This year, National Pro Bono Week’s theme is “Voice of Democracy: Ensuring Justice for All.” Every day, millions of Americans are prevented from finding safe housing, meeting critical health care needs, and exercising other rights due to our country’s inability to ensure that everyone facing a legal problem can access help for it. As our Fast Company op-ed outlined, for communities of color, immigrants, rural communities, and those living on low incomes, the justice gap is simply the status quo.

Pro Bono Net would like to recognize the thousands of lawyers, advocates, paralegals, law students and others who put their legal expertise to use serving those in need and advocating for a more just world. Pro bono work doesn’t just fill a gap – it amplifies our collective ability to shape a more just and equitable society. Below are five resources for legal professionals looking to get involved and for organizations seeking to strengthen their pro bono efforts. 

1. National Pro Bono Opportunities Guide

Pro Bono Net’s National Pro Bono Opportunities Guide is a joint project of Pro Bono Net, the ABA Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service, and the ABA Center for Pro Bono, in collaboration with probono.net network partners across the country. Through the Guide, attorneys, law students, paralegals and other legal professionals can find organizations offering opportunities in their local community and areas of interest, and contact organizations to get involved. To access the Guide, visit probono.net/volunteer. 

2. Immigration Advocates Network Volunteer Guide and Nonprofit Resource Center

The Immigration Advocates Network, a program of Justicia Lab, Pro Bono Net’s immigrant justice incubator, is a community of more than 11,000 lawyers, paralegals, students, and not for profit organizations committed to immigrant justice. IAN harnesses the power of technology and collaboration to provide nonprofit and pro bono immigration law practitioners with free online training resources, practice resources and access to experts on issues such as refugee/asylum advocacy, working with immigrant children and working with clients in detention. Get involved by joining the Nonprofit Resource Center. Membership is free for pro bono lawyers and nonprofit staff. Legal professionals interested in volunteering for immigrant justice can also search for opportunities through IAN’s Volunteer Guide.

3. The probono.net Network

Our probono.net platform supports more than 20 national and statewide justice networks and thousands of pro bono volunteers and legal advocates working collaboratively to tackle pressing justice issues, including  probono.net/la, legalaidprobono.org, vetsprobono.org, and advocatesfordisasterjustice.org and more. Visit probono.net/network to find and join other pro bono networks. 

4. Practising Law Institute’s Pro Bono Membership

Practising Law Institute (PLI) proudly offers Pro Bono Memberships, granting unlimited access to a wide selection of programming to qualifying legal aid organizations and other IRC Section 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations which provide direct representation, as well as law school public interest clinics. PLI also offers over 2,500 individual scholarships on a yearly basis. Learn more. 

PLI also offers interactive pro bono programs through the Interactive Learning Center (ILC) to sharpen your skills in a fun and practical way. These innovative programs help new and seasoned attorneys taking on pro bono cases. Topics include: Communicating with Pro Bono Clients, Interviewing Pro Bono Clients, Working with Domestic Violence Survivors, and more.

5. Tech solutions to help volunteers reach and represent those in need

In addition to our resources for individual volunteers and those offered by our partners like PLI, Pro Bono Net creates scalable and sustainable tech solutions for nonprofits, courts, and law firms to empower volunteers to reach and represent those in need, including Remote Legal Connect, which powers remote advocacy initiatives in six states; LawHelp Interactive, our free online legal forms program used daily in pro bono services and clinics across the country; and Pro Bono Manager, used by leading law firms to more efficiently manage, promote and grow their pro bono program—and ultimately do more good.

Interested in learning more about these programs? Reach out to us at info@probono.net. 

For more more information about Pro Bono Net’s programs and initiatives, visit our website at: www.probono.net/programs

As an organization committed to justice, Pro Bono Net works to bring the power of the law to all and to make the law work for the many and not the few.

Hispanic Heritage Month runs from September 15th, which marks the independence days of many countries in Central and South America, through October 15th. This month celebrates “the histories, cultures and contributions of American citizens whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central and South America,” according to the National Hispanic Heritage Month website.

In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, we’re thrilled to highlight our Board Chair, Betty Balli Torres, and an in-depth interview our LawHelp Interactive Program Manager, Claudia Johnson, recently conducted with Betty about Betty’s background as a Latiné leader, work as Executive Director of the Texas Access to Justice Foundation, view of technology’s role in expanding access to justice, and more. We’re so grateful for Betty’s leadership and support of our work, and for all of her tremendous accomplishments as a champion of justice. 

About Betty

Betty has dedicated her professional career to public interest work serving as an advocate for civil legal services for the poor. She has served as the Executive Director of the Texas Access to Justice Foundation, the largest funding source for legal services to the poor in Texas, since 2001. Betty started as a staff attorney at Legal Aid of Central Texas after graduating from the University of Texas School of Law. She has held various public interest law positions, including: Executive Director of Laredo Legal Aid Society, Inc., Legal Director of Volunteer Legal Services of Central Texas, Managing Attorney of Legal Aid of Central Texas and as a staff attorney at Advocacy, Inc.

Betty has served on many local, statewide and national committees, boards and task forces related to access to justice and the legal profession. She is a Past President of the National Association of IOLTA Programs, Immediate Past-chair of the American Bar Association’s (ABA)’s Commission on Hispanic Legal Rights and Responsibilities, Past Co-chair of the Board of Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees Past-Chair of the Hispanic Issues Section of the State Bar of Texas and Past Co-Chair of the ABA’s Working Group on Unaccompanied Minors.  She currently  serves on the board of Management Information Exchange (MIE), member of the Steering Committee of the National Legal Aid and Defender Association (NLADA)’s Latino Section, Co-Chair of NAIP’s Racial Justice Committee and member of the ABA’s Commission on Racial Justice and Ethnic Justice. She currently serves as Chair of Pro Bono Net.

Betty is a recipient of the Distinguished Lawyer Award (Austin Bar Association), Tower of Justice Award (Texas Legal Services Center), Outstanding Public Interest Attorney Award (Travis County Women Lawyers Association), the Regina Rogoff Award (Austin Bar Association), the “Nonny” Award for Outstanding Nonprofit Leadership in Austin, the “Star of Justice” Award (Texas Access to Justice Commission), the prestigious Harold Kleinman Award, the Community Service, Chair and Pro Bono Awards (Hispanic Issues Section-State Bar of Texas), Emily C. Jones Lifetime Achievement Award and the ABA’ s Grassroots Advocacy Award.

