On November 17, 2006, the Pro Bono Committee of the San Francisco Bay Area Chapter of ACC, the Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County, and the Law Foundation of Silicon Valley hosted a Pro Bono Legal Services Clinic at the Westin Hotel in Palo Alto. The event was sponsored by Baker & McKenzie. The Clinic attracted several volunteer corporate attorneys, and it was extremely successful in helping to resolve the legal issues of several clients in need.

Built on the Clinic in a Box℠ model used by Corporate Pro Bono (CPBO), a national partnership project of ACC and the Pro Bono Institute, the Clinic consisted of a training session and a roundtable lunch.

During the training session, expert attorneys from the Law Foundation of Silicon Valley and the Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County taught volunteer attorneys to do intake interviews for relatives seeking to obtain legal guardianship of minor children, to assist AIDS Legal Services clients to complete advanced health care directives, or to begin simple will preparation. The participants received CLE credit for this training.

During the lunch, attendees were able to participate in a roundtable discussion of different models to promote pro bono efforts by in-house counsel through either corporate programs or individual volunteer opportunities.

For more information about Onsite Pro Bono Clinics, or to learn about other resources that CPBO has to offer, please contact Eve Runyon, director of CPBO, at 202.729.6694, or at cpbo@acc.com, or visit www.cpbo.org.

Corporate Pro Bono (CPBO) is a global pro bono partnership project of the Association of Corporate Counsel and the Pro Bono Institute. Through online services, technical assistance to the in-house community, and educational outreach, CPBO encourages and supports the participation of in-house counsel in pro bono services.

Developed by Corporate Pro Bono
A global partnership project of the Pro Bono Institute and the Association of Corporate Counsel
www.cpbo.org