Organizations other than the AALS Involved in Pro Bono Efforts

Public Service Law Network Worldwide
Public Service Law Network Worldwide (PSLawNet) is a global network of some 120 law schools and nearly 10,000 law-related public service organizations working to foster law student community service and to encourage future lawyers to incorporate public service into their careers. To accomplish this goal, PSLawNet focuses its efforts on two core groups-law students and law schools. PSLawNet maintains an internet-based database listing current positions at the nearly 10,000 organizations so that law students and law graduates across the country can easily find pro bono legal opportunities, summer internships, and post-graduate job and fellowship opportunities in the public service sector. PSLawNet also provides resources and expertise to assist law schools in the law school's efforts to encourage pro bono public service work. This assistance includes an annual workshop, a national newsletter, and training sessions for pro bono administrators. PSLawNet also provides schools with sample publicity materials, forms, and fundraising support. Finally, PSLawNet provides assistance to public interest organizations that are working to develop programs for law student volunteers. For members of the PSLaw Network, its staff is available to visit your school and provide nuts and bolds advice on how to provide better services to law students in the areas of pro bono and public interest career counseling. The PS LawNet Global Center, located at New York University School of Law, can be reached at 212-998-6222 and through their website at http://www.pslawnet.org.

The National Association for Law Placement
The National Association for Law Placement (NALP), a non-profit educational organization comprised of ABA-accredited law schools and over 700 legal employers, supports and promotes pro bono activities for both law students and graduates. At many law schools, pro bono activities are administered by professionals in the career services office. To ensure that NALP members are equipped to handle these responsibilities, the association offers educational programming and informational resources on ways to encourage pro bono work and coordinate pro bono initiatives. NALP also helps students become aware of the pro bono opportunities that may be available to them as practicing attorneys through their employers, by urging employers to discuss their pro bono initiatives on the most highly utilized consumer-information resource throughout the law school on-campus recruiting process-the NALP Employment Hiring Form. Over 1,200 employers submit a form directly to NALP for publication in NALP's Directory of Legal Employers, available to all law students in hard copy, on CD-Rom and through Lexis(r). The telephone number for NALP is 202-667-1666 or http://www.nalp.org.

National Association for Public Interest Law
The National Association for Public Interest Law (NAPIL) is a national coalition of 146 student groups at more than 80 percent of all ABA-approved law schools dedicated to training and developing the next generation of lawyers to provide legal assistance for low-income and other underserved people and communities. Each NAPIL student member group has its own distinct name, such as Public Interest Law Foundation (PILF), Equal Justice Foundation (EJF), or Student Funded Fellowships (SFF). In the past year, NAPIL programs have deployed more than 1,600 law students and lawyers nationwide to work for traditionally underserved communities and other Americans increasingly in need of legal assistance. With matching funds provided by the Open Society Institute, NAPIL runs the largest post-graduate fellowship program in the country, with 86 lawyers in the field, and coordinates the National Service Legal Corps, an AmeriCorps national service initiative with 55 full-time and 100 summer participants. NAPIL's telephone number is 202-466-3686; its e-mail address is napil@napil.org or http://www.napil.org.

ABA Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service
Since its creation in 1973, the Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service has led the ABA's efforts to promote pro bono work within all segments of the legal community. The Pro Bono Committee seeks to encourage, activate, expand and improve pro bono activities and programs through policy, programmatic and support initiatives. The committee works with state and local bar associations, law firms, corporate counsel, the judiciary, law schools, government attorneys, and diversity and specialty bar associations in developing model programs and policies to assist them in the implementation of pro bono initiatives.
The Committee's Center for Pro Bono provides on-site consulting and a wide range of publications, materials and other technical assistance on how to develop and run an effective pro bono project. For a more intensive evaluation of a school's Pro Bono program, a peer review visit can be arranged. During these visits, a team of "pro bono experts" reviews all components of a school and of its surrounding community that impact pro bono issues for the school. ABA Peer Review visits require 2-3 days of meetings. Recommendations for improving pro bono programming (which are completely unrelated to accreditation) are made to the school. The Pro Bono Committee sponsors a national pro bono conference each year that regularly includes programming on the role of law schools in teaching about and providing opportunities for pro bono service. Additional information about the work of the Pro Bono Committee can be obtained by writing scudders@staff.abanet.org, or by calling 312-988-5768. Information about the work of the Center for Pro Bono can be obtained from Greg McConnell, Director, at 312-988-5775, mcconneg@staff.abanet.org or Dina Merrell, Assistant Staff Counsel, 312-988-5773, merrelld@staff.abanet.org. Please visit the website at: http://www.abanet.org/legalservices/probono.html. For a look at the law school pro bono brochure, please visit:http://www.abanet.org/legalservices/path.pdf.

Pro Bono Institute
The Pro Bono Institute provides strategic advice, training and technical assistance for programs that address legal problems for the poor through community economic development, legislative advocacy and litigation. The Institute is supported by a grant from the Ford Foundation and seeks to work directly with large law firms in assisting with specific cases and matters, while developing long-term relations with these firms. The Pro Bono Institute also seeks to encourage mandatory pro bono in law firms to keep up with the increasing demands for legal services and resources for the disadvantaged. For more detailed information, please visit http://www.probonoinst.org or contact the Institute's president, Esther Lardent at elardent@probonoinst.org.

ProBono.Net
ProBono.Net uses information technology to increase the amount and quality of legal services to low-income communities and individuals. Public interest lawyers are invited to join the online community that ProBono.net has created to talk advantage of the powers of information and communication technologies. For more detailed information, please visit http://www.probono.net or contact Michael Hertz at 212.548.0600 ext. 1409 or info@probono.net.