Pro Bono Network is a small organization that makes a significant personal impact on the lives of the people it supports. Both volunteers and clients love it. And so do partner organizations, like mine!
I became involved with the Pro Bono network about a year ago, when I began volunteering at the jail, providing legal support and communication to incarcerated mothers, one of the many programs that the Pro Bono Network supports. The time and experience has been rewarding and illuminating on many different levels! I'm in a different situation than many of the other individuals involved in the Pro Bono Network, since I work full time, but they have programs and events which can work with any schedule. I have met wonderful people and would recommend this organization to anyone with a legal background who would like to get more involved and share their knowledge and experience. I had wanted to volunteer for a long time, but wasn't sure where to start. The Pro Bono Network made it easy and provided all the necessary training. I'm also happy to see the network is expanding and now offers several events and training on the North Side as well!
What a great organization! I wanted to provide pro bono services but had a hard time fitting them into my schedule. Pro Bono Network offers a unique opportunity for attorneys to provide targeted legal services to underserved clients on a schedule that works for both attorneys and clients. I have always found Pro Bono Network projects to be important to the clients, well-organized and interesting. The organization also provides helpful training and continuing education events. Working with Pro Bono Network has allowed me to help the community and meet wonderful like-minded volunteer attorneys.
PBN was organized by stay-at home attorney moms to help them use their legal skills for those with unmet legal needs. It has grown to be so much more. Part-time attorneys, those in the suburbs, retirees, small firm attorneys -- any attorney who might not otherwise have the in-office structure to find pro bono projects -- can participate in this group and be linked up with other attorneys to provide legal services to those most in need. There is a breadth of projects to chose from: obtaining visas, social security disability benefits, tenant rights, consumer debt collection counseling, orders of protection, and divorce, to name some. What a great group of people serving a terrific cause.
PBN is breaking new ground in helping people to help others, and it's surprisingly simple and efficient. PBN provides an opportunity for volunteer attorneys to utilize their hard-earned skills that might otherwise be lying dormant while they take time off to raise families or pursue careers outside of the full time practice of law. PBN provides a great benefit for the attorney volunteers, and exponentially greater benefits to legal aid agencies, and the individuals and families who are receiving pro bono legal services. I started with PBN as a volunteer and have watched it grow because attorneys want to work under its structure. I wanted to sit on its first board to ensure that PBN lasts and I can tell you, PBN's leaders focus on efficiency. They work with existing legal aid agencies to provide reliable volunteers and expand their services geographically. PBN has also allowed their partner agencies to create new areas of service where they saw the need (such as bringing attorneys to a courthouse without any pro bono help). Your donation is meaningful and will go far with this organization.
I have worked with the Pro Bono Network for over three years as an agency partner. PBN is an extremely innovative model for serving low-income individuals with legal problems. It has been a pleasure to work with their team. They are thoughtful and diligent and have a great sense of how to pick projects that will work for their volunteers. And once they pick a project, they cross every T and dot ever I to make sure that there is a solid foundation for success. I deeply value the partnership of PBN.
The Pro Bono Networks is a fantastic organization that provides pro bono legal services to some of Illinois' most worthy clients. The organization is well run and has outstanding leadership. The projects are clearly defined, allowing volunteers to easily work pro bono into their schedules.
The Pro Bono Network is one of those rare non-profits that not only helps those in need while providing a philanthropic outlet for its volunteers, but it actually has the potential to further the careers of the attorneys who choose to offer their time. Skills are honed and relationships are created in a part-time, pro bono setting. This win-win-win formula explains the impressive growth that PBN has demonstrated in just a few short years. Intelligent, dedicated and flexible leadership are at the forefront of this organization.
After a long career in a busy commercial law practice, I wanted more time and connection with my young children. I also wanted to direct my skills, talent, and experience to legal work that was very meaningful to me and, I hoped, could help under-served clients and communities.
I was so thrilled to discover Pro Bono Network (PBN) and its exceptional model, leadership, and volunteers. Thanks to PBN, I was finally able to envision a transition away from my commercial practice to interesting public service work that was flexible enough to share space with my family commitments and goals. For me, that was key -- and difficult to find.
PBN recognizes the value of matching attorneys with pro bono legal work in a way that works. As a result, an often untapped pool of legal talent is used in an efficient and productive way, and more people in need of quality pro bono legal help get it. An enormous benefit, all the way around.
