the right to vote nationwide until 1920, followed by Native Americans, who were granted citizenship (and therefore the right to vote) with the passage of the Indian Citizenship Act in 1924, and finally Asian Americans in 1952.

PBI’s First Ever Virtual Conference Calls on Pro Bono Attorneys to Advance Racial Justice

July 30, 2020

The year 2020 have been a whirlwind for the entire globe, and specifically for the United States. Beginning in March, the spread of COVID-19 has kept approximately one-third of Americans working from home and the entire nation social distancing from friends and family. During this already historic moment, we arrived at another important chapter in the history of the United States. The murder of George Floyd awakened much of our country to the fight for racial justice and need for police reform. We have watched, and many of us have participated, as protestors take to the streets in cities and towns all across America and the world to demand racial equality, racial justice, and the end of police action that brutalizes Black Americans and people of color.

As pro bono professionals, leaders, and volunteers, we continuously look to the communities in which we live and work to identify issues and individuals in need of legal assistance. Communities across the country need pro bono services to advance racial equity. When PBI began planning its first ever virtual conference in March, the emerging pro bono needs brought on by the pandemic were front and center. After the killing of George Floyd in May, addressing systemic racism became a vital focus.

Creating opportunities to address racial injustice in this country, PBI was fortunate to present three exceptional keynote speakers to our conference: Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, political leader and nonprofit CEO Stacey Abrams, and Lawyers’ Committee President and Executive Director Kristen Clarke.