170 Percent Increase in Law Firm Pro Bono over Past Twelve Years

Each year, the Pro Bono Institute analyzes the pro bono statistics reported by the Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge^SM Signatories and produces a report detailing the aggregate amount of pro bono legal services provided by these firms. The Executive Summary, detailing the results of the 2007 Pro Bono Institute Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge^SM, has just been released, and it provides an impressive picture of the state of law firm pro bono. In 1995, the Pro Bono Institute announced that 135 of the nation's largest law firms had provided almost 1,600,000 hours of pro bono legal services. Twelve years later, 135 of the nation's largest law firms provided 4,285,684 hours of pro bono legal services – an increase of 170 percent!

As important as the number of hours provided by Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge^SMSignatories is the number of lawyers providing that pro bono service.

In 1995, 7,270 partners and 10,504 associates (a total of 17,774) participated in the provision of pro bono legal services. In 2007, 17,514 partners and 29,638 associates (a total of 46,798) participated – a substantial 163% increase in participation. The growth in headcount at the participating firms may account in part for the change in participation, but that factor does not wholly account for this substantial expansion.

Furthermore, the amount of pro bono service intended to directly benefit persons of limited means is increasing rapidly as well. Between 1995 and 2007, the number of hours of pro bono service provided to persons of limited means increased 161%, from 1,052,806 to 2,756,330.

Building on the success and impact of the Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge^SM, the Institute, through the Corporate Pro Bono Project, a joint initiative with the Association of Corporate Counsel, launched a Corporate Pro Bono Challenge^SMin 2006. For more information about the Corporate Challenge^SMor the Corporate Pro Bono Project, please visit the website at www.cpbo.org.

The definition of pro bono contained in the Pro Bono Institute's Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge^SMis now used by American Lawyer Media in its pro bono and A-list rankings. By assuring that major law firms have one uniform definition of pro bono, reporting of pro bono statistics has become easier and rankings of pro bono programs have become more standardized.

Pro Bono Institute President, Esther Lardent, Selected as Ashoka Senior Fellow

Esther Lardent, the President and CEO of the Pro Bono Institute, has been selected as a Senior Fellow by Ashoka. Founded in 1980, Ashoka is a worldwide association of social entrepreneurs – people with a vision to provide systemic responses to pressing social issues. Over the past twenty-seven years, Ashoka has selected over 1,800 leading social entrepreneurs to be Ashoka Fellows. Being selected as an Ashoka Fellow provides the opportunity to network with others who are developing unique and systemic programs for change as well as professional support. The rigorous selection process requires Fellows to possess: a big new idea, creativity, entrepreneurial quality, social impact of the idea, and ethical fiber. The "big new idea" is a sine qua non, a requirement "without which" the Fellow cannot be selected. Click here to read more details on this recognition of Esther Lardent's groundbreaking work.

2008 ACC Chapter Competiton

From March 3, 2008 - September 15, 2008, CPBO will sponsor the Corporate Pro Bono Challenge Competition. Open to all ACC Chapters, this Competition is designed to promote pro bono culture within legal departments, by encouraging Chief Legal Officers to sign the Corporate Pro Bono Challenge. The winner of the Competition, the Chapter able to recruit the most Corporate Pro Bono Challenge Signatories, will be announced at the 2008 ACC Annual Meeting in Seattle. Click here for more details.

Pro Bono Institute Initiates Nationwide Effort to Launch Innovative Pro Bono Models for Transitioning and Retired Lawyers. Click here for a copy of the press release containing further details.

Legal Department of the Bank of America Corporation Receives National Pro Bono Award. Click here for a copy of the press release containing further details.

Pro Bono Institute Welcomes Mytrang Nguyen as Chief Operating Officer. Click here for a copy of the press release containing further details.

Corporate Pro Bono (CPBO), a joint project of the Association of Corporate Counsel and the Pro Bono Institute, partners with Ohio public interest organizations, law firms, and Nationwide Insurance to conduct first "Clinic in a Box^SM" in the State of Ohio.. Click here for a copy of the press release containing further details.