Pro Bono Network's mission statement and results speak for themselves. Focused, talented, powerful women helping others in need. I can't say enough about the value this organization brings to its members and our community, making a positive impact for all!
PBN vets and then partners with a variety of Chicago-area non-profits to match volunteers (in pairs or small groups) with legal-aid type projects and other opportunities. Despite large #s of stay-at-home moms (SAHMs) among its volunteer ranks, PBN is *not* exclusively for SAHMs...so all you prospective male & other non-mom volunteers out there should feel more than welcome to check it out.
The model of the organization was indeed built around the needs of SAHMs but can certainly work well for others: solo practitioners, other lawyers with flexible schedules...essentially, anyone interested in doing legal volunteer work who wants the group benefits of collaboration, training, emergency back-up, etc.) ...and even a few non-lawyers who volunteer other types of services to make this growing organization continue to run smoothly).
As a formerly unhappy big-firm attorney who left law for several years while raising kids, I was at one time very doubtful that I'd ever return to the profession. I'd started a very part-time solo practice but just wasn't all that excited about resuming life as an attorney. Happily, in the midst of my soul-searching, the initial chapter of PBN cropped up in my hometown (Oak Park) at the start of 2011 & has proven to be just what I (and apparently many others) needed. It's given me the opportunity to dust off that part of my brain, put my legal skills to good use, meet some absolutely fantastic people, and get a feel for various areas of the law that I'd never have tried otherwise, all while serving those in need.
PBN has a great variety of projects going at any time (especially late August through early June); check out their Meetup & FB pages for more info. Over the past 3 1/2 years, I've really enjoyed working on their senior clinics, immigration project, legislative monitoring for the homeless, and jail clinic (helping inmates, yes, but more compelling in my mind is that you're really helping kids who are unlucky enough to have a mom who's incarcerated). I have a feeling I'm forgetting one or two, but all have been good experiences. And I'm hoping to try my hand at some of their other projects during this coming school year....things slow down on most of their projects during the summer and get revved up again during the school year--perfect for anyone with kids (or even just a busy summer travel schedule).
As a bonus, the women who started this group almost 4 years ago and who still run it today are very impressive professionally, but they're also funny, warm, kind, super-intelligent individuals. It's always a lot of fun to work with them, which makes PBN socially rewarding, on top of everything else.
Finally! An organization that celebrates a woman's choice to focus her talents on raising children and supporting her family.
Pro Bono Network reaches out to educated women with valuable work experience in our communities. Women who are eager to volunteer their time and talent, but who need opportunities to volunteer when their children are in school. Pro Bono Network provides volunteer opportunites for those women and serves clients who have a need.
After having my second child in 2008, I made the decision to take time off from the legal profession (I was a GAL/attorney for abused and neglected children) and focus my time and energy on my growing family. While I was satisfied with the decision and found it to be fulfilling, I did begin to miss practicing my profession and would often wonder if my degree would ever be useful again. I also worried about the gap in my resume and how it would effect my employment prospects in the future. I made a few attempts to volunteer in legal aid organizations, but they never panned out due to scheduling conflicts and babysitting issues. In the fall of 2011, I had been a stay at home mom for 3 years, had 3 kids and was expecting my fourth in a few months. I was starting to feel discouraged about my professional prospects and was literally praying for something to open up for me professionally.I was attending a conference for women put on by the Skinless Project and came to know about the Pro Bono Network (which was then called the West Cook Pro Bono Network). As I researched it, it seemed to be exactly what I needed. I contacted the organizers, received quick responses and was immediately given information about how to get involved and participate. Since then, I have participated in teaching elementary school children about the constitution, have worked on 3 immigration cases assisting victims of domestic violence to obtain visas (2 of my clients have already received their work permits!), tenant advocacy, and research for homeless children. I became a huge fan right away as I have met and worked with intelligent and fun individuals who have made similar choices to me regarding family, but still have a strong desire to use their skills to benefit the community. I have been able to get my feet wet in areas of the law that I never practiced before, and continue to use as well as acquire skills that I hope I can use in the future if I ever decide to head back to world of salaried work. More than anything, I feel happier, well balanced, connected to the community and more confident about my professional skills.