Metropolitan Corporate Counsel
October 11, 2017
PBI is constantly cited by law departments and law firms alike as an indispensable resource for all things pro bono. Whether an organization is planning its first program or tweaking an aging one, this is often the first place they call.
What makes pro bono a special challenge for corporate law departments compared to law firms?
Eve Runyon: There are a number of practical barriers that distinguish in-house pro bono work from the pro bono work done at law firms. There are barriers around lack of insurance and restrictions on multijurisdictional practice for nonlocally licensed in-house counsel. There are differences in the resources that are available to in-house departments versus law firms. Legal departments tend to be leanly staffed. And there are programmatic goals that are often different. For example, when legal departments are developing pro bono programs, it is very common for them to create opportunities that engage all of the legal staff as opposed to just the lawyers within the department.