The Roundtable and Networking Dinner hosted on March 5, 2009, during the 2009 Forum for In-house Corporate Pro Bono again presented some of the most valuable sessions for in-house counsel starting, developing and expanding their legal pro bono programs. The sessions dealt with many of the challenges corporate legal departments’ pro bono programs are facing in the current economy and offered an informal and friendly environment for in-house counsel to exchange information and ideas on in-house pro bono.

One indication of the increased pro bono involvement of legal departments is the cover story of the February 2009 Inside Counsel magazine, which features a detailed piece on pro bono by in-house counsel – “Paying it Forward.” The article includes a thought-provoking interview with the President and CEO of the Pro Bono Institute, Esther F. Lardent, and highlights the tremendous breakthroughs corporations have made in the provision of pro bono services and the numerous benefits they have gained from developing pro bono projects. The innovative and well-crafted pro bono programs of several Corporate Pro Bono Challenge℠ Signatories were highlighted:

The Awards Committee of the Philadelphia Bar Foundation has chosen the winner of the Citizens Bank Pro Bono Award for 2008 to be presented at the 30th Anniversary Andrew Hamilton Gala on November 1, 2008. The recipient of this prestigious award is the PECO Legal Department for demonstrating outstanding volunteer efforts in providing legal services to those in need. PECO is the first corporate legal department to receive the Award.

Imagine that you are fifteen years old, and you have made the painful decision to flee your home country because your parents have abused you for years and no one has come to your aid.  You reach the United States, but instead of finding safety you are placed in a jail cell.  You don’t speak English.  The guards do not speak Spanish.  No one seems to care if you live or die.  You then must go to immigration court – alone – terrified what the judge will decide.  Will you be allowed to stay in the U.S., or will you be sent back to face the dangers in your home country? 

McGuireWoods LLP and AOL have been selected by the Northern Virginia Pro Bono Law Center as the joint recipients of the “Pro Bono Law Firm of the Year.” The award was presented at the Fairfax Bar Association’s annual State of the Judiciary Luncheon held earlier this week at The Country Club of Fairfax.

In a sign of the growth of pro bono in South Africa, a legal services organization has recently developed a weekly clinic to provide pro bono services to poor and disadvantaged people living with HIV/AIDS in Johannesburg.  The growth of pro bono in South Africa has been motivated in part by the recognition of the continuing gap in access to justice as the country deals with the residual effects of apartheid.  At the 2007 launch of ProBono.Org, a non-profit clearinghouse for public interest legal matters, attendees questioned how attorneys who are struggling themselves can make time for pro bono.

Please welcome the newest Corporate Pro Bono Challenge℠ Signatory: Thomson Reuters.  The legal department of this company has become the latest corporate legal department to sign onto the Corporate Challenge℠, developed by Corporate Pro Bono (CPBO), a joint initiative of the Association of Corporate Counsel and the Pro Bono Institute. 

Every supporter of pro bono, regardless of political party or ideology, should be heartened by the election of a President of the United States who brings to the office a deeply felt commitment to public service. For President-Elect Obama, public service is not just a campaign slogan; it has been the cause of his life. From his work as a community organizer directing the Developing Communities Project on the South Side of Chicago to the pro bono matters he undertook while in private practice at a Chicago law firm, Obama believes, like all of us who support and undertake pro bono, that public service is transformative, helping both the individuals who serve and the individuals, families, and communities that benefit from that service.

In March 2008, the Pro Bono Wire reported on The German Ghetto Work Payment Pro Bono Clinic Project created by Bet Tzedek, a Los Angeles-based legal services organization, founded in 1974. Bet Tzedek is well-known as one of a handful of agencies in the world to offer free legal help to Holocaust survivors who are applying for reparations, pensions, and benefits offered by Germany and other European countries. In 2007, when the German government created a new reparations program aimed at compensating Holocaust survivors who worked in German-controlled ghettos, Bet Tzedek responded. The project has recently been described as “the largest coordinated pro bono effort in United States history,” with nearly 100 law firms and corporate legal departments participating. The project, co-created by Bet Tzedek and Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP, provides services and resources to elderly Holocaust survivors, many of whom are living in extreme poverty.