On November 13, 2008, a large and energized group of law firm, corporate legal department, and public interest leaders attended the fourth Annual Pro Bono Institute Gala. The rousing event, celebrating the extraordinary impact of pro bono in the law firm and corporate communities, was held at The Plaza in New York City.  The event’s dinner program, the elegance and beauty of the venue, and the collegial atmosphere left attendees feeling inspired and empowered by the end of the evening.  Additional coverage of the program, including remarks and photographs, will be published in the next issue of the Wire.

Ten years after the launch of the Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge®, Corporate Pro Bono, a national partnership project of the Association of Corporate Counsel and the Pro Bono Institute®, launched the Corporate Pro Bono ChallengeSM, providing legal departments an opportunity to communicate and benchmark their commitment to pro bono legal service. The media attention and response to the Corporate Challenge and the pro bono services provided by Corporate Challenge Signatories has been outstanding, as pro bono in the corporate community continues to grow and companies address the challenges of structuring successful pro bono programs within their legal departments. An engaging article from the September 2008 issue of GC Mid-Atlantic profiles the increase in corporate pro bono and provides practical suggestions for legal departments seeking to develop or grow a pro bono program.

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.

In-house pro bono efforts were a key theme of the 2008 Association of Corporate Counsel Annual Meeting held in Seattle from October 19-22.

Inspired by Professor Marc Galanter’s groundbreaking study of upcoming demographic changes in the legal profession, the Pro Bono Institute (PBI) in Washington, D.C., launched Second Acts® – i.e., second acts in the lives of lawyers approaching retirement age – an ambitious initiative designed to support transitioning and retired lawyers who are interested in a second, volunteer career in public interest law. Grounded in PBI’s own rigorous research on the viability of a new model of transition and retirement in the legal profession (available upon request), PBI is working with major law firms, corporate legal departments, and public interest organizations to develop a new paradigm of legal retirement that will reduce the widening access to justice gap. Among the support offered, PBI is providing technical assistance to law firms, a growing number of whom are structuring programs to support the desire of their more experienced lawyers to expand their role in pro bono practice.

This year’s historic elections have generated an excitement about and interest in voting and produced record voter turnout across the country. The increased interest in voting demonstrated in this year’s primaries is exciting to anyone with a passion for civics, but it also clearly delineated the strains of the United States’ overburdened election systems. With an increase in voter interest and registration, the risk of wrongful disenfranchisement also increases. A prominent civil rights organization has initiated election protection efforts that provide a timely, unique, and civic pro bono opportunity.

During the 2008 American Bar Association Annual Meeting in New York, the ABA adopted Model Rule 112A, concerning Registration of In-House Counsel.  This resolution, although a small step for the world of pro bono in general, made huge strides for the in-house legal community’s ability to perform pro bono legal services.

Please welcome the newest Corporate Pro Bono Challenge℠ Signatory: Allstate Insurance Company. The legal department of this company has become the latest corporate legal department to sign onto the Corporate Challenge℠, developed by Corporate Pro Bono (CPBO), a joint initiative of the Association of Corporate Counsel and the Pro Bono Institute.  Congratulations to Michele Coleman Mayes, Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Allstate Insurance Company, for making this commitment to pro bono a matter of record by signing the Corporate Pro Bono Challenge℠.

LexisNexis, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. and a Corporate Pro Bono ChallengeSM Signatory, has released a Corporate Responsibility Report, highlighting the community service and legal pro bono work that Lexis employees participated in during 2007, and outlining objectives for 2008.

The impact of Corporate Pro Bono (CPBO), a partnership of the Association of Corporate Counsel and the Pro Bono Institute, has accelerated in recent months, with several new companies signing on to the Corporate Pro Bono ChallengeSM, developed by CPBO.  The Corporate Pro Bono ChallengeSM is designed to empower corporate legal departments to identify, benchmark, and communicate their commitment to pro bono service.