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| Archives |
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| Contributors |
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Reena Glazer
Esther Lardent
Eve Runyon
Eva-Marie
Malone, Editor | |
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| PBI News & Events |
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| Letter from Esther: Turning Lemons into Lemonade |
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| The economic downturn has had a cataclysmic impact
on major law firms in the United States and throughout the world. Venerated law
firms have simply gone out of existence. Firms that premised their business plans
on expansion and double-digit year over year growth have experienced the most
severe financial contraction in memory. A record number of promising lawyers have
been laid off and are facing a difficult job search, while thousands of third
year law students are learning that the law firms that they expected to join in
the fall of 2009 are deferring their entry until 2010 or even later. The economic
present is so dismal – and the future so unpredictable – that many
major firms, with the urging of their corporate clients – are questioning
and re-examining operating principles formerly considered sacrosanct – the
level and nature of associate compensation, hiring practices and timelines, the
use of leverage, firm size and growth, advancement to partnership and lawyer roles
in the firm, and even…the billable hour. |
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Highlights of the 2009 Pro Bono Institute Seminar
and Forum on In-House Corporate Pro Bono |
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In the midst of an economy in total free fall and profound changes in the culture,
practice, finances, and processes of major law firms, what does it take to present
a conference that is timely, relevant, responsive to the needs of participants,
closely attuned to the harsh realities of law firms, in-house legal departments,
and public interest groups, yet also forward-looking, inspirational and cautiously
optimistic? It requires, first of all, an almost daily revamping of the Seminar/Forum
sessions to accommodate new developments, promising initiatives, and growing concerns.
For the first time in the history of the Seminar/Forum, the final event schedule,
topics, and sessions bore almost no resemblance to the initial schedule (October,
2008 was at least a millennium ago, wasn’t it?), and the final new topic
– Pro Bono Recession Tips – was added literally hours before the conference began. |
| [More] |
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Reception at 2009 Pro Bono Institute Annual
Seminar and Forum on In-House Corporate Pro Bono Features Moving Zelon Award Presentation
Remarks by Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg |
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As described elsewhere in this issue of the Pro Bono Wire,
the 2009 Pro Bono Institute Annual Seminar and Forum on In-House Corporate
Pro Bono was an incredible experience. While most of the Seminar/Forum
focused on critical issues and useful take-aways, the Friday evening Reception was a time to relax and network with
other Seminar/Forum attendees. The emotional highlight of the evening was the
presentation of the Laurie D. Zelon Pro Bono Award to Robert C. Sheehan
and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP by Associate
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Great excitement and loving tears accompanied
one of Justice Ginsburg’s first appearances since the announcement of her
diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. And all present cheered for the award for pro
bono service presented to Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, whose lawyers
undertook 200,000 hours of pro bono service in 2007, and to its unassuming and
beloved Executive Partner, Bob Sheehan. Justice Ginsburg's inspiring, witty, and
moving remarks are reproduced in the full story. |
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Law Firm Pro Bono |
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| Breaking News:
New Publication Offers Guidance on the Effective Pro Bono Engagement of Displaced Law Firm Attorneys |
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| The Pro Bono Institute is pleased to announce a
timely new addition to its library of materials concerning law firm pro bono:
Law Firm Attorneys Displaced by the Economic Downturn: Best Practices
and Guidance for Effective Pro Bono Engagement. This new publication
is intended to focus law firm efforts to address the effects of the current economic
downturn through innovative pro bono engagements by offering best practices, tips,
and issue spotting to help firms to take full advantage of the pro bono opportunities
created by the crisis, to bypass avoidable mistakes, and to maximize participation by available attorneys. |
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Goodwin Procter’s New “Make a Difference”
Public Interest Fellowship Program |
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| As
we have been reporting for many months in previous issues of the Pro Bono
Wire and in our recent publication, Law Firm Attorneys Displaced
by the Economic Downturn: Best Practices and Guidance for Effective Pro Bono Engagement
(click here to download a copy from the PBI website), many firms
are responding creatively to the economic downturn. One particularly thoughtful
and creative new program has been developed by the leadership of Goodwin Procter LLP. Goodwin Procter’s “Make
a Difference” program offers one-year public interest fellowships
to associates who have had their start dates at the firm deferred until October 2010. |
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| Pro Bono News |
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| Legal Times Op-Ed by Esther Lardent Calls for Continued
and Strengthened Focus on Pro Bono in Challenging Economic Times |
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The March 2, 2009 issue of the Legal Times included a provocative op-ed
by Esther F. Lardent, President and CEO of the Pro Bono Institute. Entitled
'Don't RIF Pro Bono,' the piece calls for leaders of major law
firms to maintain support for pro bono, despite the challenges facing many firms
in the current economic climate. Ms. Lardent notes that pro bono is not
just desperately needed at the moment; it also provides much-needed benefits to
those who continue to make it a priority. Pro bono offers the potential
to turn the negative impact of excess capacity into a positive by offering creative
staffing options. Furthermore, emphasizing the firm's continued commitment
to pro bono indicates a focus on long-term firm goals, boosting morale and sending
a message of stability. Pro bono also allows for greater alignment with
corporate legal departments, many of whom are expanding their own pro bono programs.
Read the full story for a link to this cogent and timely article. |
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Corporate Pro Bono |
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| New Corporate ChallengeSM
Signatory: AOL | | Please welcome the
newest Corporate Pro Bono ChallengeSM Signatory:
AOL LLC. The legal department of this company has become
the latest corporate legal department to sign onto the CPBO ChallengeSM,
developed by Corporate Pro Bono (CPBO), a joint initiative of the Association
of Corporate Counsel and the Pro Bono Institute. Congratulations
to Ira H. Parker, Executive Vice President and General Counsel for AOL LLC, for
making this commitment to pro bono a matter of record by signing the CPBO ChallengeSM. | | [More] |
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2009 Corporate Pro Bono Roundtable and Networking Dinner Highlights |
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| The Roundtable and Networking Dinner hosted on March
5, 2009, during the 2009 Forum for In-House Corporate Pro Bono,
presented deeply valuable sessions for in-house counsel interested in 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 pro bono. |
| [More] |
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Call for Materials: Corporate Pro Bono Newsletters |
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| The mission of Corporate Pro Bono is to provide consultative services,
research, training, and materials to help legal departments create and maintain
first-rate pro bono programs. In order to accurately respond to your requests
and fulfill our mandate, we need information from you! We encourage readers of
the Pro Bono Wire to share information and materials with us in response
to these regular 'Calls for Materials.' Sensitive materials that you provide to
us will be confidential and will not be disclosed without your permission. This
month, we are soliciting information on in-house pro bono newsletters. |
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Pro Bono Toolbox |
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| Support Your Pro Bono Practice
with Westlaw | | | Pro bono provides many
benefits to those who engage in it, but it does have occasional costs. One
of the steepest costs can be absorbing the charges for legal research on complex
pro bono matters. West is offering relief from that burden. West has
offered free resources for pro bono for several years. Each year, West contributes
over 12 million dollars in Westlaw support for pro bono research. | | [More] |
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