During the month of June, Corporate Pro Bono (CPBO), a partnership project of the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) and the Pro Bono Institute, presented Clinic in a Box℠ programs in Arlington, Virginia, and in Mountain View, California.

In Virginia, CPBO, the legal department at Verizon Communications** and DLA Piper LLP (US)*, hosted a CPBO Clinic in a Box℠ program.  Forty-two members of the Verizon legal department and six members of DLA Piper were on hand to assist 14 nonprofit organizations from the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia.  We are delighted to report that Randy Milch, Executive Vice President and General Counsel at Verizon, and Rusty Conner, partner-in-charge of DLA Piper’s Washington office, were on-site to participate.

As preparation for the consultations, DLA Piper lawyers Henry Lesser and Thomas Zutic partnered with Regina Hopkins of the Community Economic Development Project of the DC Bar Pro Bono Program to train the volunteer lawyers.  DLA Piper also produced comprehensive training materials to guide the volunteers.

Following the training session, the Verizon and DLA Piper volunteers met with representatives from the nonprofit organizations to provide pro bono legal assistance and advice.  The missions of the nonprofits that were served echoed the two focal points of Verizon’s philanthropic efforts – education and literacy and safety and health.

A few days later, CPBO along with the San Francisco Bay Area Chapter of ACC, TMC Development Working Solutions – a nonprofit that serves small businesses throughout the Bay Area – and Fenwick & West LLP*, hosted the Chapter’s second CPBO Clinic in a Box℠ program.

Volunteers from Hewlett-Packard Company**; Chiquita Brands International, Inc.; Google, Inc.; Applied Materials; Inc., Oracle Corporation; and other legal departments worked in teams to provide legal assistance to small business owners from the Bay Area.

In addition to producing training materials, Fenwick & West’s Adam Halpern, Daniel McCoy, and Michael Farn led a training session for the volunteers.

In both clinics, volunteers conducted a legal check-up that was developed by CPBO and tailored to each state’s laws by the participating law firms. The check-up was designed to assess the pro bono clients’ overall legal health.  Using their expertise, volunteers were able to identify and address issues of concern where needed.  Volunteers from both clinics plan to continue to provide ongoing pro bono services to their clients.

For more information about CPBO’s Clinic in a Box℠ model, please contact Eve Runyon, CPBO director.

We are grateful for the assistance provided by Pro Bono Institute Intern, Kat Meister.

*Signatory to the Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge^®
**Signatory to the Corporate Pro Bono Challenge℠

Developed by Corporate Pro Bono
A global partnership project of the Pro Bono Institute and the Association of Corporate Counsel
www.cpbo.org