Qwest Communications International, Inc., a recent Corporate Pro Bono Challenge℠ Signatory, has been named the 2008 Best Legal Department by Corporate Counsel magazine.  It is important to note that the company exemplifies the type of top-down support for pro bono work that can make a pro bono program flourish.  The article, reprinted below, notes that several changes in the legal department that were introduced by General Counsel Richard Baer, have reduced turnover rate from 25 percent to 4 percent.  The article also notes that participation in the nascent pro bono program (initiated in 2003) has increased every year, with a thirty percent increase between 2006 and 2007.  While much of the article focuses on the changes Baer has introduced to Qwest’s legal department, the strength of the legal department’s pro bono efforts was an important consideration in the award process.  Read below for details.

Please welcome the newest Corporate Challenge℠ Signatory: Federal Reserve Bank of New York. 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.  The Corporate Pro Bono Challenge℠ is designed to empower corporate legal departments to identify, benchmark, and communicate their commitment to pro bono service. To view the full text of the Corporate Challenge℠ or to find the complete list of Corporate Challenge℠ Signatories, visit the CPBO website.

The recent 30th Anniversary issue of the Legal Times celebrated the achievements of ninety D.C. lawyers of the past thirty years.  In doing so, Legal Times named the Pro Bono Institute’s President and CEO, Esther Lardent one of the 90 greatest Washington, D.C., lawyers of the last 30 years and a champion in the legal community.  As the article notes, Lardent has pioneered key pro bono practices for large law firms and corporate legal departments and has developed a widely-quoted business case for pro bono.  Furthermore, she has “set an example that other D.C. lawyers should follow.”

On May 7, 2008, the Pro Bono Partnership of Atlanta and Corporate Pro Bono (CPBO), a joint project of the Association of Corporate Counsel and the Pro Bono Institute, partnered with the law firm of Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP and 46 volunteers from Reed Elsevier, Inc. to conduct a Clinic in a Box℠. The Clinic was held at the offices of Paul Hastings and provided vital pro bono legal services to seventeen non-profit organizations from Atlanta and the surrounding area by Reed Elsevier attorneys, led by Senior Vice President and General Counsel Kenneth R. Thompson II, as part of a gathering of global members of their legal department. The department is a Signatory to the Corporate Pro Bono Challenge℠.

For some years the legal community has recognized the institutional benefits of pro bono service.  As articulated in the Pro Bono Institute’s seminal publication, Making the Business Case for Pro Bono, there is “a hard-headed business rationale for pro bono work.”  Increasingly, the corporate/business community has discovered that the business case is not limited to the legal profession. A recent article in the Wall Street Journal and a study sponsored by Deloitte LLP reflect the corporate world’s embrace of “pro bono” as a business imperative.

Thirty-nine first responders received free legal services from lawyers from Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP and in-house counsel from Exelon Corporation at the first Wills For Heroes event held in Pennsylvania.

McDonald’s Corporation announced June 28, 2007, that it has entered a partnership with its law firm Winston & Strawn LLP designed to enhance its current substantial pro bono program by encouraging participation among personnel across McDonald’s legal department.

Please welcome the five newest Corporate Challenge℠ Signatories: Qwest Communications International, Inc., Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc., The Williams Companies, Inc., Fannie Mae (Federal National Mortgage Association), and TIAA-CREF.  The legal departments of these companies have become the latest corporate legal departments to sign onto the Corporate Challenge℠, designed by Corporate Pro Bono (CPBO), a joint initiative of the Association of Corporate Counsel and the Pro Bono Institute, to empower corporate legal departments to identify, benchmark, and communicate their commitment to pro bono service.  To view the full text of the Corporate Challenge℠ or to find the complete list of Corporate Challenge℠ Signatories, visit www.cpbo.org. 

Please welcome the four newest Corporate Challenge℠ Signatories: Wyeth, LexisNexis Group, Affiliated Computer Services, Inc., and Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company. The legal departments of these companies have become the latest corporate legal departments to sign onto the Corporate Challenge℠, which is designed to empower corporate legal departments to identify, benchmark, and communicate their commitment to pro bono service.

In a February 20, 2008 commentary, posted on Forbes.com, Lisa Hamilton, President of the UPS Foundation, highlights the growth of corporate social responsibility (CSR) as an integral part of a company’s identity, affecting brand recognition and shareholder value, and states that professional volunteerism, such as legal pro bono work, is the best way to maximize the knowledge and experience of professionals to meet the needs of the community. Hamilton notes that “One of the great business differentiators today has become a company’s moral compass” and challenges the corporate world to add “skilled service” to any CSR efforts.  Hamilton also argues that “The moral compass also influences a company’s ability to attract and retain top talent–especially among today’s Generation Y professionals.”