2020 Pro Bono Honor Roll Application & Reporting Survey Due April 1, 2020

Greetings fellow attorney,

I encourage you to submit a 2020 Honor Roll Application & Pro Bono Service Reporting Survey today. Even if you or your firm do not want to be publicly recognized for your pro bono service or do not qualify for this year’s Pro Bono Honor Roll (Honor Roll), I strongly encourage you to report your pro bono service hours to the State Bar by submitting the application and voluntary reporting survey, available now on the State Bar of Michigan’s (SBM) A Lawyer Helps website.

Pro bono legal services and support for access to justice not only advance the highest public service missions and traditions of the legal profession, they are also core goals of SBM’s Strategic Plan. So, last year, the SBM launched the Honor Roll to provide much-deserved recognition for the pro bono legal services provided by Michigan’s individual attorneys, law firms, and corporations. The 2019 Honor Roll applications received revealed that in the 2018 calendar year, reporting attorneys provided a combined total of 51,880 hours of pro bono service and assisted 9,441 pro bono clients.

The 2020 Honor Roll will recognize individual attorneys, law firms, and corporations at one of three recognition levels for providing 30, 50, or 100+ hours of pro bono service in the 2019 calendar year. The pro bono service information you submit will be used for informational purposes only and will not be shared or publicized unless you explicitly authorize SBM to include your name on the published version of the Honor Roll. SBM is also looking at other opportunities for Michigan lawyers to be recognized for their pro bono service, so I encourage you to submit an application and voluntary reporting survey. SBM will publicize the Honor Roll through press releases, frequent postings on the web and social media platforms, and by other printed and electronic methods.

The deadline for applications is April 1, 2020. If you have questions about the Honor Roll or the Pro Bono Service Reporting Survey, please direct them to SBM Justice Initiatives Counsel Robert Mathis at ALHProBonoHonorRoll@michbar.org or (517) 346-6412.

Thanks very much for your commitment to access to justice.

Dennis Barnes
President
State Bar of Michigan