Celebration of Pro Bono webinar (7/11)

The National Celebration of Pro Bono 2011

Planning Webinar

July 28, 2011

Panelists

Linda KostinPro Bono CoordinatorVolunteer Legal Services Project, Inc.Rochester, New York

Linda L. Lund, DirectorVolunteer Lawyers ProgramAlabama State BarMontgomery, AL  

Sara Woods, Esq.Executive DirectorPhiladelphia VIPPhiladelphia, PA 

Jodi Schatz

Director of Intake and Pro Bono Services

Support Center for Child Advocates

Philadelphia, PA

Cheryl M. Zalenski

Director, Center for Pro Bono

American Bar Association

Chicago, IL

Sharon BrowningJUST ListeningPhiladelphia, PA USA

ConsultantNational Celebration of Pro Bono WeekAmerican Bar Association Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service

Outline of Webinar• 1. Introduction to the Webinar: Cheryl Zalenski

• 2. Introduction to the Panel and the Celebration: Sharon Browning

• 3. Organizing a State: Linda Lund

• 4. Organizing a City: Sara Woods and Jodi Schatz

• 5.Organizing One or More Events: Linda Kostin

• 6. Summary: Ten Lessons Learned: Sharon Browning

• 7. Q and A.: Moderated by Cheryl Zalenski

Planning and Resources for a Statewide Pro Bono Week

Celebration

Linda L. Lund, DirectorAlabama State Bar

Volunteer Lawyers Program

Setting A Goal

• Who gets to set the goal – In Alabama the first year the main goal was set by our

Bar President and in each year since it has been set by the Task Force Chair

● An event in every judicial circuit in Alabama● Double the number of legal clinics

Defining the goal– Our Task Force Chair in discussions with the VLP

defined the goal. - Our events would center around• Education of the bar and the public• Recognition of pro bono work currently being preformed• Promote pro bono Service

Naming Your Committee

• Consider Geographic Diversity

• Institutional Diversity – (State Bar, Law Schools, Local bar, Section

members)

Benefits of Pro Bono Week

• Why add Pro Bono Week to your to do list?– Focused attention on pro bono work more

then anything we have done in the past– Involved new groups– Developed new leaders– More people have been served

Celebration in a Box

• Can be found on the Pro Bono Celebration Website under resources http://www.probono.net/celebrateprobono/resources/

• Designed to make it as easy as possible to plan and hold an event

• Each year we add new items developed the year before

Celebration in a Box

Celebration in a BoxTable of Contents

• Clinic Folder• Wills For Heroes Subfolder• Clinic Timeline• Sample Letters • Clinic Forms• Sample News Release• Counsel and Advice Subfolder• Clinic Timeline• Sample Advice Clinic Flyer & Poster • Sample Press Release• CLE Folder• CLE Instructions• CLE Presentation Notes• CLE Power Point• CLE Sign In Sheet• Community Legal Education Folder• Family law Community Education Materials

Subfolder• Table of Contents• FTC Kit – Protect you Identity Day (Separate CD

and materials)

• Getting Started• Quick and Easy Ideas• Proclamation Folder• Proclamation Instructions• City Proclamation Form• County Proclamation Form• Pro Bono Participation By County Spreadsheet• Sample Email to Mayor Requesting Proclamation• Sample Letter to Mayor Requesting Proclamation• Sample Press Release for Proclamation 1• Civic Speeches Folder• Project Overview• Sample Speech – Civil Indigent Representation• Handouts• Speech Material• Letters to the Editor Folder• Sample Letter to the Editor 1• Sample Letter to the Editor 2• Recruitment Folder• Recruitment Activities• Enrollment Form• Tips For a Successful Phone-a-thon• Table Tents

Celebration in a Box

• Proclamation Folder• Proclamation Instructions• City Proclamation Form• County Proclamation Form• Pro Bono Participation By

County Spreadsheet• Sample Email to Mayor

Requesting Proclamation• Sample Letter to Mayor

Requesting Proclamation• Sample Press Release for

Proclamation 1• Sample Press Release for

Proclamation 2

Celebration in a Box

• What we do with the materials– Present them to the Board of Bar

Commissioners– Send them to all local bar presidents– Place them on the Alabama State Bar website

– www.alabar.org

Organizing a City

Sara Woods, Esq.Executive DirectorPhiladelphia VIPPhiladelphia, PA

and

Jodi SchatzPro Bono Coordinator & Intake Attorney Support Center for

Child Advocates Philadelphia, PA

Organizing a City

Tips & Strategies for cooperative planning with multiple organizations, collaborations and partnerships

Jodi Schatz & Sara WoodsCo-Chairs, National Pro Bono

Week Celebration in Philadelphia

Task a committee of dedicated folks to plan the week.

