The Pro Bono Wire
September 26, 2013

Despite steady pro bono performance on the part of PBI Challenge Signatory^® law firms and a substantial increase in in-house legal department pro bono participation, the disparity – currently more of a justice chasm than a justice gap – between the legal needs of low income and disadvantaged clients and the resources available to meet those needs continues to widen. One of PBI’s goals is to develop, pilot, test, assess, and replicate new and innovative approaches and systems that more efficiently deliver and leverage pro bono resources and create sustained, long-term solutions.

In the past, in keeping with that mandate, PBI has helped identify and pioneer approaches that are now the state of the art in law firm and corporate pro bono including signature projects, sustained and strategic pro bono partnerships, multi-entity collaborative projects, and more. Now, to better and more effectively deploy the human capital and skills of the law firms and legal departments with which it works, PBI is testing a promising approach to meeting the need for legal services to the poor, disadvantaged, and others currently unable to access legal assistance. Instead of isolated and fragmented pro bono representation that benefits only the small percentage of eligible clients lucky enough to secure legal assistance, PBI’s Collaborative Justice Project^™ will work, in one or two test sites initially, with a broader group of stakeholders to develop bold new strategies, streamlined processes, innovative tools and solutions, and collaborative models. These resources will not only service a substantially larger number of clients but will also seek to address and mitigate or resolve the underlying problems and inequities that are the source of the heightened demand for individual legal services.

Of course, this emphasis on collaboration is not new. A number of groups have undertaken exciting collaborative efforts. For example, Appleseed has often focused its efforts on multi-party pro bono projects designed to reform the legal system. Law firm members of the Association of Pro Bono Counsel are undertaking notable multi-firm pro bono efforts in a number of cities around the nation. The model utilized in the growing movement to create medical-legal partnerships has been instructive. We have also seen communities pull together a wide array of skills and expertise in times of disaster and crisis – September 11, the Minnesota bridge collapse, and Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy, among them.

These efforts shaped PBI’s new venture, but the primary inspiration is the concept of collective impact that is dramatically changing the way in which foundations and high-performing nonprofit groups are supporting and undertaking social welfare and social justice work. This concept recognizes that the best systemic approaches and longest lasting solutions to legal problems must inevitably include expertise and resources beyond those of the legal profession. The model that PBI is testing has several critical elements:

*It introduces to the effort, new collaborators from a variety of sectors to go to scale and create better outcomes for clients. This means the courts, community groups, government, health and social welfare organizations, schools, other professional services organizations, foundations, and other unusual “bedfellows,” coming together in a coordinated and mutually supportive effort.

*While the capacities, resources, and roles of the collaborators will vary, there will be a meaningful and proportionate allocation of tasks among them. With different sectors, professions, and perspectives involved, the process will be open and respectful to all views and proposals and will be informed but not solely driven by input from the public interest substantive experts.

*A consensus will be reached by all participants on a bold, quantifiable common goal for the collaborative effort, and participants will agree not to compete for pro bono resources. The collaborative approach demands that the totality of pro bono resources be made available in the most efficient and productive manner possible. No one entity can have sole claim to a major firm or legal department.

*All participants agree to track information and data about their work and its impact on the project goal. PBI will provide support to this effort using the knowledge it has acquired in designing and fostering the implementation of its pro bono metrics/measurement effort.

*All participants must commit existing resources to cross-sector collaboration and commit time and energy to shared planning, evaluation, periodic check-ins, as well as be willing to rethink goals and strategies.

*To implement meaningful systemic change, all collaborators, unless they are prohibited from doing so, will spend some portion of their pro bono time gaining an understanding of the underlying problems by assisting in individual client matters. In this approach, there is no dichotomy between service and impact. Every collaborator must have real-world contact and experience to understand the parameters of the issues addressed so as to design the best tools and solutions.

PBI will provide assistance to these pilot efforts as a catalyst, resource, and convener so that we can knowledgeably assess whether this approach can accomplish its goal: transforming pro bono and taking pro bono resources and accomplishments to greater heights.