Corporate Counsel

Corporate pro bono used to be so rare, says Esther Lardent, that few companies had a formal program before 2000. But last November the Washington, D.C.-based Pro Bono Institute, which Lardent heads, created the Corporate Pro Bono Challenge. Since then 58 law departments have signed on, pledging that at least 50 percent of their staff attorneys will do free legal work every year. Reporter Jill Nawrocki recently spoke with Lardent about what this landmark endeavor has accomplished so far. An edited version of their conversation follows.

Q: How successful has the challenge been?

A: Anecdotally, we know that more companies are getting involved in pro bono. Dozens are putting formal programs in place. We have an annual report for signatories that we're sending out this fall. It asks about the level of participation in their legal departments, the kinds of projects, if they're keeping [track of their pro bono] time, and about their partnerships with public interest organizations and law firms. We'll hopefully have answers by February.

Q: You called it a challenge for a reason: In-house departments face obstacles in doing pro bono that law firms don't. Were there any issues you weren't expecting?

A: The right fit can be a tough issue. Take Tyson [Foods Inc.,] and Wal-Mart [Stores Inc.]. Both are headquartered in rural areas with a fairly narrow range of legal needs. There's not necessarily a great fit between the skills of the legal department and the needs of the local community. And we learned from Intel [Corp.] that there's a whole group of lawyers who are licensed to practice, but not in the jurisdiction where they're located. There are very few states where lawyers who are not [locally] licensed can do pro bono easily.

Q: Which companies really succeeded with the challenge?

A: Intel is a great model because it has such a well-planned program. They [used requests for proposals to find law firm partners, and] tied pro bono work to areas of interest in the department and company as a whole. They started in their [Santa Clara, Calif.,] headquarters, but have expanded to other offices as well.

Q: For a while it seemed that companies weren't doing pro bono because they thought the costs were prohibitive. What changed?

A: Before, they just didn't know what was available to them. When companies started doing pro bono, malpractice insurance was always something they asked us about. [In-house lawyers are not always insured for malpractice.] Today, the areas on our Web site that cover malpractice are probably the most accessed. A company can work with a program that provides the coverage, purchase a rider, or get malpractice insurance for about $3,000 a year for the whole company.

Q: What will happen to these programs if the economy falters?

A: Legal departments feel very vulnerable because they're a cost center and not a revenue generator. ... If the economy gets tighter, then having something that's a psychic glue for people -- that makes them feel the company cares about larger issues than the bottom line -- could actually be a plus.