ABA Says More Lawyers Doing Pro Bono

The ABA Journal reports that the number of lawyers doing pro bono and the number of pro bono hours per lawyer have increased according to a study by the ABA Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service, which was released at the ABA Midyear Meeting today. According to the study:

• 73% of lawyers surveyed provided pro bono representation to low-income individuals or organizations representing them (up from 66% in a 2005);
• Lawyers provided, on average, 41 hours of pro bono work in 2008 (up from 39 hours in 2005); and
• 81% of lawyers in private practice, 43% of corporate counsel and 30% of government lawyers did pro bono work in 2008.

The full article is available here. For attorneys looking for pro bono opportunities, check out the National Pro Bono Opportunities Guide, an online directory developed by the ABA Center for Pro Bono and Pro Bono Net.  -M

ABA President Urges Nation’s Lawyers to Support Jan. 19 Day of Service

American Bar Association President H. Thomas Wells Jr. is urging lawyers to respond to President-Elect Barack Obama’s call for a national day of service on Jan. 19 (Martin Luther King Jr. Day) by committing to increased pro bono service:

While lawyers can take pride in the pro bono and community service work they do, the need is greater than ever before.  We need to commit ourselves to improving our neighborhoods, our cities, our towns and our country – on January 19, throughout the rest of 2009 – and beyond.

To find organizations with pro bono opportunities by state and area of law, visit the National Pro Bono Opportunities Guide, a joint project of the ABA Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service, its project, the ABA Center for Pro Bono, and Pro Bono Net. -M

ABA Center for Pro Bono Announces Medical Legal Partnerships Pro Bono Support Project

The American Bar Association Center for Pro Bono just launched a new Medical Legal Partnerships Pro Bono Support Project, which is an ABA-based national medical-legal pro bono support initiative.  The Project will “expand the current landscape of medical-legal partnerships by increasing the targeted patient populations, and it will provide support to existing medical-legal partnerships by developing a national support center.” To learn more about this project, visit the Project website here. -M

Four Groups Create Online Resource to Provide Information for Disaster Victims

“A new Web site launched by four national legal organizations will help victims of disasters find valuable information and assistance to speed recovery from hurricanes, fires, floods or other disasters. The site is sponsored by the American Bar Association, Legal Services Corporation, National Legal Aid & Defender Association and Pro Bono Net.”

You can read the full press release here and visit the new site here. -M

Two Conversations You Are Missing Out On

Last week, it’s likely that you overlooked two interesting conversations that happened on the Internet. They weren’t publicized and they were pretty spontaneous, but both point to the potential value of blogging for our community.

• Ken Montenegro started a conversation about cloud computing and what software people use to keep their data accessible on his LSNTAP blog.
• Mike Monahan started an impromptu conversation about access to justice and pro bono in rural areas on Twitter. Both he and Liz Keith had some great insights.

The good news: because these conversations are online and asynchronous, you haven’t missed them. You can still react and share your thoughts. – K

Opportunities to Provide Legal Help to Veterans

In recognition of Veterans Day, we wanted to highlight opportunities for attorneys to get involved in assisting veterans and military personnel with their legal needs. Below are four projects that do just that. By providing opportunities and resources for lawyers to offer pro bono legal services, ranging from protecting veterans benefits to providing general civil legal assistance to active-duty military personnel, these projects help to ensure that those who serve our country are not left without legal representation on issues that fundamentally impact their livelihoods.

ABA Military Pro Bono Project – The American Bar Association’s Military Pro Bono Project connects active-duty military personnel to free legal assistance for civil legal issues beyond the scope of services provided by a military legal assistance office.

National Veterans Legal Services Program – NVLSP is an independent, nonprofit, veterans service organization dedicated to ensuring that the U.S. government honors its commitment to our veterans by providing them the federal benefits they have earned through their service to our country. NVLSP recently launched Lawyers Serving Warriors, which provides free legal representation in disability, discharge and veterans benefits cases to service members and veterans who served in Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) or Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF).

The Veterans Consortium Pro Bono Program – The Veterans Consortium was created by a grant from the Legal Services Corporation (LSC) as authorized by the U.S. Congress. It is an ongoing cooperative effort by four national veterans service organizations – The American Legion, the Disabled American Veterans, the National Veterans Legal Services Program and the Paralyzed Veterans of America.

Project SALUTE – Project SALUTE provides free assistance and/or representation to thousands of low-income veterans exclusively on federal benefits issues throughout the United States. -M

Free Online Legal Help Now Available for Hurricane Ike Victims

Texas legal aid organizations and the Houston Bar Association are using LiveHelp to assist Texans affected by Hurricane Ike in obtaining free legal information:

“The new service … is available now and enables Hurricane Ike victims to conduct a live online chat with attorneys recruited by the Houston Volunteer Lawyers Program. Attorneys will answer questions and also refer those seeking help to legal resources specific to FEMA appeals and other disaster-related issues.”

Funding for this project was provided by the Texas Access to Justice Foundation. The LiveHelp project was funded by the Legal Services Corporation and developed by Pro Bono Net. For more information about this project, read the full press release here. For more information about LiveHelp, contact Liz Keith (lkeith at probono.net). -M

Foreclosures, the Economy, and the Community’s Response

Unless you’ve been holed up for the past several months, you’ve heard that the health of the economy has taken a turn for the worse. It’s a complicated situation that This American Life has done a great job of explaining in a couple of segments: The Giant Pool of Money, which we previously mentioned, and Another Frightening Show About the Economy.

For low-income households, this has made a bad situation worse. Renters are being evicted as their landlord’s properties are foreclosed on, homeowners are falling prey to foreclosure scams, and tent cities are growing as the rate of homelessness increases.

Even while facing their own financial challenges (news about Indiana, Minnesota, and New Jersey), the legal aid and pro bono communities are stepping up to provide additional assistance. Nationally, several pro bono programs are organizing foreclosure projects. In Minnesota, ProJusticeMN.org launched a website specifically for these advocates that includes sample court documents, statutes, and practice aids. (See their e-newsletter story about the project.) Additionally, programs are making more legal information available online. For example, Illinois Legal Aid Online has created several foreclosure videos, including Mortgage Foreclosure Overview, Texas RioGrande Legal Aid has an attorney who is blogging about foreclosure issues at ForeclosureBuzz.org, and in California, ForeclosureInfoCA.org provides legal information on foreclosure for the public. And these are not the only efforts. For a complete list of activities, check out the list on LSNTAP.org. – K