Home Pro Bono Volunteer Resources

Volunteer Resources for Attorneys, Corporate Law Departments, Paralegals, and Court Reporters

Your commitment to making pro bono part of your regular law practice can provide access to justice for those most in need. Volunteer lawyers are an essential part of our system for delivering information about the legal system and legal services in Texas.

There is a large spectrum of areas in which attorneys, corporate law departments, paralegals and court reporters may volunteer, from business law and civil litigation, to family law and public benefits cases.

We recognize that you may have specific needs and goals for your pro bono work, however we encourage you to volunteer with an approved legal services provider. A benefit of volunteering with an approved legal services provider is that the clients for who you receive referrals will be pre-screened for financial eligibility and to ensure their legal problems can be solved by a lawyer.

Have you been thinking about volunteering for pro bono work but not sure you’ll find a match for your skills? Concerned about case-related costs? Free resources are available to you.

While it may vary program to program, many legal services agencies offer pro bono volunteers:

- free continuing legal education (CLE) training

- training and experience (including courtroom experience) for newer associates

- malpractice insurance (through the State Bar of Texas)

Attorneys

Visit www.TexasLawyersHelp.org, a statewide website for Texas's legal services and pro bono community. The site contains a library of reference materials, briefs, and pleadings and a group listserv to facilitate information sharing.

• Malpractice Insurance
  Worried about malpractice insurance? The State Bar of Texas provides malpractice coverage to volunteer lawyers who accept referrals involving low-income clients or the nonprofit organizations that serve them. Most local nonprofit legal service providers provide malpractice insurance for their volunteers. If this is a concern, please contact the organization for which you are considering volunteering to verify that you will be covered.
• Ethics
  Lawyers with ethics inquiries may contact 800-532-3947.
• TYLA
  The Texas Young Lawyers Association offers programs designed to assist Texas attorneys in their practice of law and to provide public legal education services to Texans. For more information, visit http://www.tyla.org/citizens.html.
• ABA
  The ABA Center for Pro Bono brochure, Pro Bono Clients: Strategies for Success, outlines eight tips to help attorneys understand and effectively serve their pro bono clients. It also identifies resources for further reading on the topic of working with low-income populations.
  ABA Center for Pro Bono is a project of the ABA Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service.This site offers a library of materials for pro bono program administrators and volunteers as well as technical assistance, news, and training resources.

Corporate Law Departments

Pro Bono Institute at Georgetown University Law Center provides information, training, and consulting to large law firms and corporations interested in making a commitment to pro bono.

Corporate Pro Bono provides information for in-house lawyers and their companies interested in starting or expanding a pro bono program.

Paralegals

The Paralegal Division of the State Bar of Texas offers paralegal assistance for pro bono cases. Pro bono attorneys may contact Patricia Giuliano, Pro Bono Committee Chair, pgiulian@coxsmith.com.

Court Reporters

The Texas Court Reporters Association Pro Bono Program offers court reporter assistance for pro bono cases. Pro bono attorneys may contact Debbie Saenz, Texas Court Reporters Association, debbiesaenz@sbcglobal.net.