How do you identify? LatinX? Chicana? Hispanic? Latina?

We kicked off the interview talking about identity. This month is Hispanic Heritage Month and thus the topic of identity, self definition, and personal identity are very much in our minds. Betty’s response was powerful and refreshing:

Betty: “Identity journey – who decides what we are called? Who made that decision? You get told what you are: Chicano, Hispanic, Latina, LatinX, etc. Somehow we continue to be labeled by the government, State, others, and why? I prefer plain American – born and raised in the US.”

Betty shared insights on how these labels given by others create controversy within the Latiné community. For her, the question of identity is more about her family background, thus she identifies as Mexican American. Why? Because her dad was born in the US and her mom was born in Mexico. So she is both. 

Betty would prefer that we skip these labels, and focus on our national identity – US born, but with immigrant mom roots and US dad roots. In effect, having others decide what box we fit in, and who they are is rather limiting. Over the course of her life and career, Betty has seen the labels come and go. It used to be that some of these labels were considered put downs, and then they became popular, like Chicano. Betty reflects, “what if the labels changed every year? I am still a US citizen with immigrant roots like most of us?” From Betty’s perspective, we should not allow anyone but ourselves to define us, because these labels help us, put us in a box and we are more than that label, whatever it is.

How long have you been leading the Foundation? What has been the hardest lesson you have learned as a funder in terms of funding innovative, game-changing projects and programs?

Betty shared that in the course of her experience, there has only been one other Latiné IOLTA director for the first 16 years of holding the position and  it is only in the past six years that there has been another Latina director. Her counterpart is from Puerto Rico, and in all this time, there has not been any other Latiné leading any other state ATJ funding foundation that funds the services often provided to the Latinx, Black, Native American, or Asian communities.

More disappointing is that there seems to be a nominal pipeline to ensure that the state ATJ funding foundations can eventually include other life experiences. Out of the 52 individual foundations, there are less than a handful of  people of color at the helm. To Betty, the fact that this has not improved in the past 20 years, when so many have graduated from law school, and are working and contributing in earnest and are excellent strategists, is disappointing. So she has made diversity a main area of focus of her volunteer and professional work. 

Betty’s background prior to leading the Foundation in Texas is exceptional. She shared that she has been a legal aid lawyer, Pro Bono Director, worked at the border as a director, and did work at Disability Rights, all in Texas. Her direct advocacy in different communities and always there for the monolingual Spanish speaking clients and the most vulnerable groups informs her funding priorities now. She does not come with a top down approach, or from wealth management of firm background, but from direct experience representing people with mental and physical disabilities and the most vulnerable among us. 

Betty joined the Pro Bono Net board because she sees and believes that tech can help be part of a solution, but is well aware that tech is not a silver bullet particularly to some of the most vulnerable in our communities.

Overlaying tech into an unnecessarily complicated system is not helpful. Betty strongly believes that “until we simplify the legal system, there has to be a human that works with certain populations. We have to make the technology that fits the communities. Technology has to be purposefully inclusive.” She believes that Pro Bono Net is centered on these values and beliefs, making it a unique tech nonprofit in this space. For example, she mentioned ¡Reclamo!, tackles the problem of stolen wages for immigrants, a real problem, with a very vulnerable population, immigrants and developing that tool with intentionality and community involvement.

In terms of her approach to funding, the Foundation likes to invest in what works and is effective, which isn’t necessarily what is “new”. For example, Texas Law Help helps millions per year and has for a long time. She is proud when resources can be shared for free to millions of people each year.

Another tool that she thinks is a good investment in the Access to Justice space is Live Chat, which has been around since 2015 in legal nonprofits. It is “old school” and that is ok by her. It is effective and provides good service in a reliable and high quality manner.  

That said, the Texas Access to Justice Foundation (TAJF) is willing and very open to investing in new strategies, including funding legal kiosks, and new kiosks in Texas. TAJF has funded 25 kiosks and put them not inside the traditional places, but really placing them where the community is, for example shelters, libraries, Native American areas, rural deserts. She likes that they are learning from each different location and design. Betty shared that while a press event was being conducted in deep West Texas, a community member with legal needs  showed up to use the new tool showing the need in remote areas. All the centers will be evaluated and then from there they will select how best to replicate them. Most importantly, the services and systems need to get out of the downtown buildings and go where the community is. “Get out to the community” as she shared.

TAJF is also focusing on ensuring all language groups are not left without legal information and services, and has made significant strategic investments in updating and modernizing in terms of language access and design, Texas Law Help. 

What drew you to Board leadership at Pro Bono Net? What’s something that excites you about PBN’s work and impact?

Betty pictured with PBN staff members (right to left) Jessica Stuart, Claudia Johnson and Megan Vizzini

Betty has been a long-standing member of the Pro Bono Net (PBN) Board and started serving in 2004, way before she became our Board Chair. She knew about LawHelp and then LawHelp Interactive, and saw that our technology, and not just one tool, were part of the solution. The one aspect of Pro Bono Net she finds thrilling, is that PBN always is innovating, improving, and coming up with new models that explore how and why technology can be impactful in empowering communities in need. She finds PBN innovative and dynamic and constantly improving or creating new approaches to a deep and hard problem. This is what keeps her involved.

She anticipates that PBN will improve at sharing the impact our tools make. She knows that we have a deep impact across the US, but she wants to see more of that impact story told. PBN’s constant innovation, not staying stagnant, is unique, special, and needs to be supported. Not all tech groups do this and she values and supports PBN’s growth mindset. IMMI, ¡Reclamo! – growth mindset.

 Betty shared that time is a precious commodity. She is focusing all her energy where it is needed, and she is proud of contributing to PBN. She is now even more careful about where she spends her time, and her number one priority is to focus on the intersectionality of race and access to justice and supporting groups like PBN that make a real impact at scale.

One area she thinks needs more energy is in telling how nonprofit technology is having a huge impact on Access to Justice. There is an ecosystem of free high quality tools, like the ones that PBN focuses on, that are making a difference in the millions. How does that story become known? How does the ATJ ecosystem value those nonprofit contributions? We talked about how it will probably not be one tool to rule them all, but a group of tools all aligning along incentives and mission, to provide valuable and impactful tools for free for those in need. And how do we ensure that they are available to groups serving primarily POC and other systematically excluded communities.

