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| CONTRIBUTORS |
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Ballard Spahr Andrews
& Ingersoll, LLP
Benjamin Bay
Jennafer Bonello
Reena Glazer
Jodi Sackel
Emma Snoyer
Eva-Marie
Malone, Editor |
| The Pro Bono Institute is grateful for the support of the following
sponsors |
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| The Pro Bono Institute
Has Moved to New Office Space | The Pro Bono Institute has moved to
a new location! The Washington, D.C.-based non-profit, a national and global leader
in pro bono, has moved to a new suite of offices on Connecticut Avenue NW. The move will enable the Institute to
expand its staff and resources to support and strengthen new pro bono initiatives
and opportunities. Please change your address books to our new contact
information: Pro Bono Institute 1025 Connecticut Avenue, NW Suite 205 Washington, DC 20036 tel: (202) 729-6699 fax: (202) 296-0303 http://www.probonoinst.org http://www.cpbo.org You may also right-click here and
select 'Save Target As' or 'Save Link As' to download the Pro Bono Institute's
VCard for use in Outlook or your contact management system. For a staff directory, click here. | | [full
story] | |
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| The
Business Benefits of Skills-Based Volunteerism | 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. The Wall Street Journal recently published a detailed article on skills-based
volunteerism as an office perk.
Beyond noting the draw of employer-subsidized volunteer opportunities for
a community-service-minded generation, the article also makes a strong case for
the substantial benefits that accrue to companies that invest in the development
of an infrastructure to support volunteer work. The recently-released results of a survey by Deloitte LLP also tout the
low-cost professional development and retention benefits of skills-based volunteerism.
Deloitte questioned a random sampling of 250 Fortune 500 human resource managers
and published results with momentous impact for corporate volunteer programs,
and by extension, pro bono programs as well. The survey notes that, while training and development are considered
crucial business priorities, 70 percent of respondents are dealing with static
or decreased training budgets.
In the survey, 91 percent of respondents agree that skills-based volunteerism
can be a low-cost and effective method of developing employees' business and leadership
skills while supporting non-profits in need.
| | [full story] | |
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| Esther Lardent, Named One of the 90 Greatest Washington Lawyers of the Last 30 Years | 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.' Alongside Lardent, many of the Institute's esteemed
friends and colleagues also made the top 90. Many, like Lardent, were named on the champions list, while
others were highlighted as pioneers – those who have made an incredible impact
but who are no longer with us, and visionaries – those who have inspired political
activism and legal scholarship in the legal community. Two listed as champions include Judith Areen – Paul Regis Dean Professor of Law at Georgetown University
Law Center,
and member of the Pro Bono Institute Board of Directors, and James Sandman – General Counsel for the District of Columbia Public
Schools and long-time member of the Law Firm Pro Bono Project Advisory Committee. John Pickering, the esteemed namesake of a Pro Bono Institute award
for exemplary law firm pro bono service, was listed as a pioneer. Please
read the full story to see the description of Esther Lardent's accomplishments. | | [full story] | |
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| Corporate Pro Bono
(CPBO), the Pro Bono Partnership of Atlanta, Paul,
Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP, and Reed Elsevier,
Inc. Sponsor Free Legal Advice to Atlanta
Non-Profits | 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 BoxSM.' 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 ChallengeSM. Exemplifying the type of top-down support that can truly make a pro bono
program thrive, Thompson noted 'This kind of onsite clinic illustrates how actively
we are pursuing pro bono across the company.' Thompson also pointed
out 'We do it because it's the right thing to do. One of the underpinnings of
our society is that under the Rule of Law everyone – rich or poor – is entitled
to access to the law. Our pro bono initiatives help make that access available
to individuals and organizations who otherwise may find themselves left out.' | | [full
story] | |
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| Pro Bono Victory: Ballard Spahr Secures Settlement for Elderly and Disabled
Refugees and Asylees (Kaplan v. Chertoff) |
The goals and benefits
of U.S.
citizenship have become more attainable for thousands of elderly and disabled
immigrants. Pro bono lawyers
from Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll,
LLP, a Law Firm Pro Bono ChallengeSM
Signatory, recently secured a favorable settlement of a Federal court national
class action involving needy refugees and asylees whose Federal Supplementary
Security Income (SSI) benefits were cut off due to immigration processing delays. Class representative, Shmul
Kaplan, 80, a Holocaust survivor, was granted asylum in 1997 and started to receive
SSI benefits and Medicaid. After
delaying ruling on his green card application for five years, the government finally
approved it in 2003. In
September 2007, while the lawsuit was pending, Kaplan finally achieved his goal
of U.S.
citizenship, and his SSI benefits, which had been suspended for nearly four years,
were at last restored.
The settlement covers 20,000 immigrants who have already
lost their SSI benefits and 40,000 more who are projected to lose them in the
future. As Ballard Spahr
attorney Jordana L. Greenwald poignantly observed, 'These plaintiffs truly are
the 'huddled masses' that have come here seeking a better life. It is rewarding to know that our work will
help thousands of needy immigrants to receive the benefits they so desperately
need and finally become U.S.
citizens.' For more information
about the case or Ballard Spahr's pro bono program, please contact Mary Gay Scanlon, Executive Director, Pro Bono Program. Read the full story for more details of this
critical case. | | [full
story] | |
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Law Firm/Law School Pro Bono Partnerships:
The Supreme Court Clinic Model | Recent years have seen a tremendous increase
in law school pro bono programs and the corresponding creation of cooperative
pro bono initiatives between and among law schools, law firms, and/or public interest
organizations. These
partnerships result, in part, from the growth of more formal pro bono infrastructures
at schools and firms, as well as greater competition among firms seeking to recruit,
attract, and retain talented new lawyers. Veteran lawyers enjoy mentoring, teaching, molding, and training
law students. For
the schools, it is also a way to expand 'experiential' learning opportunities
for students and satisfy their demands for pro bono work. One attractive and high-profile partnership model
that has been developed and replicated at a number of law schools is the Supreme
Court clinic. Partners
at major law firms help run Supreme Court clinics at Yale Law School, New York
University School of Law, Northwestern University School of Law, and Harvard Law
School, among others, where law students work on petitions for certiorari, merits
briefs, and amicus briefs.
Read the full story for a recent article about these pro bono joint ventures.
| | [full
story] | |
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Welcome Troutman Sanders LLP as the Newest Signatory
to the Law Firm Pro Bono ChallengeSM | The Law Firm Pro Bono
Project is pleased to announce the latest law firm to sign the Law Firm Pro Bono ChallengeSM-- Troutman
Sanders LLP. With over 650 lawyers
and 40 areas of legal practice, the firm provides counsel in almost all areas
of civil and commercial law. Attorneys at the firm have shown a strong dedication
to pro bono work and community service by donating thousands of hours to those
in need within their community. Pro bono at the firm has included the provision
of skilled legal assistance to families fighting for educational services for
special needs children, providing counsel for eviction defense, and a partnership
with the American Cancer Society. By signing on to the ChallengeSM,
the firm will institutionalize its firm-wide commitment to providing pro bono
legal services to low income and disadvantaged individuals and non-profit groups. | | [full story] | |
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