Michael Silverman, executive director of Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund, explains why partnerships with law firms and corporate legal departments are extremely valuable to his organization’s pro bono efforts. YouTube Link
Many thanks to the law firms that have joined the Law Firm Pro Bono Project for 2014-2015. These firms have publicly demonstrated their leadership and commitment to pro bono service. It’s not too late to join! Submit your enrollment form today and you’ll have exclusive access to a variety of high-quality resources to help you strengthen and grow your firm’s pro bono program. The Law Firm Project’s mission is to support and enhance the pro bono culture and performance of major law firms in the U.S. and around the world. We make available to our Members publications, research, programming, confidential
Many law firms struggle with how to involve more partners in pro bono work. The PBEye believes that it is critical to attain meaningful participation by partners. Doing so broadens a firm’s pro bono capacity and helps ensure the long-term vitality of pro bono by sending a clear message that pro bono is an important and lasting firm value. The Law Firm Pro Bono Project recently collected information from Member Firms and Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge® Signatories about how they incentivize their partners to do pro bono work. They revealed a variety of ways in which firms do this,
Since The PBEye first reported on Clemency Project 2014, which seeks to provide pro bono assistance to federal inmates who would have likely received lower prison terms under today’s sentencing laws, the initiative has made substantial progress. More than 1,000 attorneys, including solo or small firm practitioners and lawyers from large law firms, have already volunteered. In July, the Project conducted a training program for prospective volunteers, which is now available on-demand and includes an overview of the federal sentencing guidelines, applicable caselaw, and the eligibility criteria. Pro bono attorneys have been helping the Project screen requests for legal assistance
At a time when law firms are being particularly careful about spending, there are synergies to be leveraged by integrating the firm’s pro bono program with its business giving and charitable foundation. There are different models of law firm charitable foundations and they vary in the way they operate, are structured, and how they intersect with the pro bono program. Check out the Law Firm Pro Bono Project’s recently updated compilation of Member Firms and Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge® Signatories that have charitable giving foundations, where you can read about the foundations’ missions, structures, and the organizations to which
While only a small group, volunteers from the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), Northwest Justice Project, and Foster Pepper are aiming to have a big impact on a serious problem for Native American and Alaska Native artisans: counterfeiters. Many Native American and Alaska native artists, whose income relies on creating and selling traditional arts and crafts, are unable to compete with counterfeiters who saturate the market with mass produced knock-offs. Beginning in 2010, the lean team of four attorneys and eight non-lawyers (including the AFSC volunteer committee) has attacked this issue using multiple legal and non-legal avenues by educating Native artisans
Pro bono is a great opportunity for making unexpected and sometimes lifelong connections. This week, we hear from Jerri Shick, pro bono counsel at O’Melveny & Myers*, as she explains how pro bono work helped her form a personal connection with a client. YouTube Link * denotes Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge® signatory
In 2012, more than 23,000 children turned 18 and “aged out” of the foster care system in the U.S., according to federal statistics. Without parents or guardians for support, these children often face the usual challenges of growing up without parental advice or guidance. And unlike teenagers and young adults who gradually learn to deal with real-world challenges, these former foster care children are thrown into adulthood headfirst. The day they turn 18, they exit the system and must care for themselves – signing an apartment lease, applying for jobs, learning to cook, and graduating high school all on their
Last week, The PBEye reported on ways that firms can use videos both internally and externally to showcase their commitment to pro bono and enhance their pro bono marketing efforts. These videos come in many varieties; some videos feature attorneys and staff discussing why they do pro bono and the broad range of the firm’s pro bono offerings, others go deep and focus on particular pro bono cases undertaken by the firm, and some spotlight pro bono clients, enabling them to tell their own stories and share their perspectives. We recently reviewed more than 80 pro bono videos, which had
Headquartered in Springfield, Mass., and having a large satellite office in nearby Enfield, Conn., with a combined legal department composed of 56 attorneys and 80 non-lawyers, Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company** (MassMutual) has the distinction of employing more lawyers than any other company or law firm in the greater Springfield area. As a result, when the legal department started to formalize its pro bono efforts in 2007, it did not have the option of working with a larger legal department or large firm with an existing pro bono program. Instead, MassMutual developed its own distinctive pro bono effort. Over the
