As noted in an earlier article in the Pro Bono Wire and on the Corporate Pro Bono (CPBO) website, one potential obstacle to greater in-house pro bono participation is the fact that some in-house corporate attorneys, though admitted and in good standing in one or more jurisdictions, are not licensed in the states in which they currently work. Thanks to the collaborative efforts of Jeff Hyman at Intel Corporation, the Oregon State Bar, and several law firms, the Oregon State Bar recently amended Admissions Rule 16.05 on the Admission of House Counsel.  The House Counsel Rule allows attorneys who have been admitted to the practice of law in another state to practice law as house counsel in Oregon.  Until recently, attorneys admitted under the House Counsel Rule were limited to practicing exclusively for the business entity and were not authorized to appear before a court or to offer legal services to the public.

Every four years, elections become a particularly hot topic at a national level. Coinciding with the presidential election cycles, attention focuses on the magnitude of the obstacles faced by the underrepresented and disenfranchised during these important national elections. Yet, problems with elections at a national level are generally representative of wider and pervasive systemic legal issues throughout the United States at the state and local level. Pro bono lawyers are at the forefront of legal efforts during and in-between major national election cycles to cure legal flaws in the election system which threaten the accuracy, legitimacy, and fairness of the voting process.

It’s not every day you come across a corporate lawyer who devotes two business days a week entirely to pro bono work — all pertaining to the representation of children or indigent parents — for three different legal aid organizations.

On Friday, February 29, 2008, the legal department of Bank of America Corporation will receive the Pro Bono Institute’s 2008 Laurie D. Zelon Pro Bono Award during a reception at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C.  Timothy J. Mayopoulos, Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Bank of America Corporation, will accept the award on behalf of the legal department.  The award, given each year to an individual or organization that has provided exemplary pro bono service, will be presented in conjunction with the Institute’s 2008 Pro Bono Seminar and Forum on In-house Corporate Pro Bono – a global conference that brings together major law firms, corporate legal departments, and public interest and civil rights organizations to focus on joint efforts to enhance and improve pro bono service. 

In the September 2007 issue of InsideCounsel magazine, Brad Smith, Senior Vice President, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary of Microsoft Corporation, as well as a Co-Chair of the Corporate Pro Bono Advisory Board, wrote an editorial urging the in-house legal community to change the way they look at pro bono. 

Over 120 leaders from in-house legal departments and major law firms gathered on November 6, 2007, for the first-ever Pro Bono Leadership Convocation, sponsored by the Pro Bono Institute and the Association for Corporate Counsel (ACC). Held at the offices of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meager & Flom, LLP in New York City, the Pro Bono Leadership Convocation brought together representatives of in-house legal departments and major law firms to focus on ensuring that the growing levels of pro bono service at law firms and legal departments more effectively address the need for legal assistance and effectuate systemic changes in our justice system.

On October 29, 2007, Corporate Pro Bono (CPBO), a national partnership project of the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) and the Pro Bono Institute, hosted its tenth annual Onsite Pro Bono Clinic in conjunction with the 2007 ACC Annual Meeting in Chicago – the largest annual meeting in ACC history.  Co-sponsored by ACC’s Chicago Chapter, Holland & Knight LLP, and the Community Economic Development Law Project (CEDLP), the Clinic attracted 36 volunteer corporate attorneys and was extremely successful in helping to resolve the legal issues of fourteen Chicago area nonprofit organizations.

On November 12th, 2007, Intel Corporation and Hewlett-Packard Company, in association with Corporate Pro Bono (CPBO), hosted a Summit on Pro Bono Participation for corporate legal departments in the Bay Area.  The Summit attracted over twenty in-house representatives from more than thirteen legal departments, and achieved its goals of promoting awareness of pro bono efforts in the Bay Area, highlighting the feasibility of pro bono work at departments, and identifying opportunities for collaboration among Bay Area corporate legal departments.