How does the foundation decide priorities to fund projects? Who does it look for inspiration, for guidance? Are you focusing on reducing the court backlogs, for example, or are you looking more toward economic equality for systematically oppressed groups? If you had a magic wand, what projects would you fund? Think wild and outside the box.

Betty: “In the ATJ world, the biggest issue is that the legal system was not created for people. If I had a magic wand, we would reshape the system to create it for anyone, not just lawyers. We would have to make every area of the law so that anyone could go to represent themselves. Everything would be approachable, there would be people who speak your language and there would be multiple places to go for help, including online. There would not be a need to travel too far. Maybe you could go to a neighborhood court house, where you can do your own divorce, with support but not needing a lawyer.”

Betty wonders how we bring simplicity into the legal system. What we have is not for the people but for the system. We need to shift our thinking from “I need a lawyer” to “I need to get some guidance and support/orientation.” We need to help people resolve the issues with minimal time, stress, and resources. 

Betty observes that some progress has been made with providing one lawyer to one client in certain courts, like landlord tenant court in some cities; however, that is not enough. If legal aid groups can only help 8 percent out of a 100 people who qualify for services, then the system is broken. The way forward, in Betty’s opinion, is to simplify the system, and to start thinking of community-based solutions, not top down approaches. Go where the people are, and there you will find the needs and solutions to problems. Bring back community-based services, but don’t center on the lawyers. Simple, free, easy to use technology will be part of that solution.

The solution would be one where people don’t need a lawyer to get through a process.  

Betty speaking at Pro Bono Net Board and donor reception in March 2023

Thank you to Betty Balli Torres for taking the time to be interviewed and sharing your insights, energy, and wisdom. We are lucky to have you leading our board.  

Pro Bono Net is grateful for all Latiné staff and Board members, partners, advocates, and supporters’ contributions to our work. We are also grateful that as a technical solutions leader in the area of access to justice, we strive to serve the Latinx community in parity with national demographics, and we remain committed to creating and building tools and partnerships that serve all, regardless of language and national origin, race, ethnicity and religion.

Pro Bono Net mourns the passing of our dear friend and founding Board member, Michael Mills, a legal technology pioneer and access to justice champion. Michael’s trailblazing work using technology and innovation to transform the delivery of legal services, along with his enduring support for Pro Bono Net’s mission, played a pivotal role in our impact over more than two decades. He will also be remembered for his unflagging kindness, generosity, and personal encouragement that inspired us and countless others he mentored.

“Michael was instrumental in building Pro Bono Net.  He was one of the early board members,” said Michael Hertz, the co-founder of Pro Bono Net.  “When we started PBN, he helped arrange for Davis Polk to second [co-founder] Mark to PBN for a number of years to get us through the start-up phase.  He also dug in and helped us through so many challenging times over the years.  He knew the sector, the tech, and had such a balanced approach to every situation.  It was invaluable to have someone like Michael on our side.”

Michael was a founder’s dream advisor: endlessly generous with his time, professional connections and good ideas. As Pro Bono Net grew, he helped us envision and pursue new access to justice innovations, including through his participation in the Legal Services Corporation’s 2011 and 2013 Summits on the Use of Technology to Expand Access to Justice, where he championed the application of business process analysis to the legal aid sector, and as a founder of Neota Logic, a pioneering legal expert system software, which he made available for use by law schools and nonprofits tackling justice system challenges. He was deeply committed to making the world a better place and an unfailingly loyal friend. I and my colleagues at Pro Bono Net have benefitted from those attributes on countless occasions over the past 25 years.

Michael will be greatly missed by the Pro Bono Net family and the broader legal technology community. We extend our condolences to his life partner Karen MacNeil, his family, and his many friends throughout the community.

During his last months, Michael gave his blessing to friends in the legal tech and knowledge management community to create a memorial fundraising campaign with Pro Bono Net as the beneficiary.  A memorial website, featuring an obituary by Jeff Rovner and a call to action by Oz Benamram, has been published at: https://everloved.com/life-of/michael-mills-tribute/. Jeff’s moving tribute to Michael’s remarkable life and legacy is also available on LinkedIn.

We are honored to share Jeff’s piece within the Pro Bono Net community and grateful to have the opportunity to help commemorate Michael in such a meaningful way.

Mark O’Brien
Executive Director
Pro Bono Net

Created in 2011, each year the Fastcase 50 award honors a diverse group of lawyers, legal technologists, policymakers, judges, law librarians, bar association executives, and people from all walks of life. Fastcase “recognizes people who have made important, but unheralded contributions.”

Pro Bono Net’s Rodrigo Camarena has made this year’s Fastcase 50! Rodrigo is the Director of Justicia Lab, Pro Bono Net’s incubator of immigrant justice technology.

Rodrigo joined the Pro Bono Net team in July 2018, first as the Director of the Immigration Advocates Network (IAN), the largest network of nonprofit legal advocates committed to defending immigrants, and now as Director of Justicia Lab. Prior to joining Pro Bono Net, Rodrigo was formerly Strategy Director at Purpose where he developed advocacy campaigns, digital products and brand strategies for global change-makers like the Ford Foundation, UNICEF, and Fwd.us. Prior to Purpose, Rodrigo developed new initiatives to tackle economic inequality as Executive Director of Business Growth Programs for the City of New York. Rodrigo is also the former Executive Director of the Mixteca Organization – an immigrant rights organization based in Sunset Park Brooklyn.

Since joining Pro Bono Net, Rodrigo has transformed Pro Bono Net’s immigrants rights program (formerly known as Immigration Advocates Network) by broadening its scope and changing its name to Justicia Lab. Justicia Lab’s goal is to rebalance the scales and give immigrants and their advocates new tools to navigate our immigration system, find workplace justice, and more.

Justicia Lab projects and tools include: Citizenshipworks, an online naturalization platform designed to make applying for citizenship easy; immi, a tool to help immigrants in the U.S. understand their legal options and access critical resources from any location; immigrationLawHelp, a searchable online directory of over 1,000 free or low-cost nonprofit immigration legal services providers in all 50 states; and ¡Reclamo!, an online tool designed to help worker advocates retrieve stolen wages for workers.

