Best Practices in Using Technology to Recruit and

Support Pro Bono Lawyers

Matthew BurnettPro Bono Net

Naceem NavidiLSNTAP

Outline

Why Technology and Pro Bono? Benefits to pro bono organizations Benefits to advocates Benefits to clients

Tools for Pro Bono Recruitment Statewide Advocate Websites Organizational Websites State and National Pro Bono Opportunities Guides Pro Bono Case Listings Email/E-Newsletters

Outline (cont.) Tools for Pro Bono Support

Online Libraries Listservs Webcasts Webinars Online Document Assembly

Tools for the Future LiveHelp Case Management Integration

Technology and Pro Bono in the Field Addressing Support for Rural Attorneys in Georgia

Questions/Contact Details

Why Technology and Pro Bono?

Technology benefits pro bono programs:

Encourages greater pro bono participation by offering meaningful support

Allows for rapid communication with pro bono volunteers

Connects volunteers and clients based on interests and needs

Builds a community of volunteers Helps to track program activities and outcomes Others?

Why Technology and Pro Bono?

Technology benefits pro bono lawyers:

24/7 access to resources for busy advocates Easily communicate with substantive experts and

other advocates who have taken similar cases Choose cases that are within their interest and skill

level Others?

Why Technology and Pro Bono?

Technology benefits clients:

Greater resources and increased efficiencies, which can result in higher quality legal services to an increased number of clients

Bridges physical and geographical barriers, which allows for increased services to rural and other underserved clients and communities (disabled, limited English proficiency, etc.)

Others?

Tools for Pro Bono Recruitment

Statewide Advocate Websites Online tools

Calendar (pro bono trainings and events) News (pro bono awards and newsletters) Library (training manuals, sample briefs) New Cases (case summaries) Pro Bono Opportunities Guides (program information)

FloridaProBono.org

Arkansas Pro Bono Partnership

NYC Pro Bono Center

Tools for Pro Bono Recruitment

Organizational Websites Web-based content management Display information about your pro bono program:

Highlight areas of practice Share success stories Provide contact information Accept donations Post other organizational information such as your

board of directors and funders

Volunteers of Legal Service

Tools for Pro Bono Recruitment

State and National Pro Bono Opportunities Guides Allows advocates to search for pro bono

organizations (i.e. by location, interest, population served, and keywords).

Many state and local bar websites have pro bono guides with varying degrees of interactivity.

Washington State Pro Bono Guide

OhioProBono.org

National Opportunities Guide

A joint initiative between the ABA and Pro Bono Net A comprehensive list of pro bono organizations in the

United States Searchable by state, county, area of law, population

served, etc. Users can add an organization and provide comments on

exiting data, which is then reviewed and approved by a statewide admin

National Pro Bono Opportunities Guide

Pro Bono Case Listings

List case summaries by substantive area or location

Provides organization and contact information

Bay Area Case Listings

Georgia Case Listings

Email/E-Newsletters

Build a sense of community among your pro bono advocates

Include volunteer profiles to encourage participation

Update advocates about upcoming trainings and new resources

NYC Pro Bono Center Newsletter

Arkansas Pro Bono Partnership E-Newsletter

Minnesota E-Calendar

Tools for Pro Bono Support

Online Libraries Password protected libraries for posting

resources: training manuals practice guides sample pleadings and briefs forms

PAProBono.net Resource Library

Georgia Online Law Library

“Smart” Websites

Smart websites are those that take user data and automatically deliver relevant information back to the user to create a user-centric web page

Very common in commercial websites like Amazon.com, Netflix, Google News

Multiple ways to gather user data: automatically through clicks, through user profiles, or through user tags.

IllinoisLegalAdvocate.org

Recommended content looks at pieces of contents the user has looked at and recommends similar content based on what other users looked at and on the national index problem codes

My Program Space returns news, events, jobs, and volunteer opportunities tied to the user's organization

IllinoisLegalAdvocate.org (cont.)

IllinoisLegalAdvocate.org (cont.)

IllinoisLegalAdvocate.org (cont.)

Listservs

Keep pro bono advocates up-to-date and provide technical support on cases.

Encourage volunteers to join existing substantive listservs in your state.

Texas Lawyer’s Help Listservs

Webcasts

Tool to provide technical support to pro bono advocates, particularly when they are supplemented by other training materials.

A “window” to new areas of practice to increase volunteer interest

Don’t require advocates to travel to trainings Can be watched at any time or multiple times

Prisoners’ Rights Webcast

NYC Pro Bono Center Webcast Archive

Webinars Online seminars, which require only that participants

call a conference call number and click on a link that initiates a web-based application.

Products such as GotoMeeting are reasonably priced for smaller groups (up to 25 participants). https://www.gotomeeting.com

Larger sessions can be facilitated using GotoWebinar. https://www.gotowebinar.com

Both allow you to share materials with your pro bono advocates on their PC, as well as to field questions on the spot. You can also give participants the ability to share their PC (i.e. to review documents).

Online Document Assembly/NPADO

The NPADO Project is a document assembly project that hosts interactive forms for the nonprofit legal aid and access-to-justice community and assembles professional-looking legal documents based on a user’s input.

States can develop templates to provide automated document assembly in an efficient, cost-effective manner to assist pro bono advocates in representing their clients.

For more information, contact Kate Bladow, NPADO Project Coordinator at kbladow@probono.net

Georgia HotDocs Library

Tools For the Future

LiveHelp: Online remote technical assistance for pro bono advocates. To be piloted in Georgia in 2007.

Case Management Integration: Automatically integrates self-help and advocate resource materials (sample briefs, pleadings, forms, etc.) into case management software based on a client’s legal problem. To be piloted in Georgia and Kentucky in 2007.

LiveHelp

Technology and Pro Bono in the Field

Mike Monahan, Pro Bono Director, Georgia Legal Services Program

Questions/Contact Information

Questions?

Contact Details: Matthew Burnett

mburnett@probono.net Naceem Navidi

naceem.navidi@gmail.com Mike Monahan

mike@gabar.org