WASHINGTON, D.C. – Pro Bono Institute (PBI) is pleased to honor Entergy Corporation and Marcus V. Brown, Executive Vice President and General Counsel, with the 2025 Laurie D. Zelon Pro Bono Award. PBI will present the Award at the Reception on Thursday, February 27, during the PBI Annual Conference. This annual award recognizes an individual’s or organization’s exceptional commitment to pro bono as demonstrated by exemplary engagement in pro bono legal services.
“Entergy’s investment in their pro bono program serves as an inspiration for other corporate legal departments,” said Eve Runyon, PBI President and CEO. “The level of staff engagement illustrates their commitment to serving the community through pro bono. Events such as EmPOWERing Pro Bono Day, an initiative for electric and gas industry legal teams, showcase Entergy’s impact on mobilizing other legal professionals around pro bono. PBI is proud to honor Entergy and Marcus Brown for their commitment to pro bono legal services and access to justice.”
“Pro bono service has such a profound impact on the lives of everyone involved,” said Marcus Brown, Executive Vice President and General Counsel. “There are just some problems in life that are hard to resolve without professional legal counsel. I strongly believe that we as attorneys have an obligation to assist underserved communities. Providing pro bono legal assistance in the areas where we live and work is one way we as a company stay engaged with our customers – our neighbors – and the challenges they face on a daily basis, because when our customers are more successful, so are we.”
Entergy Corporation reimagined its pro bono program in 2012 and signed the Corporate Pro Bono Challenge® statement in 2015, committing to engage more than 50 percent of its legal staff in pro bono work. In 2023, 78 percent of Entergy’s attorneys participated in pro bono. To encourage giving back to the communities Entergy serves, all employees are provided with 16 hours of paid time off annually to volunteer and do pro bono work.
Entergy’s pro bono program helps community members through a variety of free legal services. Their attorneys and staff partner with legal aid organizations to offer free legal advice and representation on matters ranging from life-planning documents for seniors, veterans, and first responders, FEMA claims following natural disasters, helping low-income community members secure home ownership and preserve generational wealth, access to veterans’ benefits, family law, and support for nonprofits as well as minority- and women-owned small businesses.
Over the past decade, Entergy’s legal department employees have performed nearly 21,000 hours of pro bono services. That’s a $5.6 million in-kind donation to Entergy’s communities.
About Marcus V. Brown
Marcus Brown is Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Entergy, where he oversees the legal, ethics and compliance, corporate communications, federal policy, regulatory and governmental affairs, and corporate security and governance groups. He also provides legal counsel to the chair and CEO, board of directors, and senior management.
Brown’s own pro bono work includes volunteering at the Orleans Civil District Court’s Self-Help Resource Center, helping self-represented litigants navigate family law proceedings in court. He has also volunteered at legal resource tables as part of Entergy’s customer appreciation events.
He serves as chair of the New Orleans 2025 Super Bowl LIX Host Committee, is on the board of directors for Energy Insurance Mutual, on the advisory board of the Tulane Center for Energy Law, and the advisory council for the Laborde Energy Law Center at Louisiana State University. He is a frequent lecturer and publisher on topics impacting the utility industry and the legal profession.
Learn more about Entergy’s exceptional pro bono work.
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About Pro Bono Institute
Founded in 1996, Pro Bono Institute (PBI) is a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit organization. With an unparalleled depth of knowledge, resources and expertise, PBI is the respected resource for all things pro bono. Through our work with law firms, in-house corporate legal departments, and public interest organizations, PBI is the global thought leader in exploring, identifying, evaluating, catalyzing, and taking to scale new approaches to and resources for the provision of legal services to the poor, disadvantaged, and other individuals or groups unable to secure legal assistance to address critical problems.