In a February 20, 2008 commentary, posted on Forbes.com, Lisa Hamilton, President of the UPS Foundation, highlights the growth of corporate social responsibility (CSR) as an integral part of a company’s identity, affecting brand recognition and shareholder value, and states that professional volunteerism, such as legal pro bono work, is the best way to maximize the knowledge and experience of professionals to meet the needs of the community. Hamilton notes that “One of the great business differentiators today has become a company’s moral compass” and challenges the corporate world to add “skilled service” to any CSR efforts.  Hamilton also argues that “The moral compass also influences a company’s ability to attract and retain top talent–especially among today’s Generation Y professionals.”

The Illinois State Bar Rules have been amended to allow inactive and retired attorneys, as well as in-house counsel, to provide limited pro bono services.  State Bar Rule 756(j), Pro Bono Authorization for Inactive and Retired Status Attorneys and House Counsel, effective July 1, 2008, will allow inactive or retired lawyers or lawyers admitted as house counsel under Rule 716, to perform legal services for persons of limited means, without charge or expectation of a fee, under the auspices of a nonprofit legal services organization, governmental entity, law school clinical program, or bar association. 

As in years past, the Corporate Pro Bono Roundtable and Networking Dinner was one of the most valuable sessions at the 2008 Forum for In-house Corporate Pro Bono. The session offered an informal and friendly environment for in-house counsel to exchange information and ideas about the most innovative and effective practices in in-house pro bono.

As noted in an earlier article in the Pro Bono Wire and on the Corporate Pro Bono (CPBO) website, one potential obstacle to greater in-house pro bono participation is the fact that some in-house corporate attorneys, though admitted and in good standing in one or more jurisdictions, are not licensed in the states in which they currently work. Thanks to the collaborative efforts of Jeff Hyman at Intel Corporation, the Oregon State Bar, and several law firms, the Oregon State Bar recently amended Admissions Rule 16.05 on the Admission of House Counsel.  The House Counsel Rule allows attorneys who have been admitted to the practice of law in another state to practice law as house counsel in Oregon.  Until recently, attorneys admitted under the House Counsel Rule were limited to practicing exclusively for the business entity and were not authorized to appear before a court or to offer legal services to the public.

Every four years, elections become a particularly hot topic at a national level. Coinciding with the presidential election cycles, attention focuses on the magnitude of the obstacles faced by the underrepresented and disenfranchised during these important national elections. Yet, problems with elections at a national level are generally representative of wider and pervasive systemic legal issues throughout the United States at the state and local level. Pro bono lawyers are at the forefront of legal efforts during and in-between major national election cycles to cure legal flaws in the election system which threaten the accuracy, legitimacy, and fairness of the voting process.

It’s not every day you come across a corporate lawyer who devotes two business days a week entirely to pro bono work — all pertaining to the representation of children or indigent parents — for three different legal aid organizations.

On Friday, February 29, 2008, the legal department of Bank of America Corporation will receive the Pro Bono Institute’s 2008 Laurie D. Zelon Pro Bono Award during a reception at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C.  Timothy J. Mayopoulos, Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Bank of America Corporation, will accept the award on behalf of the legal department.  The award, given each year to an individual or organization that has provided exemplary pro bono service, will be presented in conjunction with the Institute’s 2008 Pro Bono Seminar and Forum on In-house Corporate Pro Bono – a global conference that brings together major law firms, corporate legal departments, and public interest and civil rights organizations to focus on joint efforts to enhance and improve pro bono service. 

In the September 2007 issue of InsideCounsel magazine, Brad Smith, Senior Vice President, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary of Microsoft Corporation, as well as a Co-Chair of the Corporate Pro Bono Advisory Board, wrote an editorial urging the in-house legal community to change the way they look at pro bono.