Metropolitan Corporate Counsel
by Joe Calve
September 28, 2015
“Here’s the good news: Great things are happening today in pro bono. That’s especially true when it comes to corporate pro bono. In-house participation, in the form of unpaid legal services to meet unmet legal needs, is surging. Alas, so is demand. That’s the bad news.
“More and more corporate law departments are heading down the trail blazed, some 35 years ago, by Aetna under the leadership of retired executive vice president and general counsel Stephen B. Middlebrook, the visionary behind the oldest corporate pro bono program in America. Aetna has been there, pushing and tugging, from the beginning.
“Since 2000, so has Corporate Pro Bono. CPBO is the handiwork of another visionary, Esther Lardent, the founder of the Washington, D.C.-based Pro Bono Institute (PBI). Dubbed the ‘Queen of Pro Bono,’ Lardent’s brainchild, the Pro Bono Challenge, may be responsible for more unbillable hours than all the AFAs of the Am Law 100 combined.
“When she launched PBI, Lardent’s none-too-modest goal was to weave pro bono into the very cultural fabric of Big Law. That she has managed to do just that speaks volume about the impact one non-practicing lawyer with a vision and a passion to serve can have on the profession. To date, some 150 firms have signed the Pro Bono Challenge, pledging to devote significant time to those in need. That added up to more than 4 million total hours of pro bono last year alone.
“Urged on by corporate legal chiefs, a few years later Lardent forged a partnership between the Association of Corporate Counsel and her Pro Bono Institute to launch a new organization devoted to promoting and supporting in-house pro bono. That’s CPBO. Since its launch, in-house lawyers have climbed aboard the pro bono bandwagon in droves as some 145 GCs pledged their best efforts to ensure at least half their lawyers would do pro bono work.
“Former Arnold & Porter managing partner James J. Sandman, who now serves as president of the Legal Services Corporation, credits Lardent with having the clout to get clients involved in pro bono, and the savvy to know their involvement would draw even more outside counsel into the fold.
“‘It’s a brilliant model,’ he says. ‘And it took Esther to pull it off.’
“Eve Runyon, CPBO’s director, echoes the sentiment. ‘Since then, interest in in-house pro bono has flourished, and, with CPBO’s assistance, legal departments have found solutions to many of the challenges to in-house pro bono,’ she says. ‘Now, hundreds of legal departments of all sizes and many ACC chapters are engaged in pro bono, with more and more launching pro bono programs.’
“It’s an impressive tale, and an important one. The stats are stark. Since the Great Recession, need has exploded even as the congressional fist has tightened. Yes, many are fighting the good fight and, in plenty of cases, making progress, but the hill is steep.”