On April 27, Virginia Supreme Court Chief Justice Leroy Rountree Hassell, Sr. called to order an historic event – the first Virginia Pro Bono Summit.  The Summit’s morning session was held in the Supreme Court chambers – a clear indication of the seminal importance of the event.  The gathering, coordinated by the Virginia State Bar, featured regional updates, best practices, and presentations by Virginia’s Attorney General and general counsel of two of the state’s largest corporations.  The Pro Bono Institute (PBI) provided assistance in the planning and content of the event, and PBI’s Esther Lardent was the only non-Virginia speaker at the Summit.  For more information or assistance in planning a summit in your community, please contact Esther Lardent.

We are pleased to announce the latest additions to the Corporate Pro Bono Challenge℠: International Paper Company and Marathon Oil Company.  The legal departments of these companies have become the latest corporate legal departments to sign onto the CPBO Challenge℠, developed by Corporate Pro Bono, a global partnership project of the Association of Corporate Counsel and the Pro Bono Institute.

The 2010 Annual Seminar/Forum on In-House Pro Bono drew significant media coverage this year, due largely to remarks brought by Attorney General Eric Holder.  While the media are not permitted to attend substantive sessions to avoid chilling candor and discussion, the Seminar/Forum was a highly covered event due to moving and provocative comments by Holder who addressed attendees at the event’s Pro Bono Expo Luncheon and received the Institute’s Chesterfield Smith Award.  Holder has been under fire recently by Keep America Safe, click here for more info, for hiring seven attorneys who undertook pro bono work defending Guantanamo detainees.  Holder used his appearance at the conference to discuss publicly for the first time the importance of the work of these attorneys. 

Attorney General Eric Holder’s stirring remarks at the 2010 Annual Seminar/Forum on In-House Pro Bono on the importance of pro bono for unpopular clients and causes generated a host of media attention, including a disturbing analysis of pro bono by Andrew McCarthy, an attorney and columnist for the National Review Online. PBI President Esther Lardent responded to McCarthy’s factually and legally incorrect position in a letter to the editor of the National Review.

“Do What’s Right.” It’s one of the tenets on which Gap Inc. functions. And because this philosophy was so ingrained into the company’s culture, it was easy for Michelle Banks to get her legal department’s pro bono program off the ground when she took over as GC of the clothing retailer three years ago.

As part of the recent launch of its pro bono program, the legal department at Verizon Communications Inc., a Signatory to the Corporate Pro Bono Challenge℠, hosted a department-wide legal ethics program for its lawyers and staff on January 14, 2010.

As part of its growing commitment to pro bono service, the legal department at The Gap, Inc., in partnership with The Gap Foundation, Corporate Pro Bono, and Morrison & Foerster LLP (a Signatory to the Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge®), hosted a CPBO Clinic in a Box℠ program on February 1, 2010.  Thirty-six members of The Gap legal department, both lawyers and support staff, provided assistance to a number of California based nonprofit organizations supported by The Gap Foundation.

On January 26, 2010, the legal department at Viacom Inc. hosted a Clinic in a Box℠ program, in partnership with Corporate Pro Bono (CPBO), New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, and Shearman & Sterling LLP (a Signatory to the Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge®), and provided invaluable legal assistance to nonprofit organizations in need.  Twenty-one volunteers from Viacom’s legal department and 13 lawyers from Shearman & Sterling served 11 New York based nonprofit organizations, addressing matters of employment, tax, real estate, corporate governance, intellectual property, and other legal issues nonprofit organizations often face. 

Corporate Pro Bono (CPBO) participated in several Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) Chapter pro bono events over the last few months.  On October 29, 2009, the Charlotte ACC Chapter held a Pro Bono Forum.  The Pro Bono Forum was an informative gathering designed to highlight opportunities available to in-house counsel to provide pro bono legal services.  The event addressed several issues faced by in-house counsel, including state licensure questions and professional liability insurance concerns.  In addition to CPBO, Street Law, Private Attorney Involvement/Legal Aid of North Carolina, and Mecklenburg County Bar Volunteer Lawyer Program participated.  More than 20 ACC members attended.

On October 19, 2009, Corporate Pro Bono (CPBO), a national partnership project of the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) and the Pro Bono Institute, hosted its 12th annual Onsite Pro Bono Clinic in conjunction with the 2009 ACC Annual Meeting in Boston. The clinic was co-sponsored by CPBO, the Northeast Chapter of the Association of Corporate Counsel, the Boston Foundation, and Foley Hoag LLP and attracted 29 attorneys from several legal departments, serving ten Boston area nonprofit organizations.