The Pro Bono Program
Through the Pro Bono Program, the Public Service Center manages pro bono opportunities available to students, including work with prosecutors, public defenders, legal service organizations and nationally known public interest organizations. Students also often create their own pro bono project. The Pro Bono Challenge further encourages public service by asking students to volunteer at least 25 hours annually during law school.
Why Do Pro Bono?
“Pro Bono” derives from the Latin “Pro Bono Publico,” which means “for the public good.” The American Bar Association (ABA) in its Model Rule 6.1 states that lawyers should aspire to render, without fee, at least 50 hours per year of pro bono legal services, with an emphasis on services for people of limited means or nonprofits that serve the poor.
The Law School also believes that lawyers should serve their community. Introducing law students to public service through a formalized pro bono program provides them with the skills and values needed to promote a lifetime commitment to law-related community service. Instilling this ethic of service is vitally important to ensuring access to justice as the need for free and low-cost legal services continues to rise. Pro bono, in addition to providing much-needed legal services to indigent clients, also offers law students structured opportunities to gain valuable practical experience, such as legal research and writing, client interviewing and other investigative and advocacy skills. Many students find that pro bono work enhances their law school experience and allows them to better relate their academic work to the real world of law practice.
THE PRO BONO CHALLENGE
The Pro Bono Challenge encourages every law student to volunteer at least 25 hours annually. Students who complete their required hours will receive a certificate of recognition at the end of their first and second years. Graduating students who have logged at least 75 pro bono hours will be recognized in the commencement brochure and at an awards ceremony during graduation weekend. The graduate(s) who best demonstrates an "extraordinary commitment to pro bono service" will be honored with the annual Pro Bono Award.
In order to log hours for the Pro Bono Challenge, the law-related work must be:
- Supervised by a licensed attorney or law school faculty member
- For a nonprofit organization, government office or agency, or private law firm providing pro bono services to under-represented people or groups
- Not for academic credit or financial compensation (clinical work completed in excess of academic requirements may count.)*
- Completed while the student is enrolled at the Law School
- Undertaken during the academic year; students can get pro bono credit for volunteer legal work done over the summer for an organization that otherwise fits the above criteria so long as the work is done outside of the student’s 35-hour required work week
Student volunteers must submit an online work log at the end of the semester in which the work is completed in order for their hours to be appropriately recorded for the Pro Bono Challenge. Hours not logged by the end of the semester will not be counted. Training and travel time may be logged for pro bono credit.
* If the pro bono hours are being supervised by a clinical faculty member, the student must confirm that they are not currently enrolled in the clinic or certify that the work does not count toward academic credit.
Finding a Pro Bono Opportunity
There are many opportunities to do pro bono work. Listed below are three typical ways that student volunteers find an appropriate project. Project opportunities are always advertised to students through pro bono e-mail alerts.
A law student talks to a volunteer at a soup kitchen
in a Charlottesville church. Law students volunteer at
a number of local homeless shelters and church-run
soup kitchens, doing client intake for the Legal Aid
Justice Center1.) Pro Bono Program-Administered Projects: These projects require a semester- or year-long commitment of approximately 3-5 hours per week. They offer students hands-on experience with a variety of legal tasks including research, writing, client interviewing or intake, and for third-year practice certified students, the chance for court and trial work. Only a limited number of volunteers are selected for these projects and the application process is competitive.
- Child Health Advocacy Project - Students volunteers are trained to do legal intake and case follow-up with patient families being seen at the UVA Children’s Hospital or its affiliated clinics.
- Hunton & Williams Pro Bono Partnership – Students volunteer under the supervision of attorneys from the firm’s Richmond office to represent indigent clients in the areas of domestic violence, family law, immigration and asylum law.
- Immigrant Jail Outreach Project – Students volunteer under the supervision of attorneys from the CAIR Coalition in Washington, D.C., to conduct “know-your-rights” presentations and other work at the regional jail in Hampton Roads, which has a large population of immigrant detainees.
- Legal Outreach Project – Students volunteer weekly to do client intake for the Legal Aid Justice Center at area soup kitchens, homeless shelters and low-income housing projects.
- Piedmont Court Appointed Special Advocates (PCASA) – Student volunteers are trained and supervised to serve as advocates for children who have been adjudicated to be abused or neglected.
- Pro Bono No-Fault Divorce Project – Students volunteer to assist with the filing of no-fault divorces for indigent clients under the supervision of attorneys from the Central Virginia Legal Aid Society (CVLAS)
- UVA Law Veterans Medical Disability Appeals Pro Bono Program - Student pro bono volunteers are teamed with supervising attorneys to represent veterans before the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. The program’s emphasis is on representing veterans whose disability claims have been rejected by the Department of Veterans Affairs and who desire to appeal in federal court. Students are organized into teams and work directly with supervising attorneys researching issues, formulating arguments and drafting court documents in support of the veteran’s appeal. Time commitments are flexible; students can be either a “senior associate” taking ownership of student efforts for a particular case, or work on discrete tasks as a “junior associate.” This program provides a vital service for our veterans.
2.) Pro Bono Opportunities Initiated by Outside Attorneys or Law School Faculty: These are shorter-term ad hoc pro bono opportunities which are publicized to students through e-mail alerts and in the Pro Bono Project Database. All are available on a first-come, first-served basis. These projects, which generally have more limited time commitments, may be particularly suitable for 1L students.
3.) Pro Bono Opportunities Initiated by Students: Students may also develop their own pro bono projects. Projects must be supervised by a licensed attorney or a law school faculty member to qualify for pro bono credit. Student-initiated pro bono projects should be approved in advance by the Assistant Dean for Pro Bono.
If you are seeking a specific type of project or hoping to work with a particular organization, the staff of the Pro Bono Program is happy to assist and meet with you to discuss the options and to help you access our network of law alumni supervisors.
4.) Winter and Spring Break Pro Bono Projects: The Pro Bono Program staff also provides assistance to students seeking pro bono opportunities over the winter or spring breaks. Winter and spring break pro bono projects offer an excellent opportunity for students who are hesitant, due to time constraints, to volunteer during the academic semester.
Winter Break Pro Bono Projects allow students to volunteer at least 20 hours with a nonprofit organization or law firm providing pro bono services. These projects provide an opportunity to earn a significant number of hours towards the Pro Bono Challenge in a short period of time while also exploring potential career options. Information about winter break pro bono will be made available in late October.
Spring Break Pro Bono Projects are week-long opportunities arranged by the Public Interest Law Association (PILA) and the Pro Bono Program with legal organizations in under-served areas throughout the United States. In 2009, 20 students participated in two pro bono trips — one to the Appalachian Research and Defense Fund of Kentucky, Inc (AppalReD) in Prestonsburg, Ky., and the other to Advocates for Children’s Services in Durham, N.C. Information about upcoming spring pro bono trips will be available in January.