On June 20, 2007, Bank of America Corporation’s Legal Department launched a pro bono initiative in New York, focusing on unmet local legal needs, and continuing company-wide pro bono efforts initiated in 2005. Showing support for the effort at the highest levels of the company’s legal leadership, Timothy J. Mayopoulos, Bank of America’s General Counsel, and Todd Baskin, Managing Director and Associate General Counsel and Chair of the New York Pro Bono Committee, spoke at the event, as did Pro Bono Institute President and CEO, Esther F. Lardent.  The New York initiative has also received support from Bank of America’s top management.

On June 12, 2007, representatives from corporate legal departments and law firms across Tennessee gathered at Music City Sheraton for the First Annual Corporate Counsel Pro Bono Initiative Reception and Dinner. Sponsored by the Tennessee Bar Association and the Association of Corporate Counsel, the event was designed to raise awareness and money and to demonstrate corporate counsel support for the access to justice community.

As in years past, the Corporate Pro Bono Roundtable and Networking Dinner was one of the most valuable sessions at the 2007 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.

The Legal Department of Citigroup Inc. received the Pro Bono Institute’s 2007 Laurie D. Zelon Pro Bono Award during a well-attended reception at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, DC. Michael S. Helfer, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of Citigroup Inc. accepted 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, was presented in conjunction with the Institute’s 2007 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.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Corporate Pro Bono (CPBO), a joint partnership of the Pro Bono Institute and the Association of Corporate Counsel, is pleased to announce that Bradford L. Smith, Senior Vice President, General Counsel, Corporate Secretary, Legal & Corporate Affairs, Microsoft Corporation, will join the CPBO Advisory Board, effective March 3, 2007. Mr. Smith will co-chair the Advisory Board with Laura Stein, Senior Vice President and General Counsel of the Clorox Company.

Thomas A. Gottschalk, for six years the Executive Vice President, Law and Public Policy of General Motors and formerly a partner at Kirkland & Ellis LLP, received the Pro Bono Institute’s 2007 Chesterfield Smith Award. The award, which was presented on March 2 at a ceremony at the National Museum of Women in the Arts, recognizes extraordinary courage and commitment to pro bono by a legal leader. It is not given annually; rather, only when warranted by outstanding achievement.

As those who attended can attest, this year’s Seminar/Forum was an incredible experience. Participants in the sessions were brimming with ideas, and the event was alive with energy. As the largest gathering in PBI’s history, it was also a bit too crowded, but the caliber of the discussions and the quality of the participants made the space squeeze worth it.

Washington, DC—ACC was heartened to see Deputy Defense Secretary Charles “Cully” Stimson apologize for his statement that he believes corporations should take action against large law firms engaged in providing pro bono legal representation to detainees at Guantanamo. Corporate legal departments strongly support pro bono legal services offered by their legal staff and the law firms they retain. It is not only a professional responsibility of the bar, but ensures meaningful access to our justice system for all.