In-house ACCess : In-house ACCess: Association of Corporate Counsel : ACC : The In-house Counsel Bar Association

 By Corporate Pro Bono

We all know that lawyers have a professional responsibility, if not a professional or personal interest, to provide pro bono legal services. However, for some in-house counsel — those in smaller legal departments or remote offices — finding pro bono opportunities may be a challenge.

Corporate Pro Bono (ACC’s pro bono arm) has been assisting legal departments and ACC Chapters develop pro bono opportunities and initiatives for more than a decade, driving a dramatic increase in the participation of in-house counsel in pro bono. Smaller law departments and remote offices looking to engage in pro bono have the following options:

• Desktop Pro Bono Opportunities.  Desktop pro bono, sometimes referred to as virtual or remote, is exactly what it sounds like —  pro bono projects that can be completed from a volunteer’s desk or office. This can be particularly useful for attorneys located in remote areas where pro bono opportunities are not readily available, and where traveling to meet with pro bono clients would be impractical. Pro bono opportunities that may be conducted from your desk include:
  • administrative hearings by conference call;
  • staffing legal hotlines;
  • taking calls forwarded from intake centers;
  • examining files and documents;
  • researching legal matters; or
  • drafting documents.
• Collaboration. There is no reason to go at it alone. Other legal departments in the area with established pro bono programs can provide resources and guidance for departments looking to become more involved. Smaller offices can develop a network of companies that includes both larger and smaller departments to provide collaborative support on projects.
• Organized Events. Research legal aid organizations that organize regular pro bono clinics or volunteer opportunities. Participate in the programs of local ACC chapters or other bar associations. In either case, partake in scheduled pro bono activities with other lawyers around the region.

Get involved, contribute to your community and honor your responsibility.

And, for larger legal departments eager to engage their colleagues in smaller offices, we recommend you encourage and empower those colleagues to create or modify their own pro bono program to reflect the interests and skills of their legal staff. If you allow attorneys to establish pro bono programs that respond to local issues, they are more likely to get involved.

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By Corporate Pro Bono  

ACC has long championed the fight against onerous in-house counsel registration requirements. As a result, many jurisdictions now permit non-locally barred in-house attorneys to practice law for their employer-client as long as they are in good standing in another state. Unfortunately, this exception does not always extend to providing pro bono services to those most in need, and, when it does, it typically comes with difficult and unnecessary restrictions.

These restrictions are unacceptable. The need for pro bono legal services is immense and growing. Since 1994, studies have found that 80 percent of the legal needs of low-income individuals go unmet. Many in-house attorneys are interested in helping, but those who are not locally barred are handcuffed by state rules that unjustifiably limit their ability to contribute. The result is not that the pro bono work is getting done by other lawyers; it is simply not getting done. The rules must change.

Unnecessary restrictions

Restrictions vary by jurisdiction. The most common requirement is that non-locally admitted in-house attorneys work with an approved legal aid organization. Requiring already overworked legal aid lawyers to supervise only increases the burden legal aid organizations face. In addition, many legal aid organizations specialize in only a segment of unmet legal needs. To best meet the needs of low-income communities, in-house counsel should have the ability to work with all potential pro bono sources, including community groups and law firms, to assist in the greater effort to address the unmet need for legal services.

A related restriction found in a number of jurisdictions requires non-locally admitted in-house attorneys be supervised by an active member of the bar. Mandated supervision unduly limits the number of hours that supervisors and supervisees can provide pro bono services. This is particularly insulting and frustrating when the in-house attorneys are already practicing in the state for their employers. Large companies get the benefit of their in-house attorneys’ skills, knowledge, and experience, but the clients with the most need do not. 

Exceptions to the rule

Fortunately, there are two exceptions: Colorado and Virginia. Since 2006, in-house attorneys in Colorado who are not admitted in the state, but who are registered to provide legal services to their employer, may also provide legal services to indigent persons and the organizations that serve them. More recently, Virginia changed its rules so that certified in-house attorneys in the Commonwealth may provide pro bono services, subject to the same conditions that apply to the services they provide their employer, per  the Virginia Rules of Professional Conduct. This change enables and empowers the more than 800 certified in-house attorneys in Virginia to provide desperately needed pro bono assistance.

Follow Colorado and Virginia! 

We hope that many states will follow these visionaries.While pro bono assistance alone cannot fill the widening gap between the legal needs of the poor and disenfranchised, there is great potential to improve and expand pro bono legal services. 

