“Primarily during the past decade, in-house attorneys have joined the ranks of private attorneys who provide desperately needed pro bono services. Although some in-house legal departments have a longer history of providing pro bono services, many corporate legal departments started developing their in-house pro bono programs more recently with the encouragement and support of organizations such as Corporate Pro Bono (CPBO), a partnership formed in 2000 between the Pro Bono Institute and the Association of Corporate Counsel.

Even though in-house corporate pro bono is a newer development in comparison to the important pro bono work that has been done by many legal aid organizations and law firms for decades, corporate pro bono is now an important and growing source of pro bono services and funding to help address the justice gap. Many in-house legal departments have robust pro bono programs that are making a difference and corporate attorneys are providing greatly needed legal services to those who cannot afford them. Many in-house legal departments also provide financial support to civil legal services organizations to help meet the legal needs of the poor. Pro bono service and funding by in-house legal departments can be part of larger corporate social responsibility efforts and the corporate volunteer culture. The tie-in to corporate social responsibility goals can help enable corporate pro bono, as can internal benefits which result when in-house legal departments undertake corporate pro bono, such as employee engagement, team building and skill development.”