The PBI Wire
October 24, 2014
“Much has changed since Corporate Pro Bono (CPBO), the global partnership project of Pro Bono Institute (PBI) and the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC), was launched in 2000. In many ways, the Merck & Co., Inc.** pro bono program, created in 1994, embodies the dramatic transformation of pro bono in this vitally important segment of the legal profession. So, it was particularly fitting for me to address this topic at Merck’s pro bono anniversary, which the company celebrated on October 15.
“The trends and future directions in in-house pro bono include:
Momentum and growth
“The institutionalization of in-house pro bono continues at an extraordinary pace. In 2000, three legal departments had formal, organized pro bono programs. Today, those programs number in the hundreds. To date, CPBO has worked with a substantial majority of the legal departments at Fortune 100 companies as well as a majority of the Fortune 500 departments. While larger departments and ACC chapters have been in the vanguard of in-house pro bono, organized pro bono efforts exist in small and even solo lawyer departments, in a wide range of communities.
More sophisticated matters/broader range of pro bono opportunities
“Although many legal departments at the inception of their pro bono programs focused on “pro bono tapas” – time-limited pro bono interventions such as brief advice and counsel clinics – legal departments are increasingly taking on more complex matters, such as immigration cases, full-service poverty law matters, as well as handling a broader range of pro bono issues. One example is Merck’s patent group which is actively engaged in family law cases and eviction defense. Just as CPBO’s Clinic in a Box® program provides a supportive icebreaker for in-house counsel new to pro bono, departments have used their initial, limited offerings as a bridge to a broader pro bono docket.”