Congratulations to Rodrigo and all of the other 2023 Fastcase 50 honorees. Check out the full list at: https://vlex.com/fastcase-50-class-2023 

This was originally posted on LawHelpNY. To learn more about LawHelpNY visit: lawhelpny.org/about-us.  

If you live in New York and the recent storms and floods have affected you, find out about help from the government.  After some disasters, the federal government offers recovery support and guidance. To check if federal help is available in your area, please visit https://www.fema.gov/disaster/declarations. Go to the official news of the New York Governor’s Office for updates here. 

Help with Recovery & Damaged Property 

  • If you need information about your area, you can either call 211 or search online here. The 211 helpline can answer your questions. 
  • A lot of nonprofit organizations offer free support for response and recovery after a disaster. You can find one near your location by clicking here.
  • If you’re a homeowner and the disaster damaged your home, you can apply for emergency repair grants of up to $50,000. To apply, go to  www.rupco.org or call (845) 713-4568 ext. 114 for more information. 
  • If you lost or damaged an important document, find information here on replacing it. Examples include social security cards, medical cards, military records, immigration records, bank records, passports, and tax returns. 
  • If you lost a credit card, you can call the bank that issued the card to get a new one. Call your credit card company if your credit card was not issued by your bank. Major credit card companies include:
    • American Express: 1-800-992-3404
    • Discover: 1-800-347-2683
    • MasterCard: 1-800-627-8372
    • VISA: 1-800-847-2911
  • If you need to replace your debit card, contact your bank. They can tell you how to replace your card. If you’re not sure how to contact your bank or credit union, call the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) at 1-877-275-3342. They can help you too. 
  • If you need to submit a claim with your insurance company, this guide can help. 

If you have a legal problem, a lawyer can help. 

Legal help organizations that offer free guidance and support for different issues, including: 

Immediately After a Disaster

  • Problems with your landlord 
  • Applying for government benefits
  • Applying for loans
  • Getting covered by insurance
  • Replacing lost documents
  • Wage theft

1-6 Months After a Disaster

  • If federal disaster help is available in your area:
    • applying for Federal Emergency Management (FEMA) aid
    • appealing  FEMA denials or amounts awarded by FEMA
  • Renewing rent subsidies or other government benefits
  • Evictions and repair questions
  • Proving homeownership and “clearing” property title
  • Fighting for better  insurance claim coverage
  • Contractor scams and disputes
  • Powers of attorney for child care or the elderly
  • Modifying (changing) parenting orders to reflect new home and school locations
  • Estate planning

6 Months to Years After a Disaster

  • Home loan foreclosures
  • Bankruptcy
  • If federal disaster help is available in your area, defending against FEMA “recoupments” (when they ask for money back)
  • Applying for disaster tax relief
  • Disagreements about home elevation or significant home damage
  • Housing repair and mold issues

To find legal help near you, go to the legal help directory by LawHelpNY.

Finally, the New York Free Legal Answers website has free legal advice for disaster survivors.

Pro Bono Net is pleased to announce our new Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) national trainings for lawyers and advocates nationwide. The webinars are not only for those currently working with survivors of climate-driven disasters, but also for advocates who may potentially support disaster survivors in the future. The trainings are designed in partnership with Legal Aid of Sonoma County and the Disaster Legal Assistance Collaborative. It is supported by the Bigglesworth Family Foundation. 

What will the trainings focus on?

After the President of the United States declares a major disaster, federal funds may be available through FEMA for individuals, families, and small businesses to recover. Many disaster survivors apply to access these funds, but they can be denied this assistance or not provided with enough assistance to recover. Disaster survivors have a right to appeal, but only a small percentage of them do.

The national trainings will focus on the process lawyers and other advocates working with survivors must follow if they want to appeal FEMA’s determination on disaster assistance. Attendees will also learn how to use Pro Bono Net’s bilingual FEMA appeals digital tool to create an appeal letter. The tool helps survivors to understand the appeals process, makes it easier to clearly articulate why the agency should reconsider its decision, and gives survivors a greater chance of obtaining the assistance they need to recover from the disaster. Over the past decade, the tool has helped over 14,000 survivors impacted by major climate disasters. All trainings will have closed captioning.

Who will present the trainings and when will they take place?

Pro Bono Net is conducting the trainings in partnership with Legal Aid of Sonoma County and the Disaster Legal Assistance Collaborative. We will host a total of four trainings for different audiences starting in June 2023 and continuing through September 2023:

  • Tuesday, June 13, 2023, at 2:00 pm ET – “A Beginner’s Guide to Appealing the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Disaster Assistance Decision,” will be open to community librarians, disaster case managers, staff and attorneys at legal aid organizations and pro bono programs, attorneys interested in doing pro bono work after a disaster, and advocates from long-term recovery groups nationwide. Register here. 
  • Tuesday, July 25, 2023, at 11:00 am PT – “A Beginner’s Guide to Appealing the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Disaster Assistance Decision (California),” will cover the FEMA appeals process and include specific information for attorneys and other advocates working with California-based survivors. Register here. 
  • Tuesday, August 22, 2023, at 2:00 pm ET – “A Disability Rights Advocate’s Guide to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Disaster Assistance Appeals Process,” will include specific information that attorneys and advocates should know about when working on a FEMA appeal with a disaster survivor that has a disability. Register here. 
  • Tuesday, September 19, 2023, at 2:00 pm ET – “A Beginner’s Guide to Appealing the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Disaster Assistance Decision (Spanish interpretation provided),” will be open to community librarians, disaster case managers, staff and attorneys at legal aid organizations and pro bono programs, attorneys interested in doing pro bono work after a disaster, and advocates from long-term recovery groups nationwide. Spanish interpretation will be provided. Register here. 

Will the trainings be recorded?

Recordings and training materials will be posted to the Advocate Network of Advocate for Disaster Justice at www.advocatesfordisasterjustice.org. Access to the materials and recordings will require a log-in as a member, but membership is free. Learn more here.

About Pro Bono Net 

Pro Bono Net is a national nonprofit leader in building technology and collaborations that bring the power of the law to all. For over 20 years, Pro Bono Net and its programs have supported disaster recovery by connecting lawyers and equipping survivors with resources and self-advocacy tools. Learn more here. 