The Pro Bono Subcommittee of the Philadelphia Bar Association was the natural choice to plan NPBW. The group includes members from the area law schools, legal services

agencies, and law firms.

Involve and seek input from key stakeholders.

Once the committee agreed to plan the week, we asked for input from key stakeholders.

The input provided helped us plan a week that had “buy in” and attracted a variety of constituencies.

Decide on goals for the week and plan events that accomplish those goals.

Based on the input from key stakeholders, we planned a series of events to highlight the terrific pro bono work already happening in Philadelphia, and a series of trainings and service events to involve new volunteers.

Set calendar of events early on.

We set our schedule of events nine months in advance.

As a result, there were few conflicting events during that week, and our events received great publicity.

Date/Time Event Location Description/RSVP

October 18-22 Pro Bono Road Shows Area Law Firms Presentations by public interest agencies about their pro bono programs. To

schedule, email Jodi Schatz, [email protected]

October 22 YLD Panel Discussion Philadelphia Bar Association Register online

12 Noon 1101 Market Street, 11th Floor at: http://www.philadelphiabar.org/page/EventDetails?appNum=4&eventID=YLD1022

October 26 How to Handle A PBI CLE Conference Center Pro bono training program

8:30a-4:30p Child Abuse Case CLE program Wanamaker Building presented by the Support 5 Sub/1Ethics CLE Credits 10th Floor, Ste. 1010 Center for Child Advocates.

Register with PBI at

1-800-247-4724

October 26 Homeless Advocacy Project (HAP) Kirkbride/Travelers Aid Register with HAP at 215-10:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m. Legal Clinic 111 N. 49th Street 523-9587 or [email protected]

October 27 VIP Pro Bono Opportunities Day: PBI CLE Conference Center Pro bono training program

8:00a–12:30p Spotlight on Stabilizing Families Wanamaker Building presented by Philadelphia 10th Floor, Ste. 1010 VIP. Register with VIP at 215-523-9550 or

[email protected]

For more information, go to www.phillyvip.org

October 29 Homeless Advocacy Project (HAP) St. John’s Hospice Register with HAP at

1:45p-3:00p Legal Clinic 1221 Race Street 215-523-9587 or [email protected]

Sponsored by the Philadelphia Bar Association’s Delivery of Legal Services Committee,

Law School Outreach Committee and Law Firm Pro Bono Committee

Highlight the judiciary.

Since we knew that having judicial involvement would help with turnout, we invited judges to every event.

We highlighted their involvement in our advertising and gave them a prominent role at events.

Provide varied options for pro bono service.

We opted to include both hands on service events (legal clinics) with training programs for future service.

This ensured that volunteers who wanted to provide service that week could do so, but also recruited volunteers for the long-term.

Tell people about it.

Early on we involved the communications department of the Philadelphia Bar Association to help get the word out about the week.

With their help, we came up with a strategic communications plan to generate excitement prior to the week, to publicize events during the week, and to highlight the successes after the week.

PHILADELPHIA EVENTS NATIONAL PRO BONO CELEBRATION WEEK

To celebrate National Pro Bono Week in Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Bar Association’s Delivery of Legal Services Committee is pleased to offer interactive “Road Shows” about the pro bono opportunities available in Philadelphia.

All law firms and corporations are invited to participate. Selected public interest legal services agencies will present a 30 minute workshop about how to get involved in pro bono activities that can help our community and help your career.

Who: Law firms and corporations located in Center City, Philadelphia

What: 30 minute “Road Shows” featuring pro bono opportunities in Philadelphia

Where: At your offices

When: Road Shows are available at 8:30am and Noon Monday through Friday, October 18 through October 22

Participating Agencies: HIAS, Homeless Advocacy Project, Legal Clinic for the Disabled, Philadelphia VIP, SeniorLAW Center, SCRUB and Support Center for Child Advocates

To Host a Road Show Contact: Jodi Schatz, Co-Chair Philadelphia National Pro Bono Week [email protected] or 267-546-9228Please include your preferred Road Show date and time when registering.

Gather feedback from attendees.

While we weren’t as consistent about this as we should have been, we did solicit feedback about our events from attendees. Based on that feedback, we made changes last year (adding the Road Shows) and this year.

