Search our archives on in-house pro bono news.

Two New Corporate Pro Bono Challenge℠ Signatories

April 23, 2010

We are pleased to announce the latest additions to the Corporate Pro Bono Challenge℠: International Paper Company and Marathon Oil Company.  The legal departments of these companies have become the latest corporate legal departments to sign onto the CPBO Challenge℠, developed by Corporate Pro Bono, a global partnership project of the Association of Corporate Counsel and the Pro Bono Institute.

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Seminar/Forum Newsmakers

April 23, 2010

The 2010 Annual Seminar/Forum on In-House Pro Bono drew significant media coverage this year, due largely to remarks brought by Attorney General Eric Holder.  While the media are not permitted to attend substantive sessions to avoid chilling candor and discussion, the Seminar/Forum was a highly covered event due to moving and provocative comments by Holder who addressed attendees at the event’s Pro Bono Expo Luncheon and received the Institute’s Chesterfield Smith Award.  Holder has been under fire recently by Keep America Safe, click here for more info, for hiring seven attorneys who undertook pro bono work defending Guantanamo detainees.  Holder used his appearance at the conference to discuss publicly for the first time the importance of the work of these attorneys. 

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PBI Defends Controversial Pro Bono Representation

April 23, 2010

Attorney General Eric Holder’s stirring remarks at the 2010 Annual Seminar/Forum on In-House Pro Bono on the importance of pro bono for unpopular clients and causes generated a host of media attention, including a disturbing analysis of pro bono by Andrew McCarthy, an attorney and columnist for the National Review Online. PBI President Esther Lardent responded to McCarthy’s factually and legally incorrect position in a letter to the editor of the National Review.

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Verizon Ethics Program

March 3, 2010

As part of the recent launch of its pro bono program, the legal department at Verizon Communications Inc., a Signatory to the Corporate Pro Bono Challenge℠, hosted a department-wide legal ethics program for its lawyers and staff on January 14, 2010.

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Gap Legal Department Serves Foundation Grantees

February 19, 2010

As part of its growing commitment to pro bono service, the legal department at The Gap, Inc., in partnership with The Gap Foundation, Corporate Pro Bono, and Morrison & Foerster LLP (a Signatory to the Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge®), hosted a CPBO Clinic in a Box℠ program on February 1, 2010.  Thirty-six members of The Gap legal department, both lawyers and support staff, provided assistance to a number of California based nonprofit organizations supported by The Gap Foundation.

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Viacom Legal Department Assists Nonprofits

February 19, 2010

On January 26, 2010, the legal department at Viacom Inc. hosted a Clinic in a Box℠ program, in partnership with Corporate Pro Bono (CPBO), New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, and Shearman & Sterling LLP (a Signatory to the Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge®), and provided invaluable legal assistance to nonprofit organizations in need.  Twenty-one volunteers from Viacom’s legal department and 13 lawyers from Shearman & Sterling served 11 New York based nonprofit organizations, addressing matters of employment, tax, real estate, corporate governance, intellectual property, and other legal issues nonprofit organizations often face. 

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ACC Chapters Host In-House Pro Bono Events

December 23, 2009

Corporate Pro Bono (CPBO) participated in several Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) Chapter pro bono events over the last few months.  On October 29, 2009, the Charlotte ACC Chapter held a Pro Bono Forum.  The Pro Bono Forum was an informative gathering designed to highlight opportunities available to in-house counsel to provide pro bono legal services.  The event addressed several issues faced by in-house counsel, including state licensure questions and professional liability insurance concerns.  In addition to CPBO, Street Law, Private Attorney Involvement/Legal Aid of North Carolina, and Mecklenburg County Bar Volunteer Lawyer Program participated.  More than 20 ACC members attended.

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Corporate Pro Bono at the 2009 Association of Corporate Counsel Annual Meeting in Boston

December 3, 2009

On October 19, 2009, Corporate Pro Bono (CPBO), a national partnership project of the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) and the Pro Bono Institute, hosted its 12th annual Onsite Pro Bono Clinic in conjunction with the 2009 ACC Annual Meeting in Boston. The clinic was co-sponsored by CPBO, the Northeast Chapter of the Association of Corporate Counsel, the Boston Foundation, and Foley Hoag LLP and attracted 29 attorneys from several legal departments, serving ten Boston area nonprofit organizations.

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Bay Area Onsite Pro Bono Clinic Serves Local Nonprofits

December 3, 2009

On June 26, 2009, Corporate Pro Bono (CPBO), a national partnership project of the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) and the Pro Bono Institute, the Bay Area Chapter of ACC, the Volunteer Legal Services Program of the Bar Association of San Francisco (VLSP), and Fenwick & West LLP hosted the Bay Area Onsite Pro Bono Clinic.  The clinic implemented the off-the-shelf clinic model developed by CPBO – Clinic in a BoxSM – and attracted 54 volunteers from corporate legal departments throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, including the Hewlett-Packard Company, The Clorox Company, Sun Microsystems, Inc., United Health Care, and Altera Corporation. 

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