Please welcome the newest Corporate Pro Bono Challenge℠ Signatory: Thomson Reuters.  The legal department of this company has become the latest corporate legal department to sign onto the Corporate Challenge℠, developed by Corporate Pro Bono (CPBO), a joint initiative of the Association of Corporate Counsel and the Pro Bono Institute. 

Every supporter of pro bono, regardless of political party or ideology, should be heartened by the election of a President of the United States who brings to the office a deeply felt commitment to public service. For President-Elect Obama, public service is not just a campaign slogan; it has been the cause of his life. From his work as a community organizer directing the Developing Communities Project on the South Side of Chicago to the pro bono matters he undertook while in private practice at a Chicago law firm, Obama believes, like all of us who support and undertake pro bono, that public service is transformative, helping both the individuals who serve and the individuals, families, and communities that benefit from that service.

In March 2008, the Pro Bono Wire reported on The German Ghetto Work Payment Pro Bono Clinic Project created by Bet Tzedek, a Los Angeles-based legal services organization, founded in 1974. Bet Tzedek is well-known as one of a handful of agencies in the world to offer free legal help to Holocaust survivors who are applying for reparations, pensions, and benefits offered by Germany and other European countries. In 2007, when the German government created a new reparations program aimed at compensating Holocaust survivors who worked in German-controlled ghettos, Bet Tzedek responded. The project has recently been described as “the largest coordinated pro bono effort in United States history,” with nearly 100 law firms and corporate legal departments participating. The project, co-created by Bet Tzedek and Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP, provides services and resources to elderly Holocaust survivors, many of whom are living in extreme poverty.

This year, General Electric Company (GE) – a Corporate Pro Bono Challenge℠ Signatory, Mexico Appleseed, part of a network of public interest law centers, and UNICEF will collaborate to research and advocate for the right of all children to identity – the right to civil registration of their name and nationality.

Please welcome the newest Corporate Pro Bono Challenge℠ Signatories: American Electric Power, SYNNEX Corporation, and Kaplan Higher Education. The legal departments of these companies have become the latest corporate legal departments to sign onto the Corporate Pro Bono Challenge℠, developed by Corporate Pro Bono (CPBO), a joint initiative of the Association of Corporate Counsel and the Pro Bono Institute.

On November 13, 2008, a large and energized group of law firm, corporate legal department, and public interest leaders attended the fourth Annual Pro Bono Institute Gala. The rousing event, celebrating the extraordinary impact of pro bono in the law firm and corporate communities, was held at The Plaza in New York City.  The event’s dinner program, the elegance and beauty of the venue, and the collegial atmosphere left attendees feeling inspired and empowered by the end of the evening.  Additional coverage of the program, including remarks and photographs, will be published in the next issue of the Wire.

Ten years after the launch of the Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge®, Corporate Pro Bono, a national partnership project of the Association of Corporate Counsel and the Pro Bono Institute®, launched the Corporate Pro Bono ChallengeSM, providing legal departments an opportunity to communicate and benchmark their commitment to pro bono legal service. The media attention and response to the Corporate Challenge and the pro bono services provided by Corporate Challenge Signatories has been outstanding, as pro bono in the corporate community continues to grow and companies address the challenges of structuring successful pro bono programs within their legal departments. An engaging article from the September 2008 issue of GC Mid-Atlantic profiles the increase in corporate pro bono and provides practical suggestions for legal departments seeking to develop or grow a pro bono program.

On September 23, 2008, Philadelphia LawWorks, a project of the Philadelphia Volunteers for the Indigent Program that focuses on community economic development, hosted its fifth annual Corporate Pro Bono Day. Co-sponsored by the Association of Corporate Counsel’s Delaware Valley Area (DELVACCA) Chapter, Dechert LLP, and Corporate Pro Bono (CPBO), a national partnership project of the Association of Corporate Counsel and the Pro Bono Institute, Corporate Pro Bono Day gave in-house counsel an opportunity to provide valuable legal assistance to small businesses in need. Based on CPBO’s “Clinic in a Box”℠ model, Corporate Pro Bono Day attracted 18 corporate volunteer attorneys and 19 small businesses. The volunteer participants represented several corporate law departments, including Aramark, Pep Boys, Exelon Business Services, GlaxoSmithKline, Triumph Group, Drexel University, University of Pennsylvania, Ultrasound Services, Merck, and Boone Properties.

In-house pro bono efforts were a key theme of the 2008 Association of Corporate Counsel Annual Meeting held in Seattle from October 19-22.

Inspired by Professor Marc Galanter’s groundbreaking study of upcoming demographic changes in the legal profession, the Pro Bono Institute (PBI) in Washington, D.C., launched Second Acts® – i.e., second acts in the lives of lawyers approaching retirement age – an ambitious initiative designed to support transitioning and retired lawyers who are interested in a second, volunteer career in public interest law. Grounded in PBI’s own rigorous research on the viability of a new model of transition and retirement in the legal profession (available upon request), PBI is working with major law firms, corporate legal departments, and public interest organizations to develop a new paradigm of legal retirement that will reduce the widening access to justice gap. Among the support offered, PBI is providing technical assistance to law firms, a growing number of whom are structuring programs to support the desire of their more experienced lawyers to expand their role in pro bono practice.