1/19/05

The Circle of Excellence was developed to publicly recognize firms, corporations, or organizations that have provided pro bono service collectively through donations of pro bono time or financial contributions or both to bring every affiliated attorney into compliance with the Voluntary Pro Bono Standard. On average, each attorney has contributed at least 3 cases or 30 hours of representation to low-income individuals or organizations, or made a financial donation of at least $300 to a non-profit program organized for the purpose of delivering civil legal services to low-income individuals. Every reader is encouraged to initiate steps within the firm, corporate legal department, or organization with which he or she is associated to adopt a pro bono policy and lead efforts in its implementation.

For the 2005 Circle of Excellence, we will collect data at the beginning of the year based on 2004 calendar year activities of firms and corporations in order to align more closely with annual ATJ Campaign data.