The Wire
October 2011
The Association of General Counsel (AGC), an exclusive invitation-only professional organization made up of the chief legal officers of the largest and most prestigious U.S. corporations, meets twice a year to discuss issues of import to top legal business leaders. Previous speakers have included a former U.S. President, CEOs of Fortune 50 companies, and other notable business figures. At AGC’s Fall Meeting, held on Oct. 6 in Washington, D.C., PBI President and CEO Esther Lardent participated in the opening panel, facilitating a lively and interactive discussion on pro bono at in-house departments. The panel was moderated by Michael Holston, general counsel at the Hewlett-Packard Company**, and included Ron Flagg, partner at Sidley & Austin LLP*, LLP and board chair of the National Veterans Legal Services Program, and Lisa Dewey, pro bono partner at DLA Piper LLP*.
Topics raised included: the transformation and momentum of in-house pro bono during the past decade; tools that multi-office departments can employ to engage legal staff in regional or smaller U.S. offices in pro bono; global pro bono; promoting pro bono participation by non-lawyer legal staff and lawyers working for the company outside the legal department; identifying and securing transactional pro bono opportunities; pro bono partnerships with outside counsel (the most recent CPBO Benchmarking Survey indicates that a majority of departments with formal pro bono programs participate in these partnerships); moving from a pro bono start-up to a mature in-house program; and the use of benchmarks, most notably CPBO’s Corporate Pro Bono ChallengeSM.
It was particularly gratifying to hear the general counsel’s enthusiasm and support for pro bono in their companies. In response to a question about making the case to CEOs for pro bono in these uncertain economic times, many general counsel spoke about the importance of pro bono as a vital component of the growing emphasis at companies on corporate social responsibility and its ability to enhance teaming, company brand; employee engagement and morale, lawyer retention, and opportunities to work with other business units. PBI extends special thanks to the chief legal officers at Hewlett-Packard, The Clorox Company**, Ford Motor Company**, Cisco, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.**, CBS Corporation**, and others for their comments about the role that PBI and CPBO (a partnership project of PBI and the Association of Corporate Counsel) have played in helping law departments start, refine, and grow their pro bono programs.
At the AGC dinner, General Electric Company** CEO Jeffrey Immelt spoke about the role of the general counsel in setting the culture and tone for the company. Ethics, compliance and culture are as much about what a company and its people do as well as what they should not do, and pro bono is truly becoming a vitally important cultural indicator for the world’s largest businesses. PBI was honored to have been included in this meeting.
Not only was pro bono on the agenda for AGC, it was also a focus of the October meeting of The Conference Board’s Council of Chief Legal Officers. Lardent and CPBO Director Eve Runyon met with general counsels from companies including Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC and Booz Allen Hamilton Inc. to discuss the topic of law departments as pro bono community leaders. As the session description noted, “[a]s CSR/Citizenship gains momentum in corporate America, law departments have an opportunity to step up into a leadership role.” This lively session dealt with potential but easily solved obstacles such as malpractice insurance and transferable skills sets and questions about how to get started.
Members of AGC and the Conference Board’s Council of Chief Legal Officers can access the materials prepared for these sessions on the member-only portions of the respective organizations’ websites. Legal departments interested in learning more about any of the topics highlighted at these two meetings can follow up by contacting CPBO Director Eve Runyon.
*denotes a Signatory to the Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge®
**denotes a Signatory to the Corporate Pro Bono Challenge℠