The Pro Bono Collaborative mobilizes Rhode Island law firms, law students, and community organizations to provide legal assistance within the community.
To date, seven large R.I. firms have teamed with community-based organizations (CBOs) and School of Law students to provide legal assistance to these CBOs and their clients - low-income, at-risk individuals and families.
Our projects, all of which include the pro bono services of RWU law students, are as follows:
Adler Pollock & Sheehan P.C. has adopted three projects:
Working with Rhode Island Legal Services, Inc. to help make R.I. tax code consistent with federal, thereby providing relief to the poor and elderly. (Professor Anthony Santoro is the project's faculty advisor.);
Incorporating the Ecuadorian Association of RI as a 501(c)(3);
Incorporating the Friends of RI Commission on Women as a 501(c) (3).
Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge LLP is providing rights education and direct legal assistance to low income urban parents, clients of Children’s Friend & Service R.I.
Hinckley Allen Snyder LLP has adopted five projects:
Incorporating the Mariposa Center as a non-profit organization;
Providing rights education and direct representation to Women’s Center of R.I. clients (Professor Emily Sack is the project's faculty advisor);
Providing rights education to the Institute for the Study & Practice of Nonviolence Streetworkers (Professor Andrew Horwitz is the project's faculty advisor).
Working with the International Institute and RWU law students to obtain political asylum for RI immigrants.
Doing the legal work necessary to establish a “Dream Center” to serve Rhode Island’s homeless during the day.
Motley Rice LLC has been working with students and the George Wiley Center staff to research, draft, and advocate for utility shut-off legislation. Professor Carl Bogus is the project's faculty advisor.
Partridge Snow & Hahn LLP is providing rights education and direct legal assistance to parents of at-risk children with special education needs, through Casey Family Services and Meeting Street School.
Taylor Duane Barton & Gilman will be working with the RI Medical Legal Partnership for Children and RWU law students to assist parents of severely and profoundly disabled children turning 18 to establish legal guardianship of their children.
Brown Rudnick Berlack Israels LLP worked with students to research legislation and draft legal documents to ensure R.I. affordable condominium units would remain affordable. The clients for this project were Church Community Housing Corporation, Housing Network of Rhode Island, and the Community Housing Land Trust. As a result of this project, thousands of condominium units in RI will remain affordable in perpetuity. (Professor Jorge Elorza was the project's faculty advisor.)
A History:
May 2004: School of Law hosted the Racial Justice Colloquium, which was funded by the Rhode Island Foundation and which brought together attorneys and community representatives to focus on issues of racial justice. Primary among these issues was the dire need for pro bono legal assistance in low-income communities, and especially communities of color.
June 2005: School of Law published “Addressing Unmet Legal Need in Rhode Island: Barriers and Incentives to Pro Bono Participation,” also funded by the R.I. Foundation, which reported findings from a voluntary survey of R.I. attorneys about contributing factors to pro bono participation.
June 2005: School of Law presented survey results at R.I. Bar Annual Meeting, and brought attorneys from the Pro Bono Initiative in Chicago to talk about the success of their program, which was designed to increase the availability of pro bono legal services in that state.
January 2006: Pro Bono Collaborative Pilot Project, supported by a generous grant from the R.I. Foundation, was launched at the School of Law’s Feinstein Institute for Legal Service.
January 2007: Pro Bono Collaborative received additional funding from the R.I. Foundation.
October 2007: Pro Bono Collaborative held the first meeting of its new Advisory Board. Comprised of leaders in the legal, non-profit, and law school communities, the Advisory Board has been asked to bring ideas, wisdom, and experience to the table as the Pro Bono Collaborative continues to extend its reach into the community.
January 2008: Pro Bono Collaborative received additional funding from the RI Foundation.
For additional information about the Pro Bono Collaborative, please contact:
Eliza Vorenberg,
Director
evorenberg@rwu.edu
401-254-4597
