News

Pro Bono 2012 - The Legal Intelligencer

The Legal Intelligencer published its annual Pro Bono Supplement on March 27, 2012.

This year's Pro Bono issue features the following stories:
 

Developing Advocacy Skills Through Pro Bono Work

As its Latin translation suggests, pro bono publico work is for the public good and can provide immensely rewarding professional experiences for attorneys. The benefits of pro bono work are many, including, perhaps most significantly, the opportunity to make a meaningful difference in a client's life and positively influence the legal system. Indeed, Rule 6.1 of the Pennsylvania Rules of Professional Conduct calls for every lawyer to "render public interest legal service," including by "providing professional services at no fee or a reduced fee to persons of limited means." Full Text
 

Building an Effective Immigration Pro Bono Practice

The roster of countries and social issues covered by the asylum cases handled by Morgan Lewis' Philadelphia office over the past several years reads like the international section of a newspaper: Iraqi translator facing retribution for assisting U.S. forces; Indian man beaten for suspicion of homosexual tendencies; husband and wife from western Africa tortured in prison and subjected to female genital mutilation, respectively. Full Text
 

Reviving the Race: Pro Bono Work Helped Bring a Marathon Back to Life

While Rothman Gordon has frequently provided pro bono legal assistance to nonprofit start-ups, our experience has been that the start-up begins slowly and the amount of work can be easily anticipated and performed. That was true until Rothman Gordon became the pro bono legal advisor for one of the fastest-growing marathons in the country. Full Text
 

Helping Right a Wrong to the Nation's War Veterans

Abraham Lincoln, in his second inaugural address, said that our nation will always endeavor to "care for him who shall have borne the battle." Ever since, Americans have sought to ensure that veterans injured in combat are properly cared for upon return to civilian life. This article describes one way that contemporary lawyers can help - and are helping - to make Lincoln's pledge a reality. Full Text
 

Partnering With Law Students to Serve the Community

The seeds of good pro bono work can be planted early. This is the premise that Dechert affirmed when it created two pro bono partnerships with the University of Pennsylvania Law School. These partnerships pair law students and lawyers in an effort to assist indigent clients who cannot afford to represent themselves. The programs have proven successful, creating an innovative approach to the expansion of legal services while at the same time teaching law students important real-world legal skills that will prepare them to be effective counselors and advocates. Full Text
 

Working Together to Serve Senior Citizens in Pa.

It has been said that if you want to be incrementally better, be competitive, but if you want to be exponentially better, be cooperative. The justice gap is so wide, and the need for pro bono services so large, that we must find ways to be more effective, to collaborate and to be exponentially better. Full Text
 

2012 Unsung Heroes

The Legal Intelligencer recognizes the hard work being done across Pennsylvania by attorneys dedicated to helping their communities through pro bono representation. However, these efforts are too often unnoticed and underappreciated. In an effort to bring some attention to these attorneys and honor them for the pro bono service they have given over the past two years, The Legal reached out to law firms, public interest organizations and bar associations across the commonwealth and asked them to tell us about these "unsung heroes." Full Text
 

Read the Full Digital Edition of Pro Bono 2012

Topics:
  • Veterans/Military
  • Other
  • Immigration
  • Senior Citizens