Noticing the importance that paralegals and other staff can play in serving pro bono clients, legal departments are involving non-lawyers in more pro bono activities.

Washington, D.C. – April 19, 2011 – Corporate Pro Bono applauds the Virginia Supreme Court for amending its rules to remove restrictions on certified in-house attorneys providing pro bono work in the state. Certified in-house counsel are those attorneys employed by corporations who, while licensed to practice in good standing, are not admitted to do pro bono. They are permitted to practice by their employer, but previously faced major hurdles to providing pro bono practice. This change empowers the more than 800 in-house attorneys in Virginia who are certified to work in-house to directly provide desperately needed assistance to low-income individuals and organizations. The rule change addresses the growing gap between the need for legal assistance and the need for pro bono.

The Virginia Supreme court approves a rule amendment that removes restrictions limiting certified in-house counsel’s ability to provide pro bono work.

The Supreme Court of Arkansas adopted language that allows non-admitted attorneys, including in-house counsel, to provide legal services to persons of limited means.

At a ceremony on January 25, 2011, the Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Dell Inc., Larry Tu, presented two law firms with Dell’s inaugural Pro Bono Award.

The legal departments at TXU Energy, Luminant, and Energy Future Holdings Corp. in partnership with Corporate Pro Bono (CPBO), TXU Energy AidSM, and Vinson & Elkins LLP, hosted a CPBO Clinic in a Box℠ program on January 25, 2011, to provide valuable pro bono legal assistance to Texas nonprofits that provide assistance to underserved communities in the Dallas area.

Washington, D.C. – March 4, 2011 – The Pro Bono Institute (PBI) has selected Intel Corporation as the 2011 Laurie D. Zelon Pro Bono Award winner for its outstanding commitment to pro bono service. The award will be presented at PBI’s Annual Seminar and Forum on In-House Pro Bono Reception later today.

“We saw a need in the community, and in line with our corporate mission, we decided it was time to start giving back.” These words have been uttered by many corporate counsel explaining why their departments decided to implement a formal corporate pro bono program. And while American Airlines wasn’t different in this respect, after the program had been in place a few years, the airline kicked it up a notch.