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October is Pro Bono Month
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Connecting Lawyers with Opportunities
View List of Invitees |
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Oakland & Macomb
October 6, 2011
4:30 p.m.–6:30 p.m.
Thomas M. Cooley Law School
Auburn Hills Campus |
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Grand Rapids
October 11, 2011
11:30 a.m.–1:30 p.m.
Thomas M. Cooley Law School
Grand Rapids Campus |
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Detroit
October 11, 2011
4:00 p.m.–6:30 p.m.
Dykema
Renaissance Center |
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Lansing
October 17, 2011
4:00 p.m.–6:00 p.m.
Thomas M. Cooley Law School
Lansing Campus |
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RSVP requested but not required. For more information and to RSVP, contact Rob Mathis at rmathis@mail.michbar.org.
Note: Pro bono legal assistance or advice will not be provided at any of the Pro Bono Fairs. If you are an individual and need pro bono (low or no cost) legal assistance, please e-mail rmathis@mail.michbar.org or visit http://mi.lawhelp.org for various legal aid programs and services. |
Now more than ever, pro bono is more than just the right thing to do.
For the third year, the State Bar of Michigan has designated October as Pro Bono Month, joining the American Bar Association and many other states in selecting October as a time to highlight the need for and importance of pro bono assistance by lawyers.
Like lawyers all across the country, Michigan attorneys will be taking part in events to educate the public and the legal profession about pro bono. Pro Bono Month is also an opportunity to honor those in the legal profession who provide volunteer legal help for the needy or donate to help legal aid programs through the Access to Justice Fund. (The State Bar Voluntary Pro Bono Standard creates an aspirational goal for each lawyer of 30 hours of pro bono legal service or a $300 donation for legal aid.) Explore the links below which offer tools and resources to promote increased pro bono.
This is a time when increased pro bono is especially needed. In Michigan, the need for pro bono legal help for the poor is greater now than ever. Over 3 million people (nearly 1/3 of all Michigan residents) qualify for free help from legal aid agencies because their annual income is below 200 percent of the federal poverty level (more than 40 percent of Michigan's children are in these low-income households). Foreclosure rates have increased more than 70 percent, and Michigan's unemployment rate remains the highest in the nation. Michigan's nonprofit legal aid programs lack the resources to serve all who need help; they must turn away nearly half of all who request assistance. This can have dire consequences for the poor whose legal problems often affect basic needs like family safety, housing, health, and economic security.
Lawyers who provide pro bono assistance make a difference to the clients they help and also to their communities: helping a domestic violence victim prevents injury and costly medical expenses and alleviates overworked law enforcement; helping a family keep its home prevents homelessness and the burden on shelters and other charitable and government services; helping a worker prevent wrongfully losing his/her job or wages allows individuals to put food on the table and pay their rent; and keeping a child in school reduces truancy and juvenile crime and saves court time and incarceration costs.
That is why, now more than ever, pro bono is more than just the right thing to do.
Please join us in using Pro Bono Month to expand pro bono assistance. To ensure that your local pro bono efforts are recognized and publicized by the State Bar, contact the Pro Bono Initiative at pbi@mail.michbar.org or (517) 346-6412. For more information on the national pro bono effort, visit www.celebrateprobono.org. For additional ways to provide recognition and tools for lawyers contributing pro bono service and donations, see the State Bar A Lawyer Helps program.
Volunteer Online! Find out how you can obtain a referral for a pro bono case. Complete the online volunteer form or contact your local legal aid program.
Contribute Online! Make a financial donation through the Access to Justice Fund to support legal aid by visiting www.atjfund.org.
