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.

This year’s historic elections have generated an excitement about and interest in voting and produced record voter turnout across the country. The increased interest in voting demonstrated in this year’s primaries is exciting to anyone with a passion for civics, but it also clearly delineated the strains of the United States’ overburdened election systems. With an increase in voter interest and registration, the risk of wrongful disenfranchisement also increases. A prominent civil rights organization has initiated election protection efforts that provide a timely, unique, and civic pro bono opportunity.

During the 2008 American Bar Association Annual Meeting in New York, the ABA adopted Model Rule 112A, concerning Registration of In-House Counsel.  This resolution, although a small step for the world of pro bono in general, made huge strides for the in-house legal community’s ability to perform pro bono legal services.

Please welcome the newest Corporate Pro Bono Challenge℠ Signatory: Allstate Insurance Company. 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.  Congratulations to Michele Coleman Mayes, Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Allstate Insurance Company, for making this commitment to pro bono a matter of record by signing the Corporate Pro Bono Challenge℠.

LexisNexis, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. and a Corporate Pro Bono ChallengeSM Signatory, has released a Corporate Responsibility Report, highlighting the community service and legal pro bono work that Lexis employees participated in during 2007, and outlining objectives for 2008.

The impact of Corporate Pro Bono (CPBO), a partnership of the Association of Corporate Counsel and the Pro Bono Institute, has accelerated in recent months, with several new companies signing on to the Corporate Pro Bono ChallengeSM, developed by CPBO.  The Corporate Pro Bono ChallengeSM is designed to empower corporate legal departments to identify, benchmark, and communicate their commitment to pro bono service.

The danger to American soldiers in Iraq has received a great deal of media coverage, but the danger to Iraqis who have assisted American soldiers has gone largely unnoticed.  For those who are forced to flee Iraq, the process leading to safety can be laborious.  The cover story of the July 2008 ABA Journal details the struggle of one Iraqi refugee to get himself and his family to safety after he risked his life to serve as a translator to the paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne.

The Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy (CECP) is an international forum of more than 165 business CEOs and Chairs, including many leaders from the world’s largest companies, pursuing a mission to lead the business community in raising the level and quality of corporate philanthropy. Engaging with the public, private, and independent sectors, CECP members seek and create opportunities to serve as corporate giving advocates, practitioners, educators, and spokespersons to advance the case for philanthropy and to inspire other business leaders to make a lasting commitment to community giving.  In recent months, CECP has expanded its mission to include the promotion of non-legal “pro bono” at corporations.

On June 24, 2008, Corporate Pro Bono (CPBO), a joint project of the Association of Corporate Counsel and the Pro Bono Institute, along with the Legal Aid Society of New York, partnered with the law firm of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP and volunteers from The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. to conduct a Clinic in a Box℠. The Clinic was held at the offices of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP and provided vital pro bono legal services to ten microentrepreneurs and small businesses from New York City and the surrounding area as the Goldman Sachs legal department utilized their pro bono legal skills to contribute to a larger company-wide community service initiative.