Letter from Esther: PBI Regional Leadership Convocations
The Wire
November 2011
In the earliest days of the Law Firm Pro Bono Project, we conducted a series of regional meetings – a listening tour of sorts – to learn more about the state of pro bono at major law firms. What we learned at those regional meetings and from ongoing contact with the law firm leaders we met formed the basis for the Pro Bono Institute’s work for years to come and contributed to the profound transformation of law firm pro bono.
Today, we find ourselves in a dramatically different world with respect to access to justice, legal services, and the fundamentals of the rule of law. As one jurist said, only partly in jest, at our recent Pro Bono Leadership Convocation, “the sky really is falling.” Our justice system is in crisis, and the extent of that crisis is far greater and more profound than anything we have faced in recent memory. Our nation is facing an unprecedented need for legal assistance among the highest poverty population ever recorded. Courts and legal service organizations face the daunting task of juggling increased workloads and an influx of pro se litigants while suffering significant reductions in funding. The public’s confidence in the legal system has faltered as the system has become increasingly inaccessible.
Pro bono alone will not solve the problem, but it is an important part of the equation. The current crisis demands not simply more pro bono, but a profound rethinking and reshaping of pro bono service – preserving the best of the current pro bono effort while moving us in a new and more productive direction. For that reason, starting in December, PBI will convene a series of six Regional Leadership Convocations, followed by ongoing collaborative work at the regional level and culminating in our national Pro Bono Leadership Convocation on November 15, 2012.
Over the past 15 years, large law firms and in-house legal departments have become leaders, exemplars, and pioneers in pro bono service. Although the “justice chasm,” as I have termed it, must be everyone’s concern – including our government, the courts, and lawyers in all practice settings – I believe that the legal departments and law firms are uniquely situated to address this crisis. Your human capital, reach, creativity, and commitment, coupled with the expertise and perspective you bring from the for-profit sector, can play a critical part in fashioning a solution to the dire problems we currently face.
PBI has and will continue to work with you on an individual institutional basis and at the local, state, and national level. However, we believe that regional events are a needed and important part of the pro bono puzzle. Currently, no convenient vehicle exists for easy communication within regions. Despite natural affinities and similarities, we have seen quite disparate pro bono culture and performance among neighboring jurisdictions. We thank Minnesota’s law firm leaders who suggested this initiative. In undertaking this work, we are making a substantial – and unplanned – investment of our time and financial resources because we believe the times demand it. We also believe that, working closely with firms and legal departments, we can and must help to alleviate this crisis and develop a pro bono system designed for this new environment and for the future.
To find out more about these invitation-only Regional Leadership Convocations, click here and check the PBI website often for updated information on the schedule for the convocation in your region. In addition to the inaugural Midwest Regional Leadership Convocation, we will present a Southeast Regional Leadership Convocation in late-January in Atlanta. Dates for subsequent Leadership Convocations will be announced early in 2012.
The goal of this effort is to address the justice crisis through a more effective, efficient, and productive pro bono effort. Some may ask why we are inviting only large law firm and corporate leaders to participate. Where are the legal services and public interest representatives? The answer is, given our focus and our limited resources, we have directed our efforts to those with whom we work most closely and who have the capacity to effect change and go to scale. I – along with other PBI staff – am also very much engaged with a number of the ongoing efforts at the state and national level to address the justice crisis from the perspective of the public interest groups, most notably the Legal Services Corporation’s Pro Bono Task Force. We are committed to ensuring that the ideas, innovations, and perspectives gleaned from these convocations – and the work and collaborations that arise from them – are made available to our colleagues in the legal services and public interest community.
It is our dream that 15 years from now we will look back on the work you undertake at the Regional Leadership Convocations, as well as the renewed and transformed support PBI will offer you, and pinpoint 2011 as the year that pro bono began its second profound transformation – one that truly fulfilled the promise of pro bono.