About Advocates for Disaster Justice 

Advocates for Disaster Justice, formerly DisasterLegalAid.org, is the largest national network of justice advocates and allies working to advance equity, rights and resilience in communities impacted by climate-driven and other disasters. Learn more here.

About Legal Aid of Sonoma County 

Legal Aid of Sonoma County has provided services to Sonoma County’s indigent population for over 60 years. Founded in 1958 and incorporated in 1983 as a private nonprofit, Legal Aid provides crisis legal services to low-income families, children, elders, immigrants, and other vulnerable Sonoma County residents. Learn more here.

About the Disaster Legal Assistance Collaborative

The Disaster Legal Assistance Collaborative (DLAC) is a partnership of 27 organizations throughout the state that includes legal aid organizations, law firms, government agencies, local bar associations, and social services providers. Our mission is to deliver free legal assistance to all those impacted by disasters throughout California.  DLAC recruits and trains volunteer attorneys to provide free legal assistance and resources to disaster survivors through its call-in Helpline, online platform Free Legal Answers, disaster preparedness outreach, and Title Clearing Program. Learn more here.

About the Bigglesworth Family Foundation 

The Bigglesworth Family Foundation supports programs and projects that help create systemic change by strengthening the capacity of non-profit organizations and addressing delivery system and historic challenges. Learn more here.

Pro Bono Net is proud to announce the launch of ¡Reclamo!, the most comprehensive platform to date to help immigrant workers fight back against wage theft. The launch is the result of more than three years of dedicated work between Justicia Lab, Pro Bono Net’s incubator for immigrant justice, and community partners including Make the Road New York’s team of attorneys, paralegals, workers, and organizers.

¡Reclamo! marks a number of milestones for Pro Bono Net. It’s our most ambitious effort to date to directly address labor and workplace access to justice. For Justicia Lab, it marks the first effort in the program’s expanded mission to address legal issues disproportionately affecting immigrants in America beyond our longstanding innovation work directly related to immigration policy and the immigration system. And ¡Reclamo! is a direct extension of Pro Bono Net’s work focused on legal empowerment: helping all Americans to better understand, claim and fulfill their rights under the law, developing digital strategies that seek to shift power and agency to those most impacted by injustices, and scaling legal support through community justice partners. 

Learn more in our launch announcement below. Make the Road and other worker center and employment justice partners have already filed over 1 million dollars in wage theft claims on behalf of workers since ¡Reclamo! was launched in beta in October 2022. Amid necessary and overdue conversations around a changing workforce and labor equity, we need to make sure the most invisible in our society and most vulnerable to exploitation – and those who take on many of the most challenging and integral roles in our economy – have the same access to our justice system and have tools that are specifically designed with them and for their needs.

Immigrant justice nonprofits launch ¡Reclamo!, most comprehensive platform to date to help immigrant workers fight back against wage theft

First generation of the tool to empower workers and their advocates to combat labor exploitation in New York State’s construction and building sector

PRESS CONTACT: press@justicialab.org
MEDIA KIT

Today Justicia Lab, Pro Bono Net’s nonprofit innovation incubator for technology solutions supporting the immigrant rights movement, announces the official launch of ¡Reclamo!, the most comprehensive tool developed to date to help address wage theft of immigrant workers in the United States. 

¡Reclamo! (or “Reclaim” in Spanish) is the first independent and not for profit worker advocacy digital legal tool to screen and file wage theft complaints. The web and mobile platform creates a flexible and scalable way for workers and advocates to know, use, and shape employment laws. ¡Reclamo! helps low-wage, immigrant workers seek economic justice, prevent impoverishment, and provide worker advocates with the tools to not only accelerate the production of wage theft claims but to also safely gather data to inform organizing, litigation, and policy change. 

The initial iteration of the tool focuses on wage theft violations in the construction and building sector in New York State. ¡Reclamo! was developed in close collaboration with lead partner Make the Road New York and is currently being piloted with other worker centers and employment justice partners across New York City and Westchester including New Immigrant Community Empowerment, TakeRoot Justice, El Centro del Inmigrante, and Community Resource Center. Together these partners have already filed over 1 million dollars in wage theft claims on behalf of workers since the tool was launched in beta in October 2022. 

Wage theft is a national epidemic with losses to workers estimated at $50 billion annually nationwide. An estimated 2.1 million New Yorkers are victims of wage theft each year, placing New York 4th in the nation when it comes to the highest prevalence of wage theft amongst low-wage workers. And immigrants are especially vulnerable to labor exploitation – employment studies show that foreign-born workers in New York City are more than twice as likely as their U.S.-born counterparts to experience wage theft. 

Wage theft is enabled by a host of factors including: a lack of knowledge by workers around state wage and hour rules, poorly designed and enforced bureaucratic complaint processes,  and lack of free or low bono legal assistance. Many immigrant workers who want to pursue wage and hour claims must overcome language barriers, fear of retaliation, and complicated paperwork. 

¡Reclamo! is designed to address each of these challenges, significantly scaling the number of wage theft cases that can be addressed by allowing non-lawyer advocates to process claims including worker organizers, paralegals, social workers, librarians, and staff from worker and employment centers.

“Low-wage, immigrant workers are doing some of the most difficult jobs in our society while systematically being robbed of the wages that they are lawfully owed. With ¡Reclamo! we are equipping worker advocates with a new tool to reclaim stolen wages and better understand the impact of wage theft in our communities.”

Rodrigo Camarena, Director of Justicia Lab.

¡Reclamo! combines the following features into one integrated platform: 

  • Wage Theft Calculator: Feature that allows workers to figure out how much money they’re owed by answering a simple set of plain language questions. This feature captures information on unpaid wages, minimum wage violations, overtime, illegal deductions, liquidated damages, fines and benefits including sick leave
  • Direct Action and Legal Recourse Center: Using the information calculated by the tool, ¡Reclamo! populates a Department of Labor complaint form, a demand letter referencing New York State labor laws, and a calling script to help non-lawyer advocates put pressure on employers to fulfill their labor obligations
  • Worker and Advocate Education: Many immigrant workers are unaware of their rights as both immigrants and workers. ¡Reclamo! embeds knowledge about local, state and national labor laws within the platform, including information about what constitutes wage theft, to empower the immigrant community and their non-lawyer advocates
  • Data for Advocacy and Enforcement: In order to address wage theft at scale, ¡Reclamo! uses data to identify larger claims and/or patterns among employers to identify opportunities for worker organizing and systemic reform.

