Spotlight on pro bono

The recently expanded Pro Bono Initiative (PBI) works with law firms and corporations, legal aid and public interest law organizations, law students and the organized bar.

Its mission is to increase the availability of pro bono legal services throughout the state for low-income and under-represented individuals who lack access to the justice system.

The initiative promotes best practices for pro bono work, helps ensure effective communication about available pro bono opportunities, and acts as a clearinghouse and resource for pro bono issues. A steering committee guides the project.

PBI helps facilitate the development and sharing of pro bono best practices and policies by law firms, corporations and law students through a variety of educational outreach efforts.

PBI establishes consulting teams to work with the firm or corporation on expanding internal pro bono programs. To supplement the consulting teams, it maintains a comprehensive manual of sample pro bono policies, procedures and resources.

It convenes volunteer coordinators to facilitate coordination and sharing of best practices, and helps the organizations to communicate available pro bono opportunities effectively through IllinoisProBono.org, bar publications and other media.

In its monthly e-newsletter, PBI publicizes pro bono success stories and other relevant information. It also develops targeted pro bono outreach for particular segments of the legal community, such as transactional lawyers, law students and retired lawyers.

Each year, information is gathered from Chicago law firms about pro bono opportunities for summer associates, and complies this information in a directory that is distributed to law schools throughout the nation.

Working with various stakeholders, PBI will work to identify gaps and systemic barriers in the pro bono delivery system and address those issues while coordinating with other access to justice initiatives at the local, state and national level.

As Tejal Vakharia and Sujata Dayal, attorneys at Abbott Laboratories, recently noted, “the Chicago Legal Community is fortunate to have a project like PBI to play such a vital role in promoting justice and providing legal services for the under-represented. Without PBI, Abbott would not have a pro bono program and we would have been lost.”

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