Linda Kostin, Esq., Pro Bono Coordinator

Volunteer Legal Services Project of Monroe County, Inc.

Rochester, NY

585.295.5703

[email protected]

vlsprochester.org

• Incorporate hot topics • Add spin to the tried and true • Go big or go home

VLSP’s Pro Bono Idol, Rochester NY, October 2009

ABA’s First Annual National Celebration of Pro Bono

• Establish a committee Formal or Informal

• Get buy-in from marquee names–Bar leaders–Judges–Well-liked attorneys–Politicians

• Use their ideas • Use their names

To recruit others to help To recruit attendees

Harold Kurland, Esq.2009-2010 Monroe County Bar Association President

Pro Bono Idol Rochester NY, October 2009

Food - If you feed them, they will come!– No budget? No problem!

• Sponsors/hosts– Law firms– Businesses that provide services to attorneys

Pro Bono Idol, Rochester NY, October 2009

• Play well with others!–Even those you compete with for

volunteers–One pro bono opportunity does not fit all–More options presented = more

attendees = more volunteers recruited for all participating agencies

–Bonus: collaborating with other agencies will bear fruit in the future in ways you can’t predict

• Location, location, location Law Firm(s) Courthouse Hotel

Planning an event by yourself

• Time –Develop a realistic master schedule–Set small goals–Chip away at them

• People power– Delegate, delegate, delegate

• To a committee, even if it’s informal

• To interns• To existing volunteers

– Ask for help!• Sharon Browning, Consultant for

the ABA’s National Celebration of Pro Bono Week

Multiple events • Why put yourself through this?

– Increased profile for your organization– Increased pro bono attorney recruitment– More clients served

VLSP’s Ethics Redux (first live broadcast of a pro bono ethics CLE in New York State) Rochester NY, October 2010

ABA’s Second Annual National Celebration of Pro Bono

Multiple events

• Challenge: More time and effort to organize

• Solution: Develop a streamlined process and repeat it

• Challenge: More players involved• Solution: Find a “cruise director” to tend

to the needs of key players

• Challenge: More attendees to recruit• Solution: Enlist assistance

the ABA, state bar and local bar associationsspecialty bar associations, i.e. Rochester Black

Bar Association, Greater Rochester Association for Women Attorneys

managing partners at firmsboard membersthe media

• Prime the media in advance of your event–Make friends in the media every chance you

get• Network with them at bar association events, social

events, etc.

–Look for opportunities to build relationships• Submit guest essays and letters to the editor• Press releases• Provide tips on developing stories

• Get the word out about your National Celebration of Pro Bono event–Draft a press release with a hook

• Your event is part of the ABA’s National Celebration! • Highlight a new or novel aspect of your event• List the marquee names who helped plan your event,

and/or will attend it

–Follow up!• Ask if more info or photos are needed• Offer to take a crack at drafting an article for their review

• Involve Board Members–Ask them to mine their contacts in the

media–Draft a letter or email and ask them to

send it to their contacts in the community

• Build buzz!– If special guests and/or the media will attend

your event, share the news with your attendees and the community

• Email• Social media • Websites

– Your organization’s, the ABA’s, local bar associations’

Top Ten Lessons Learned

Clients Clients Clients

COLLABORATIONS

Dallas Landlord Tenant CLE

Foreclosure CEO, Boston

Social Justice Week, Seattle U Law

Next StepsSummit, Launch, Press Conference

New Access To Justice CommissionStatewidePro Bono Strategic Planning Session

Courthouse table, breakfast recruitment all week (added 3% of the local Bar). Appreciation Luncheon: 1/3 of the bar showed up.

Be Creative: Use Your Imagination

Variety: Both in Type of Event and Intended Audience: Don’t exhaust

anyoneNew initiatives:Rutgers Law: Prison Re-entry Project

Alabama State VLP Online Intake System

Summits

Dallas Bar Law Jam

Clinics: State bar of New Mexico

Tap Into the Desire to Do GoodAnd The Common Good

Share your Events on the Website

www.celebrateprobono.org

Use the Media

Share your Enthusiasm; it’s Contagious

Enjoy!!!Do what is life-giving:

something YOU enjoy and have enthusiasm for.

Enjoyment and Enthusiasm are the two energies of positive change and

transformation

Watch for and join the National Online Pro Bono Conversation

in September

http://www.celebrateprobono/

Resources

Resource Guide/Event Ideas

Q and A

Q and A

Q and A

www.celebrateprobono.orgfor assistance:

Sharon [email protected]

[email protected]