The public launch of ¡Reclamo! follows three years of co-design and development with Justicia Lab alongside Make the Road’s team of attorneys, paralegals, workers, and organizers. The collaborative design process included extensive user and expert interviews, design research and observation, and prototyping and testing with ongoing worker and advocate feedback. The tool brings in best practices in equitable technology development, addressing longstanding trust issues that many immigrants experience with technology by prioritizing data and privacy security and language access.

“I am thrilled to have ¡Reclamo! ready for every worker advocate to use to tackle the scourge of wage theft across our communities. We have worked for years with Justicia Lab to implement this effective organizing, education, and legal tool for all workers, and their advocates, in New York State. All too often, workers whose wages are stolen by employers are not able to access a lawyer, and ¡Reclamo! is designed particularly for those advocates who do not work with an attorney to help workers in their cases.”

Elizabeth Joynes Jordan, Make The Road New York’s Legal Director and co-creator of the tool.

Justicia Lab plans to adapt ¡Reclamo! for use in other industries (hospitality, restaurants, retail) and other states (California, Texas, Illinois) where wage theft is rampant. ¡Reclamo! was the winner of the Worker’s Lab Innovation Fund competition and a finalist of the Civic I/O Civic Tech Pitch at SXSW.

About Justicia Lab

Justicia Lab is Pro Bono Net’s immigrant justice technology lab, and a nonprofit legal tech initiative whose mission is to transform immigrant justice through collaboration, creativity, and technology. We work hand in hand with immigrants and their advocates to identify common challenges and incubate scalable digital tools to advance help immigrants navigate our immigration system, find workplace justice, and more. Justicia Lab has developed over a dozen immigrant justice legal tools to scale and support the work of advocates and bridge the justice gap, helping over 500,000 people find critical immigration information and relief.

About Pro Bono Net

Pro Bono Net is a national nonprofit leader in building technology and collaborations that increase access to justice. From connecting attorneys to those most in need to creating legal tools to help individuals advocate for themselves, Pro Bono Net makes the law work for the many and not the few. 

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The Equal Justice Conference (EJC) is an annual convening hosted by the American Bar Association and the National Legal Aid & Defender Association. The event brings together lawyers and advocates from across the United States to discuss strategies for breaking down barriers to equal justice and promoting greater equity in the legal system. Attendees also share new developments and innovations in providing legal services to people with low incomes. 

This year marked the conference’s 25th anniversary with over 1,000 attendees and more than 80 sessions on delivery innovations, diversity, management, information technology, pro bono service delivery, resource development, and substantive law issues. 

Pro Bono Net’s Mark O’Brien, Claudia Johnson, Jessica Stuart, Alison Corn, Megan Vizzini, and I had the opportunity to attend EJC this year. It’s a great opportunity to listen to experts who share Pro Bono Net’s goals to increase access to justice, learn about innovations in legal service delivery beyond Pro Bono Net’s own network, and connect in person with Pro Bono Net partners and friends. Below are five of my highlights from EJC.  

President Lyndon B. Johnson’s Legacy and the Restoration of the U.S. Department of Justice Office for Access to Justice

During the opening plenary session, attendees enjoyed coffee and breakfast during an interview by Mark K. Updegrove, Presidential Historian and Author, with Luci Baines Johnson, daughter of President Lyndon B. Johnson and co-founder of LBJ Family Wealth Advisors. Luci’s reflections shed light on her father’s presidential terms and role in passing several historic federal laws, including the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act, the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, the Revenue Act of 1964, and the Economic Opportunity Act. 

Luci revealed that the only handwritten note she had from her father was from July 2, 1964, at 12:10 pm. Her father celebrated her birthday and the end of legal apartheid (the Civil Rights Act was signed into law that day).

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During the hour-long interview, Luci emphasized the significance of political consensus, shared values, diversity, and justice. She urged EJC attendees to continue the work of constructing a better America— one that advocates for the principles of liberty and equality. She said, “When there is justice for all, there is good for everybody,” and ended with a quote from her father, “Hate and destruction are easy. Hope and construction are hard.” 

Attendees then heard from Rachel Rossi, Director of the U.S. Department of Justice Office for Access to Justice. After being closed in 2018, the Office for Access to Justice was re-established as a standalone agency in 2021 under the Biden administration. During her speech, Rossi highlighted the need to ensure access to justice for all and said that to achieve equal justice, we need bold ideas, creativity, and a spirit of innovation. She talked about a few initiatives led by her office, including the Department’s first-ever Language Access Coordinator. Rossi’s full remarks are here. Her call for ambitious solutions resonated with Pro Bono Net’s work, and a Fast Company op-ed Pro Bono Net authored this year outlining three strategies that government and civil society can undertake to help ensure, as Director Rossi so powerfully put it, “our justice system belongs to everyone.”

Building a More Inclusive and Impactful Pro Bono Community

Of the ten sessions and activities I attended this year, my favorite was “The Changing Landscape of Pro Bono Volunteering.” Led by Martin J. Cowling, a change management expert, this session stood out to me for its energy and ideas by attendees. Martin guided us through the evolution of pro bono and the need to adapt to the interests and preferences of today’s volunteer lawyers, as well as the generational and technological changes that have taken place since the C19 pandemic: 

Attendees shared the challenges they were seeing in pro bono: 

  • Volunteer lawyers don’t want to take on full-representation cases 
  • Seeking alignment between what an organization needs with what a law firm or volunteers want to do 
  • The aging out of legal aid attorneys that do public benefit work 
  • Attorneys are incredibly niched and not wanting to “branch out” 

And a few trends in pro bono: 

  • Lawyers interested in pro bono are seeking a balance between volunteering, work, and personal time 
  • There’s a sense of feeling overwhelmed by global and social issues 
  • Lawyers are interested in remote and local opportunities 

Martin then walked attendees through seven factors to consider when thinking about a new pro bono volunteering model, including: 

  • Impact
    • When sharing your pro bono program or recruiting volunteers, it’s important to think about how you want to communicate impact. For example, instead of saying, “We recruited 4,000 volunteers and donated 1,000 hours,” consider rephrasing the effect to clients’ outcomes, such as “100 people were not evicted and stayed in their homes.”
    • Ask volunteers to share the impact of their work (e.g., what does pro bono mean to you?) 
    • Challenge people, from funders to volunteers, to think about their values and what they stand for. Think about your messaging on impact and frame it around shared values. 
  • Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
    • It’s paramount to incorporate DEI principles into access to justice work. 
    • Volunteers need to be equipped with cultural competencies to work with diverse populations. 
    • Lawyers come from diverse backgrounds, and they are increasingly open about their diversity.

