History of the Pro Bono Society of Albany Law School
Fall 2005: Students who were involved in the law school’s clinical projects began to wonder how to set up volunteer opportunities that didn’t require signing up for a full-credit class. At this point, the only volunteer opportunities available outside of a full-credit class were not law-related – Habitat for Humanity, etc. We were looking for a way to get more students involved in pro bono work, provide more law-related volunteer opportunities, and raise the profile of the school as a community leader.
Dec. 2005: Pro Bono Society of Albany Law School was chartered by the Student Bar Association. SBA allows organizations to apply for funding.
Jan. 2006: Pro Bono Day at the school. We invited leaders from several area pro bono organizations and legal nonprofits, including the Albany County Bar Association, New York State Bar Association, the Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York, the Legal Project of the Women’s Bar Association, Empire Justice Center, and the Student Hurricane Network. Each speaker talked about his/her organization, as well as how students could help and what legal needs were not being met in the community. Students asked questions. Based on feedback received at this event, as well as our first organizational meeting later that semester, we determined which legal areas students were most interested in.
Spring 2006: We had meetings with the local pro bono organizations to plan projects that students could participate in. We also created commitment forms for each project so that students could sign up and demonstrate a formal commitment to volunteering. While these forms aren’t enforceable, they create a sense of duty in the participating students and show them that the organization must not be let down.
Fall 2006: Official launch of the first three Pro Bono Society projects: Family Court Helpdesk, Landlord/Tenant Research Project, and “Free PASS (Private Attorney Student Support)”. Orientations/trainings for each project. PBS was also able to secure office space in the Law School – very important to assure the continuity of the organization, as well as to provide space for the administrative work necessary to run the projects.
At the end of the semester we held our first Volunteer Appreciation Day—a reception for student volunteers, intended to thank them for their commitment to pro bono work. The reception also helped spread word to those students who were not aware of our efforts.
Spring 2007: PBS plans and launches the first ever student-run LRAP (Loan Repayment Assistance Program) Auction, raising $17,000. The fundraiser is an appropriate project for PBS as it raises money to provide student loan repayment assistance for students who want to pursue public interest work as a career. The auction was catered with wine and hors d’oeuvres and included many raffle items, silent auction items, as well as a live auction hosted by guest auctioneer and local radio personality Susan Arbetter, formerly of WAMC’s The Roundtable. Pro Bono Society leaders are later asked to sit on the committee that runs LRAP and grants awards to applicants.
PBS also gets involved in the Pro Se Uncontested Divorce Clinics run by The Legal Project in Mechanicville.
Summer 2007: Pro Bono Society leaders are asked to participate in a national conference for law school public interest organizations. We enter discussions with the school administration regarding the continuity of the Pro Bono Society within the school, including our desire to have it become institutionalized in some way. The co-founders of the Pro Bono Society are recognized by the New York State Bar Association as Law Students of the Year and the local newspaper runs an article about the Society and it’s accomplishments.