In-house attorneys interested in learning more about this issue or joining the effort to change the rules in other jurisdictions, should contact Eve Runyon, director of Corporate Pro Bono (CPBO). CPBO is a partnership project of Pro Bono Institute and the Association of Corporate Counsel.

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As I approach my final days with the Association of Corporate Counsel, I have been going through old files, reviewing notes from past speeches and remembering the hundreds of legal industry events I have attended around the world. While much has changed over the past 20 years, there exists an undeniable continuity in the manner in which in-house counsel have contributed to the success of their employers over the years.

Much has been written about what makes a “great in-house lawyer,” and in the midst of packing up my files, I was struck by the advice ACC’s predecessor provided nearly 30 years ago. In 1983, what was then the “American Corporate Counsel Association” presented a program entitled, “Introduction to Inside Practice,” a precursor to today’s Corporate Counsel University (CCU). During one of the sessions, the speaker shared his insights based on responses to the question “What is the one piece of advice you would give an attorney new to in-house practice?” The advice given in 1983 still resonates clearly today:

“Think before you speak.”

“Learn the business and try to be as practical as possible in your advice.”

“[You] must make that initial effort to understand the client’s business, its customers, products, sales and competitors.”

“You need to be visible — go to sales meetings, staff meetings, lunches and anything else you can manage.”

“Keep your eyes and ears open — be patient; it takes time to learn your client, but you have to do it.”

“Where there is change, there is opportunity.” And my personal favorite,

“Don’t be an ***hole.”

As I reviewed the course materials, it became clear that the program sought to develop the very skills and traits that remain vital for outstanding corporate counsel today (many of which I referenced during a brief video discussion on Leadership). These include:

• solid legal knowledge and appreciation for educational training;
• sound judgment;
• impeccable integrity;
• strategic vision;
• leadership — specifically, recognizing good people and bringing out the best in them;
• recognition of our obligation to help those less fortunate through pro bono and community service;
• sense of humor;
• staying on top of technological advancements;
• intent focus on helping their companies to save time, money and effort; and
• ability to adapt to change.

While the advice provided — and the desirable skill sets identified — remain valid today, over the years, in-house counsel have honed and perfected their skills to adapt to changing environments and economic conditions. In-house legal departments have grown dramatically in the past 20 years, and the changing regulatory environments, increased attention on risk management and corporate compliance scrutiny have placed heavy demands on in-house counsel. The changes that have occurred have also propelled in-house counsel to move into a more strategic role within their organizations. 

As Winston Churchill once stated, “To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.” As in-house continue to excel and succeed, I am confident that they will adapt to overcome the new, as well as the old, legal and business challenges they face every day.

 

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Two ACC leaders were recently honored with top legal industry awards:  ACC’s former board chair, Laura Stein, Senior Vice President and General Counsel, The Clorox Company, is a 2010 recipient of the Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Award, established by the ABA to recognize the accomplishments of women lawyers.  In Canada, ACC board member, David Allgood, Executive Vice-President and General Counsel, Royal Bank of Canada, was named the 2010 Canadian General Counsel Lifetime Achievement winner.

Watch ACC President Fred Krebs speak on the qualities that make a good leader in the in-house counsel community and offer congratulations to David Allgood and Laura Stein on their achievements.

 

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Street Law, a nonprofit organization that provides education programs about law, democracy, and human rights and a partner with ACC on the corporate legal diversity pipeline initiative held their annual dinner last week in Washington, D.C. What an evening it turned out to be! The ballroom was packed and charged with energy. The award winners inspired us with their stories and commitment to the practice of law.  

Our former board member, colleague, and friend Tom Sager and his legal team at DuPont were honored with the 2010 Legal Diversity Pipeline Award. With Tom’s support and leadership, DuPont created a banner program that brings their legal team into a Wilmington, DE, high school. At the dinner, it was great to see that DuPont had two tables of employees enjoying the special evening and the kudos for their efforts. Legal counsel Ernest Tuckett was recognized several times for his work. And Pat Quann, the executive director of the Delaware Law Related Education Center, was honored for her role and her partnership with DuPont.

I’ll give you an aside about Tom and why we are especially proud. Tom arranged to fund development and distribution of a pipeline kit and partnered with ACC to develop a program that introduces high school students to corporate legal departments. Many students have never met an attorney and certainly never considered going to law school. Class by class, that is now changing, as our colleagues teach, lead and mentor their local students. Take a minute and watch the Street Law video about this partnership and see why we are excited by this initiative and the results we see.

