In 2006, at the urging of chief legal officers, CPBO launched an initiative enabling legal departments to identify, benchmark, and communicate their support for pro bono service. The Corporate Pro Bono Challenge^® statement is now the standard for in-house pro bono.  It is a simple, voluntary statement of commitment to pro bono service by legal departments, their lawyers, and staff.

Specifically, the CPBO Challenge^® statement calls for chief legal officers to:

• encourage and promote pro bono service by their legal department staff;
• use their best efforts to encourage their staff, including at least one-half of their legal staff, to support and participate in pro bono service; and
• encourage the outside law firms with whom they work to acknowledge publicly their support for pro bono by becoming signatories to the Pro Bono Institute’s Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge^® initiative.

All CPBO Challenge^® signatories receive from CPBO, free of charge, information, guidance, and tailored support to strengthen existing pro bono programs or to start new ones.