“Celebrate Pro Bono Week” August 31, 2009
CELEBRATE PRO BONO WEEK
OCTOBER 25-31, 2009
With the encouragement and support of the Austin Bar Association’s Pro Bono Committee, communities around the country will be honoring the important work of pro bono lawyers as part of the National Celebration of Pro Bono (www.celebrateprobono.org). This series of events, being held during the week of October 25-31, will showcase the difference lawyers make at a local level to individuals, families and communities; will recruit and train more volunteers; and will recognize the outstanding service of legal institutions and individuals who do so much to make pro bono successful.
The annual National Pro Bono Celebration is sponsored by the Austin Bar Association’s Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service. The celebration is a coordinated national effort to showcase the great difference that pro bono lawyers make to the nation, its system of justice, its communities and, most of all, to the clients they serve. The week is also dedicated to the quest for more pro bono volunteers to meet the ever-growing legal needs of this country’s most vulnerable citizens.
The ABA Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service chose to launch this important initiative now because of the increasing need for pro bono services during these harsh economic times and the unprecedented re-sponse of attorneys to meet this demand. Although national in breadth, this celebration provides an opportunity for local legal associations across the country to collaboratively com-memorate the contributions of America‘s lawyers, and most importantly, to recruit additional volunteers to meet the growing need. One of the guiding principles of the Pro Bono Committee’s planning is to support existing local pro bono awards, events, and pro-grams . The legal needs of the poor are local issues, and although nationwide, this celebration is intended to have a local focus and impact. Goals for the celebration include:
Recognizing the pro bono efforts of America’s lawyers
Recruiting more pro bono volunteers
Mobilizing community support for pro bono.
Courtesy of:
Legal Aid of NorthWest Texas Equal Justice Volunteer Program, “NEWSMAKER”
Volume 2, Issue 3
