ABA Journal

Pro Bono

619 ABA Journal Pro Bono articles.

ABA Military Pro Bono Project has been connecting volunteer attorneys to servicemembers in need for 15 years

It hardly makes sense to ask military members to make the ultimate sacrifice for our country—and then deprive them of access to legal services, says Pamela Stevenson, chair of the ABA Standing Committee on Legal Assistance for Military Personnel.

ABE’s annual grant program sends $300K to 12 innovative projects

Low-income clients overburdened by debt, transgender and nonbinary people who need help changing their names, and youths experiencing homelessness are among the groups supported this year by the American Bar Endowment’s Opportunity Grant Program.

Man who spent 28 years in prison is exonerated with help of pro bono lawyers

A 2021 Missouri law that allows prosecutors to ask courts to set aside wrongful convictions has resulted in the exoneration of a man who spent 28 years in prison for murder.

After ALS diagnosis, Brian Wallach fights for a cure: ‘This is our closing argument for our lives’

Brian Wallach was preparing for a case in 2017 when he felt a weakness in his left hand. At 36 years old, the assistant U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois ignored it. He had been on the track and field team at Yale, after all, and he was healthy. Why worry?

5 ABA projects that got off the ground in 2022

Each year, ABA members and staff lead a multitude of projects and initiatives that serve their colleagues and communities as well as improve the legal profession. The ABA Journal regularly covers these efforts, which range in scope, subject area and location, and the leaders at the helm.

Meet 12 ABA members who inspired us in 2022

In this year’s Members Who Inspire series, the ABA Journal featured 12 extraordinary ABA members who go to great lengths to embolden their clients, colleagues and members of the communities around them. Their work includes helping immigrants with tax issues, advocating for individuals living with HIV/AIDS and addressing racial injustice and inequality.

ABA Free Legal Answers hits major milestone of 250K questions

Since ABA Free Legal Answers launched in 2016, more than 11,000 pro bono attorneys have registered to respond to civil legal questions from income-eligible users in 41 jurisdictions. And now, ABA Free Legal Answers has reached a major milestone, surpassing 250,000 questions submitted.

Meet the two Texas attorneys behind the Children’s Immigration Law Academy

Dalia Castillo-Granados had just begun her fellowship with the St. Frances Cabrini Center for Immigrant Legal Assistance, a program of Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, when she met Yasmin Yavar in 2008.

Baker McKenzie announces year-end bonuses of up to $115K; it’s ‘nothing but crickets’ for 2022 special bonuses

Baker McKenzie is apparently the first law firm to kick off BigLaw’s bonus season. Baker McKenzie’s year-end bonuses range from $20,000 for the class of 2021 to $115,000 for the class of 2015 and over.

During ABA Giving Day, members can support efforts advocating for democracy, equity and justice

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the ABA’s members, volunteers and donors have answered the call to help increase legal services and transform the justice system. The FJE hopes to build on that momentum with the 2022 ABA Giving Day.

Advocates are helping Afghans apply for asylum and other immigration relief with ABA assistance

Freshta Kohgadai fled with her family from Kabul, Afghanistan, to the United States in the late 1980s. When she discovered the ABA Scholarship for Legal Advocates—a new program that aims to increase the culturally and linguistically competent pro bono services available to Afghan arrivals—she knew she had to apply.

Lawyer who moved from Ukraine to US now has opportunity to help others facing similar situations

An immigration attorney started doing pro bono work for Ukrainian immigrants in February, shortly after Russia invaded the country.

Weekly Briefs: Embryos can be tax dependents; top state court upholds mail voting

Georgia allows embryos to be claimed as dependents

Embryos with a “detectable human heartbeat” can be claimed as dependents on state income tax returns in Georgia. The Georgia Department of…

ProBAR lawyer recalls immigration tent hearings in Texas

“Today, I have to make an impact in front of the judge,” the Venezuelan asylum-seeker told me at the tent court in Brownsville, Texas. This was just a few minutes before his hearing in front of the immigration judge who would be appearing remotely on a monitor inside the tent court.

Attorneys advocate for cancer patients and their caregivers through longtime ABA project

“When you take on something like a law degree or a medical degree, there is an obligation to help someone other than yourself,” says Eunice Aikins-Afful, a clinical research project manager at BeiGene, a biotechnology company in Cambridge, Massachusetts. “We’re blessed to be able to do what we do, and then turn it around to someone who can’t do it for themselves. And it doesn’t have to be altruistic and fancy. It can simply just be answering a question.”

Read more ...