Celebrate Pro Bono Week October 23 - 29


A Message from State Bar President Jon Streeter:


The last week of October is “Celebrate Pro Bono Week." As described by the ABA Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service on its Celebrate Pro Bono website:

The Celebration is a coordinated national effort to meet the ever-growing needs of this country’s most vulnerable citizens by encouraging and supporting local efforts to expand the delivery of pro bono legal services and by showcasing the great differences that pro bono lawyers make to the nation, its system of justice, its communities and, most of all, to the clients they serve.

The State Bar of California proudly supports Celebrate Pro Bono Week, and it is particularly important that people also support pro bono efforts at the local level – both next week and every day of the year.

Here are some key resources:

  • If you are interested in what is happening during the week of  the celebration, please review the pro bono events scheduled throughout California.
  • To locate a pro bono program in your community, please go to the www.californiaprobono.org online statewide pro bono opportunities network. Pro bono programs generally provide training, support, client screening, malpractice coverage and more to help meet your needs and interests.
  • Any attorney who is otherwise retired from the active practice of law, in a transition period or taking a temporary break in his or her legal career and wants to do pro bono work may be eligible for the State Bar’s Pro Bono Practice Program and receive a waiver of the active State Bar membership fee.
  • In addition to Celebrate Pro Bono Week, October 2011 is Campaign for Justice Month. Please visit the recently launched Campaign for Justice website for more information about how you can contribute to this critical effort. The Campaign for Justice is increasing funding for the important statewide network of legal aid organizations. Encouraging pro bono services to leverage legal aid resources is a key component of the campaign.

You also can read my remarks about joining the campaign in the October issue of the California Bar Journal. Many thanks to the following entities for their leadership by adopting resolutions supporting Campaign for Justice Month:

  • Judicial Council of California
  • Los Angeles County Bar Association
  • Alameda County Bar Association
  • Santa Clara County Bar Association
  • Bar Association of San Francisco

On behalf of the State Bar Board of Governors, thank you in advance for supporting pro bono and the Campaign for Justice.