Menu of Opportunities
October 2011 Events
Locally
Contact the SBM Pro Bono Initiative to get your event posted, check back often for updates of pro bono opportunities and to get involved.
| The October edition of the Michigan Bar Journal will be a special theme issue dedicated to pro bono service. |
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Tenant Law Project—a collaborative effort between Thomas M. Cooley Law School, Grand Rapids Area Coalition to End Homelessness, Legal Aid of Western Michigan, and the Legal Assistance Center, Grand Rapids |
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Cooley Pro Bono Pledge—Thomas M. Cooley Law School, Lansing |
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Oakland & Macomb County Pro Bono Fair presented by the Pro Bono Initiative of the State Bar of Michigan, Thomas M. Cooley Law School, Auburn Hills |
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Dégagé Ministries—Legal Services Program, Thomas M. Cooley Law School, Grand Rapids |
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Project Salute Pro Bono Attorney Training—U.D. Mercy School of Law, Lansing
Immigration Outreach—Cooley Law School, Pontiac
Pro Bono Pledge—Grand Rapids campus of Thomas M. Cooley Law School will be offering their students an opportunity to take a pro bono pledge
Service to Soldiers Program—Cooley Law School, Tuscola County |
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Detroit Pro Bono Fair presented by the Pro Bono Initiative of the State Bar of Michigan, Renaissance Center, Detroit
Grand Rapids Pro Bono & Community Service Fair presented by the Pro Bono Initiative of the State Bar of Michigan, Grand Rapids Bar Ass'n, and Thomas M. Cooley Law School
Pro Bono & Community Service Fair—a collaborative effort between Thomas M. Cooley Law School, and the Grand Rapids Bar Association, Thomas M. Cooley Law School, Grand Rapids |
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Bankruptcy Education Series, Cooley Law School, Detroit
Washtenaw Pro Bono Breakfast—Honigman, Dykema, and Legal Services of South Central MI |
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Cooley Pro Bono Pledge—Thomas M. Cooley Law School, Ann Arbor
U.M. Law School event in conjunction with the White House Champions of Change |
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Free Legal Advice Day—Washtenaw County Bar Ass'n, 14-A-2 District Court, Ypsilanti |
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Lansing Pro Bono Fair presented by the Pro Bono Initiative of the State Bar of Michigan, Thomas M. Cooley Law School, Lansing
Tenant Law Project—a collaborative effort between Thomas M. Cooley Law School, Grand Rapids Area Coalition to End Homelessness, Legal Aid of Western Michigan, and the Legal Assistance Center, Grand Rapids
Pro Bono Night—Hispanic Bar Association, Lincoln Park |
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Cooley Pro Bono Pledge—Thomas M. Cooley Law School, Auburn Hills
Pro Bono Breakfast—Oakland County Circuit & Probate Courts |
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Michigan Litigation Assistance P'ship Program QDRO Admin. Group meeting—providing pro bono preparation of QDROs for low-income individuals
Dégagé Ministries—Legal Services Program, Thomas M. Cooley Law School, Grand Rapids |
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Center for Ethics, Service, and Professionalism, Thomas M. Cooley Law School—attorney training on the Nuances of Representing Military Clients
Veterans Housing Law Rights—MSU College of Law Housing Clinic, Lansing |
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Ask The Lawyer Night—Legal Services of Eastern MI and Saginaw County Bar Ass'n
Pro Bono Appreciation Luncheon with special guest speaker Justice Marilyn Kelly—Legal Services of Eastern MI and Saginaw County Bar Ass'n |
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Prisoner Rights, U.S. District Court, Detroit |
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Legal Information Night—Mel Trotter Ministries—a collaborative effort between Thomas M. Cooley Law School, Michigan Chapter of the Christian Legal Society, and Mel Trotter Ministries, Grand Rapids
Free Legal Aid Clinic—Oakland County Bar Ass'n and Straker Bar Ass'n, Southfield Public Library |
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Immigration Outreach—Cooley Law School, Pontiac
Legal Advice Clinic—staffed by Saginaw County Bar Ass'n attorneys, Legal Services of Eastern MI
Dégagé Ministries—Legal Services Program, Thomas M. Cooley Law School, Grand Rapids
Lansing Area Pro Bono Lunch—Willingham Cote' and Legal Services of South Central MI |
Nov.
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Nuts and Bolts of Divorce—Common Ground Legal Clinic |
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Representing Asylum-Seekers—Freedom House, Schoolcraft College, Livonia |
A Lawyer Helps—Lawyers make a difference for people and for society. They solve legal problems, provide free legal help to the poor, and give time to many other community efforts.
Circle of Excellence 2011—Recognizing firms and corporations who have demonstrated full compliance with the Voluntary Pro Bono Standard adopted by the Representative Assembly in 1990.