Also receiving kudos during the evening was a Kentucky teacher who received the 2010 Educator of the Year Award. Joseph Gutmann teaches at the Law and Government Magnet at Central High School in Louisville, KY. He usesthe Street Law curriculum in the second year of the magnet’s three-year program. Mr. Gutmann brings in local law students to teach about practical aspects of the law. A former prosecutor who became a teacher after 9/11, he is an inspiring teacher. With his leadership, the magnet now receives twice as many applications than they can accept.

Finally, the 2010 Advocate of the Year was awarded to Tetiana Remekh, a program coordinator at Teachers for Democracy and Partnership, a Ukrainian civic education NGO, which trains thousands of Ukrainian teachers in civics and law. Working with Street Law, she developed a Ukrainian version of the Street Law textbook, which was approved by the Ukrainian Ministry of Education and Science and is a mandatory part of the nationwide curricula.

We were all honored by the presence of our nation’s top lawyer, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder. After a standing ovation, the attorney general received the Chesterfield Smith Award. An icon of the bar, Chesterfield Smith was one of the earliest crusaders for diversity in the profession. Attorney General Holder is committed to the concept of diversity and believes strongly that the profession depends on those who follow us.  

And, a special thank you to our own SVP and General Counsel Susan Hackett, who served on the host committee for this wonderful event and who has worked tirelessly on the Corporate Legal Diversity Pipeline.

Approximately 40 major corporations around the country have Corporate Legal Diversity Pipeline Programs with Street Law, some of the most notable including Coca-Cola, Turner Broadcasting and McDonald's.

[Attorney General Holder’s remarks from the evening are posted here as well.]

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. . .or How We Rationalize Our Maintenance of Artificially High Legal Costs

I want now to focus on another sacred cow of the profession--"pro bono". I am not against insuring that everyone has access to legal services, I just don't believe we should deprive people of the dignity of being able to pay for their own services by creating restrictions to practice that keep the cost of legal services artificially high.

For those of you who believe I alone have concerns about the economic-centric nature of this profession; it would be worth looking back more than 20 years ago to 1983 when I was a relatively young lawyer. The profession was trying to demonstrate to the world it was ethical, and ABA House of Delegates Approved the Model Rules of Professional Conduct. A then relatively young ethics professor at NYU, Stephen Gillers, wrote an article about those rules in 1985 in 46 Ohio St L.J. 243, 245-246 entitled "What We Talked About When We Talked About Ethics: A Critical View of the Model Rules. He summarized the article thus:

Close-up, I will argue, little that is flattering. The bar has drafted a code that proves the wisdom of its own precept against client-lawyer conflicts. The lawyers who approved the Rules looked after their own. They have given us an astonishingly parochial, self-aggrandizing document, which favors lawyers over clients, other persons, and the administration of justice in almost every line, paragraph, and provision that permits significant choice. It is internally inconsistent to the bar's benefit. It continues the practice of using the language of ethics to mask the controls on the availability of services that in turn artificially inflate the cost of services.

My sense is that little has changed since then. Courts still impose artificial restrictions on practice by creating barriers to entry, even among lawyers. The Federal Courts are an embarrassment. If you wanted to try federal cases in the State of New York you have to get admitted 5 different times. The rules are not designed to protect the public; they are designed to protect the power and economic interests of the few, including the judges.

So what do we do; we lament that the lower income members of community do not have access to affordable legal services, because we have done everything we can to insure that is the case, and to make ourselves feel good we deprive them of their dignity by requiring them to take what we offer for free instead of letting the market provide affordable legal services tailored to their needs.

I recently got a request from my local chapter to participate in a pro bono effort they are arranging. I am not admitted in this state so giving advice to private parties would not be prudent, moreover, unless these people have created Superfund sites, have problems with international commercial transactions, or complex corporate tax issues, I would probably not be a lot of help.

-Larry Salibra
View Bio

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Reilly Morse, the ACC/Equal Justice Works Disaster Relief Fellow, will be recognized by the Lawyer's Committee for Civil Rights Under Law with the Edwin D. Wolf Award, for performing pro bono, or no-fee work, in public interest law.

Read More about Mr. Morse and other attorneys recognized by the Committee

If you would like to support ACC's Disaster Relief Fellowship, please contact Susan Hackett at hackett@acc.com, or Eve Runyon at runyon@acc.com. Every $75,000 ACC raises will place another Fellow on the ground where pro bono services are desperately needed. If you would like to make a contribution toward this fellowship fund, contact LeAnna Hart Gipson at Equal Justice Works at lgipson@equaljusticeworks.org.

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