Exploring Data-Driven Approaches to Access to Justice

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Data is becoming increasingly crucial in access to justice and equal justice efforts. Several sessions covered this topic, although I sensed that we had more questions than answers when it came to data:

  • One panelist pointed out that most of our data collection is driven by grant reporting. We should ask ourselves, “why are we collecting data?” This begins to open up our minds to collect data differently.
  • Could generative AI help in turning narrative data into automated data? 
  • How can we collect better client stories? 
  • How can data collection help us better understand the scope of the legal problems our communities are facing? 
  • Where can we find good data (e.g., 211, census data) to track trends and patterns in legal issues and to measure the effectiveness of legal aid and pro bono interventions? 

Pro Bono Net is already exploring and addressing many of these questions, such as examining usage of our LawHelp Interactive program in rural communities,  or among low-income communities during the pandemic. We look forward to continuing these discussions in the months ahead. 

ABA & NLADA Presidents Highlight the Importance of Diversity, Civics, and Racial Equity

Deborah Enix-Ross, the second Black woman to lead the American Bar Association, and April Frazier Camara, President & CEO of the National Legal Aid & Defender Association (NLADA), joined attendees for lunch during the second day of the conference. 

Deborah highlighted the ongoing need for increased diversity within the legal profession and emphasized the importance of civics, collaboration, and civility as the “cornerstone of democracy.” On the other hand, April underlined the importance of understanding systems of oppression and talked about NLADA’s Racial Equity Initiative, which aims to translate ideas into values. She finalized her remarks by inviting the over 1,000 attendees to chant with her, “When we fight, we win.” 

The Power Behind Storytelling

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While I left the conference with valuable insights, the highlight of my attendance was the “Story Slam” during the Host Committee’s Reception on Thursday evening. Attendees were invited to share their stories of justice within five minutes, although all the stories deserved more time. Stories of injustice transformed into stories of hope, success, and resilience, which moved some storytellers and attendees to tears. The stories, mostly about immigration and family law, were a powerful reminder of the ongoing struggle for equality and why the work of many lawyers, legal professionals, and advocates nationwide is still necessary. 

Examples of Initiatives & Resources of Interest

Below are a few resources and projects that I learned about at EJC: 

  • In California, the Legal Services Funders Network matches recent law graduates who are awaiting bar exam results with legal service organizations. 
  • In Illinois, the Chicago Bar Foundation is supporting “The Above Line Network,” a new group of incubators, nonprofit law firms, sliding-scale legal aid programs, and other entities working to better serve people considered over-income for purposes of legal aid assistance. 
  • In South Carolina, Charleston Legal Access is leading the way by providing direct legal assistance at reduced fees ($50 – $100 per hour) to South Carolinians with low and moderate incomes. 
  • At a session about access to civil justice research, panelists highlighted this working paper series about the “formality effect,” showing that formal government communications are more effective at influencing people’s behavior than informal government communications. This article about deregulation was another one panelists shared, which singles out state court judges and their role in facilitating nonlawyer participation and legal document preparation in domestic violence cases. 

Interested in Learning More About Pro Bono Net and What We Do?

Pro Bono Net will be hosting a webinar in the coming weeks to give an overview of our organization, including Pro Bono Net’s different products and programs. From LawHelp Interactive, our legal forms and document assembly solution, to Advocates for Disaster Justice and Justicia Lab, our immigration justice technology lab, you will learn how we reach more than 8 million people annually and explore ways we can partner together. If you’re interested in getting on our mailing list for this webinar, please email Megan Vizzini, Director of Business Development, at mvizzini@probono.net.

Jeanne Ortiz-Ortiz is a Senior Program Manager at Pro Bono Net. She coordinates, develops, and grows state and national digital initiatives that strengthen the work of legal advocates and pro bono attorneys helping individuals with their legal problems. 

She’s an honoree of the “On the Rise 40 Top Young Lawyers” award for her work in disaster relief and leadership in the American Bar Association. You can find her on LinkedIn or email her at jortiz@probono.net.

Image 1: A four-picture collage of the conference in Dallas, Texas. The first picture is of several Pro Bono Net staff members. From left to right standing in front of Pro Bono Net’s banner: Jessica Stuart, Senior Product Manager of Pro Bono Manager; Claudia Johnson, Program Manager of LawHelp Interactive; Megan Vizzini, Director of Business Development, and Betty Balli Torres, Pro Bono Net’s Board Chair.

Image 2: Credit: National Archives (NARA). President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act of 1965 with Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, and other civil rights leaders in attendance.

Image 3: Credit: Lukas Photography via Pexels. Document with data graphics on top of stationery.

Image 4: Credit: Gezer Amorim Photography via Pexels. Black and white photo of microphone.

A New Name and a Stronger Mission

Pro Bono Net, in partnership with Lone Star Legal Aid, the American Bar Association Center for Pro Bono, and the National Legal Aid & Defender Association, is pleased to announce the rebrand of its National Disaster Legal Aid Resource Center initiative (DisasterLegalAid.org) to Advocates for Disaster Justice (ADJ).

Advocates for Disaster Justice is the new era of DisasterLegalAid.org, a groundbreaking national collaboration and legal relief effort that took root in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.  It has grown into the largest national network of justice advocates and allies working to advance equity, rights and resilience in communities impacted by climate-driven and other disasters. Learn more about the history and national impact of ADJ. 

In the past several years, communities across the U.S. have increasingly felt the effects of climate change. These have included stronger and more frequent events like wildfires, hurricanes, tornadoes, and heat waves. We’ve also seen the impact of rising sea levels and erosion across different regions, making coastal floods and storms more dangerous and leading to community displacement. 

Recent responses to major disasters have shown that individuals with low incomes, communities of color, people with disabilities, seniors, immigrants, and rural communities often bear the brunt of these effects. Disasters exacerbate existing inequalities and present long-term legal issues that, if left unaddressed, can become more difficult to resolve.

