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.

The program was held for the third year at the Enterprise Center, a minority business development center located in the historic American Bandstand Building in West Philadelphia. It consisted of two sessions. The first session provided the in-house volunteers with training on the legal issues that small businesses may encounter, including general corporate, tax, real estate, employment, and intellectual property law. The second session provided an opportunity for the Philadelphia-area small businesses to consult with in-house volunteers on issues requiring resolution and to provide written information and recommendations on the best means to address those matters.

Expert attorneys from Dechert conducted the training session – for which volunteer participants received CLE credit. Counsel at Dechert also developed comprehensive and invaluable training materials that the volunteer attorneys will be able to rely on in consulting with small business organizations outside of the clinic, should they decide to continue this type of pro bono work independently.

For more information about the Clinic in a Box℠, please contact Eve Runyon, director of CPBO, at 202.729.6694 or at cpbo@acc.com, or visit www.cpbo.org.

Corporate Pro Bono (CPBO) is a national pro bono partnership project of the Association of Corporate Counsel and the Pro Bono Institute. Through online services, technical assistance to the in-house community, and educational outreach, CPBO encourages and supports the participation of in-house counsel in pro bono services.

Developed by Corporate Pro Bono
A global partnership project of the Pro Bono Institute and the Association of Corporate Counsel
www.cpbo.org