Wisconsin Lawyer: Doing Good, Getting Started:

July 01, 2005

Doing Good, Getting Started

Perhaps you have thought about providing pro bono civil legal services to people who need them, but felt unsure about what to do and how to start. The State Bar Pro Bono Initiative stands ready to help.

Jeff Brown

Doing Good, Getting Started

Perhaps you have thought about providing pro bono civil legal services to people who need them, but felt unsure about what to do and how to start. The State Bar Pro Bono Initiative stands ready to help.

"The Pro Bono Initiative focuses on how the State Bar can jump-start pro bono efforts for indigent people in civil matters around the state," says State Bar pro bono coordinator Jeff Brown. "We're doing pilot projects in three judicial districts, and we're looking at ways to support lawyers who want to do pro bono work." The three judicial districts are district 1 (Milwaukee County), district 5 (the Dane County area), and district 7 (the La Crosse County area).

"You don't have to do a huge amount to make a difference," says State Bar pro bono coordinator Jeff Brown, speaking from experience. "Just Take Two is a start. You can try it and see if it works for you." Brown provides weekly pro bono legal advice to indigent people and works on public service projects through the Dane County Bar Association.

To support individual attorneys, the Pro Bono Initiative, in cooperation with various other organizations, can connect you with:

free professional liability insurance
on-call advice
free and low-cost training
extensive how-to manuals
free computerized research
prescreened pro bono clients
reimbursement for out-of-pocket costs, such as copying expenses, transcript fees, and court filing fees that can't be waived (beginning July 1, 2005)

For lawyers wondering where to begin, one answer is a new campaign called Just Take Two, launched in January 2005. Participating lawyers voluntarily pledge to take at least two new pro bono matters over a 12-month period.

"You don't have to do a huge amount to make a difference," Brown says. "Just Take Two is a start. You can try it and see if it works for you."

To take the Just Take Two pledge and to learn more about the Pro Bono Initiative, go to www.wisbar.org/probono, or contact Jeff Brown at (800) 444-9404, ext. 6177, (608) 250-6177, or jbrown@wisbar.org.

If indigent criminal defense is where you want to help, the State Bar is ready to help by giving a free State Bar CLE seminar certificate for lawyers who sign up with the State Public Defender and take five appointments. Contact State Bar CLE Director Tom Dixon for more information at (800) 444-9404, ext. 6040, or SPD Private Bar Division Director Deb Smith at (608) 266-0087.

Wisconsin Lawyer