Advocates for Disaster Justice is founded on the belief that everyone, particularly those most exposed to risk, has the right to legal information and support during the recovery phase. Our network advocates for the development and implementation of laws that protect individuals during times of disaster, promotes meaningful participation in community preparation and recovery decision-making processes, and works to ensure equitable access to state and federal recovery resources.

ADJ welcomes those working on both individual and systemic aspects of these evolving challenges. It is rooted in cooperation, trust, and mutual aid, many of the same principles shared by first responder networks and climate justice coalitions.

“ADJ has many valuable resources for advocates to utilize prior to and following a disaster. Also, the Advocate Network is a great way for advocates to connect with each other,” said Amanda Bosley, Managing Attorney of the Disaster Relief Unit at Lone Star Legal Aid. “As someone who has worked over seven years on disaster response and recovery in Texas, I can attest to the importance of having comprehensive resources, trainings, and a supportive network of other colleagues and advocates doing the same work. I hope that advocates find ADJ serves as a bridge to link them to the support they need to reach the goal of advancing equity, rights, and resilience.”  

“Since its launch, DisasterLegalAid.org’s resources have been accessed more than 400,000 times. This underscores the urgency for information about disaster recovery and legal help options, and this need has only increased with the severity of climate-related emergencies over the past few years,” said Jeanne Ortiz-Ortiz, Senior Program Manager at Pro Bono Net. “In partnership with Lone Star Legal Aid, we have built a network of hundreds of dedicated advocates across the country committed to promoting disaster resilience in their communities. ADJ is the new era of these efforts, and I encourage others doing this work or who would like to learn more to join us.” 

Redesigned Website for a Better User Experience 

In addition to the name change, ADJ has also launched a redesigned website using Pro Bono Net’s JusticeHub design. 

The new site offers visitors a more user-friendly experience and provides easy access to resources and trainings. The website also features information on ADJ’s programs, events, and partnerships.

Join Our Mission to Advance Justice and Equity in Times of Crisis

If you’re interested in becoming a member of Advocates for Disaster Justice, you can sign up for free by clicking here. Signing up to Advocates for Disaster Justice is easy. You will be prompted to create a membership profile and someone from our team will review your request. 

By signing up, you’ll have access to:

  • Access to Resources: We provide a range of training resources and support materials to help you get started, whether you’re a legal aid attorney, volunteer attorney, law student, or working directly with a disaster survivor to help them recover. Some of the resources are password-protected, such as examples of FEMA appeals provided by legal aid organizations. 
  • CLE Opportunities: Members are the first to learn about upcoming or new CLE program opportunities organized by Pro Bono Net and Lone Star Legal Aid.  Stay up to date on the latest legal issues and strategies to help disaster survivors.
  • Membership Updates: You’ll receive membership updates and can join different listservs to receive information related to current disaster response and recovery efforts. 
  • Become Part of a Community: You’ll be part of a community that is working to make a difference in helping disaster survivors and communities recover. By joining, you’ll also access a member roster to reach out to others in your area or in other communities.

For more information about Advocates for Disaster Justice, visit the new website at www.advocatesfordisasterjustice.org. For questions about this initiative, please contact Jeanne Ortiz-Ortiz, Senior Program Manager, at jortiz@probono.net. 

Pat Malone is the Legal Director of New York Justice Initiatives at Pro Bono Net. She leads legal and content strategy for LawHelpNY and across initiatives and programs. Pat has extensive experience working with partners, managing projects, and creating legal content for advocates and impacted communities. Her expertise includes writing “smart” interviews, plain language articles, legal updates, practice guides, and newsletters. She brings together experts to create webinars, podcasts, and other legal training materials for the field. Pat has a deep background in immigration law practice, training, and project management.

As promised, Pro Bono Net was well-represented at last week’s New York Statewide Civil Legal Aid Technology Conference. 

On Day One, Pro Bono Net’s Legal Solutions Designer Alison Corn joined our partners from JustFix and The Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction (CALI) to cover the basics on website accessibility. Sateesh Nori from JustFix introduced and moderated the panel. Jessica Frank from CALI covered a number of key accessibility tips, with an emphasis on plain language writing.  Alison brought first-hand knowledge and experience working with partners on accessible websites and content . One particularly interesting tip: use a dyslexia-friendly font to welcome a broader audience. Learn more about fonts and other tips from the panelists on their slide deck.

On Day Two, our Senior Program Manager Jeanne Ortiz-Ortiz joined two panels to share her expertise. The first, Beyond Zoom: Building Long-Term Remote Legal Help Programs to Expand Legal Services to Patients, also featured our friends and partners Kerlann L. Flowers and Emily Manning from the Hofstra Law-Northwell Medical Legal Partnership (MLP). Erin Riker, from the Center for Elder Law and Justice moderated. 

To kick-off the conversation, the panelists surveyed attendees on remote legal services vs. traditional in-person legal services.  Most preferred a mix: 

The panelists discussed tools and strategies for the medical legal partnership, including Remote Legal Connect (RLC). RLC is a Pro Bono Net program with secure online meetings, lite case management, and document sharing capabilities.  

Click here for the panel’s slide deck and here for an article by Jeanne, with more notes on the conference session.

Finally, Jeanne joined everyone’s favorite panel: 25 Apps in 50 Minutes.  The panel included PBN alumni Quisquella Addison, Assistant Teaching Professor at Northeastern University School of Law; Robert Ambrogi, Publisher, LawSites blog and LawNext podcast; Shellie S. Reid of Legal Services National Technology Assistance Project (LSNTAP); and, Quinten Steenhuis, Practitioner in Residence at Suffolk University Law School.  Emeritus Panelist Tim Baran (PBN) moderated.

As the panel zipped through their favorite tools, we could imagine an online meeting attended only by the app we each send to record and take notes on our behalf.  Click here for the slide deck and 24 other cool ideas. 

Pro Bono Net’s New York Justice Initiatives

Our New York Justice Initiatives bring the power of the law to all by expanding access to legal help for the underserved, mobilizing pro bono volunteers and helping our justice community partners throughout the state maximize their impact. Learn more about PBN’s New York Justice Initiatives, visit: https://www.probono.net/our-work/initiatives/newyork/. Or to learn more about other Pro Bono Net programs, visit: https://www.probono.net/programs/.