Today marks the near beginning of the 2010 National Pro Bono Celebration, ongoing for the remainder of this week, and sponsored by the American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service. The Celebration is meant to highlight the, often underlighted, contributions of attorneys working for the public good, to the advantage of their clients and the American system of justice.
Of a number of local events occurring throughout the country is a Pro Bono Celebration to be held right here in Boston, at the Boston Bar Association, tomorrow, October 26, 2010, starting at 4:30 pm. This Celebration, presented by the Pro Bono Subcommittee of the New Lawyers Section, will feature as speaker Victor Garo, a local attorney who, for nearly thirty years, worked pro bono on the Joseph Salvati case. Mr. Garo, whose work eventually resulted in Salvati’s exculpation, will relay his experience working on this notable case. For more information on the program, and to RSVP, visit the BBA’s event page, here. A networking reception will follow, at which those appropriately inspired attorneys may learn more about pro bono and public service initiatives available through the BBA.
Of course, it’s easy to celebrate pro bono work for one week, or for a couple of hours, or over beers at a networking reception. It’s quite another to actively engage in such work on a regular basis; and, there are many attorneys, sung or unsung, who do. For those interested in becoming active members of the pro bono community, a great place to start is with the BBA New Lawyers Section’s Pro Bono Subcommittee. To learn more about the Subcommittee, or to find out about attending subcommittee meetings and other, related events, contact Lucas Burke, subcommittee co-chair, by phone at (617) 455-7294 or via email at lb@lucasburke.com.
Working at LOMAP, and working closely with Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers, I talk with and visit with numbers of attorneys who have significant and vibrant interest in pro bono work, for its own sake, in addition to the inherent value-add from gaining case experience (more so for starting attorneys) or through supplementing private practice with the clean-wash refreshment that is the embarking upon of a charitable endeavor.
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I have written this blog post, in part, as a contributing response to the Celebrate Pro Bono Challenge that is the brainchild of TechnoLa’s Kate Bladow. Kate, through her PledgeBank page, has promised to publish a blog post in honor of this second National Pro Bono Celebration . . . if ten others write posts on the same subject. To date, 29 more authors have signed on for the Challenge.
In addition to the obvious fact that this BBA program takes place tomorrow, my remaining motivation for publishing this post so early in the week is to solicit, for Kate, more authors. Those wishing to sign on to the Celebrate Pro Bono Challenge, and to write a post themselves, in fulfillment of Kate’s larger promise, may register through October 30. Take the Challenge here.