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Governor Snyder Proclaims Pro Bono Month
On behalf of the people of Michigan, I, Governor Rick Snyder, Governor of Michigan, do hereby proclaim the month of October 2011 as Pro Bono Month.
Read the Entire Proclamation |
Law School Resources
Cooley Law School offers pro bono programs to assist people or groups who cannot afford to pay. Each program provides law-related assistance and provides an opportunity for Cooley students to engage in legal work under the supervision of an attorney. [more] PDF
University of Michigan Law School Voluntary Pro Bono Pledge PDF
Links of Interest
2010 Pro Bono Month Activities
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Master Lawyers Section Guide to Pro Bono, Grand Rapids |
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Will Clinic—General Motors, Detroit Metro. Bar, Legal Hotline for MI Seniors, Detroit |
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Project Salute FREE Veteran's Federal Disability Training, Lansing
Homeless Assistance and Prevention Project—Open Door Ministries, 215 North Capitol Ave., Lansing
Oakland County Celebration of Family Law Champion for Justice—Pro Bono Leadership, at Cooley Law School in Auburn Hills. Luncheon to honor Lisa Stadig Elliot, executive director of the Oakland County Bar Ass'n, as a Family Law Champion for Justice. |
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Senior Pro Bono Outreach—Auburn Hills Community Center, 1827 North Squirrel Rd., Auburn Hills |
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Pro Bono Education Workshop: Street Law Initiative—Univ. Club of Grand Rapids, 111 Lyon NW, Fifth Third Center, Grand Rapids
Pro Bono Mentor Match Program—Oakland County Bar Ass'n, Oakland County Comm'rs Aud., special guest Chief Justice Marilyn J. Kelly |
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"Service to Soldiers" Legal Assistance Program—Fort Custer Army National Guard Base, near Battle Creek |
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Wills and Powers of Attorney Workshop—Various Locations, Grand Rapids |
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Pro Bono Consumer Bankruptcy Program—Legal Aid Western MI, 89 Ionia Ave., Grand Rapids |
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Free Legal Aid Clinic, Madison Heights City Hall |
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Common Ground Hosts Family Law Assistance Project Intake Presentation, Oakland County. Ashley Lowe of the Family Law Assistance Project (FLAP) will present information on FLAP and FLAP’s specific requirements for accepting cases, the intake process, and generally how FLAP operates. The presentation will begin at 5:00 p.m., Common Ground, 1410 S. Telegraph, Bloomfield Hills. |
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Legal Aid and Defender Pro Bono Awards, Lathrup Village Comty. Ctr. |
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Dykema, Ann Arbor, hosts meeting for the presidents of the local offices of the statewide firms to discuss why and how the statewide firms should become engaged with their local legal aid program. |
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Free consultations—Hispanic Bar Ass'n and Consul of Mexico, Holy Redeemer Church, Detroit |
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Ask the Lawyer Night at Saginaw Public Library (free and open to the public) |
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Ask a Lawyer, Gone Wired Cafe, Lansing
Homeless Assistance and Prevention Project—Open Door Ministries, 215 North Capitol Ave., Lansing
Legal Advice Clinic for Low Income Seniors, Saginaw |
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Powers of Attorney—Legal Services of South Central MI, Burnham Brook Senior Ctr., Battle Creek
Justice Alton Davis Lecture, East Lansing—Alumnus of the class of 1974, Supreme Court Justice Davis will speak about his practice, his time on the bench, and the importance of pro bono in the legal community. |
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Foreclosure Law Panel, Flint—Legal Services of Eastern MI
Pro Bono Appreciation Luncheon, speaker Eric Gilbertson, president of Saginaw Valley State University
Legal Aid of Western MI honors Joy Fossel with the Michael Barnes Award for her voluntary legal work |
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Domestic Violence Pro Bono Family Law Training (FREE)
Legal Advice Clinic for Low Income People at LSEM Office (by appointment) |
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| November 15 |
Federal Bar Ass'n presents Basics of Employment Discrimination Law Pro Se Clinic. The FBA joined with the Federal District Judges, to present the first FBA clinic for pro se litigants with cases pending in federal court. |
2009 Pro Bono Month Activities
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