Pro Bono Net

Pro Bono Net is a United States nonprofit organization focused on improving access to justice through technology, volunteer participation, and collaboration among legal aid providers. The organization is based in New York City and San Francisco and works with nonprofit legal-service organizations, courts, law firms, public-interest advocates, and other community partners in the United States and Canada. The organization is now also associated with the name Scale Justice, while Pro Bono Net remains the name most closely identified with its legal-information and pro bono collaboration programs. The organization was established in 1998 with support from a grant from the Open Society Institute. Its original premise was that nonprofit legal organizations could serve more people if they shared information, coordinated volunteer lawyers, and used online tools to reduce administrative and geographic barriers. A prototype of the Probono.net platform launched in New York City in March 1999 with two practice areas. The platform subsequently expanded into a national network of topical and regional communities operated with public-interest legal organizations and law firms. Pro Bono Net's work has developed along three related lines. First, it supports technology for the nonprofit legal sector, including online collaboration spaces, legal-resource libraries, document-assembly tools, and systems for managing pro bono programs. Second, it helps recruit and organize volunteer lawyers by connecting them with cases, training, mentors, practice materials, and professional networks. Third, it provides public-facing legal information and self-help resources for people who cannot afford counsel, while helping legal aid programs coordinate referrals and information. Its Probono.net service is principally aimed at legal aid and pro bono attorneys, law professors and students, and allied social-service advocates. The network is organized by practice area and geography, allowing participating organizations to maintain specialized resources and coordinate activity around issues such as housing, immigration, family law, and other poverty-law concerns when those communities are available. The reference material describes membership of more than 50,000 advocates from hundreds of public-interest organizations and private firms. LawHelp.org serves the public-facing side of the model. It helps low- and moderate-income users locate free legal assistance, understand legal rights, find court information, and connect with relevant social-service agencies. The service is developed and maintained with legal aid, pro bono, and court-based programs. LawHelp Interactive extends the model by allowing subject-matter experts to create online interviews that generate court forms and other legal documents in formats such as PDF and Rich Text Format. This is intended to help self-represented litigants complete legal processes while also improving the efficiency of legal aid and court-access programs. Pro Bono Manager addresses the internal needs of law firms. It is a hosted application designed to help firms administer pro bono work by combining volunteer opportunities, training information, legal news, reporting, knowledge management, lawyer matching, and data drawn from internal personnel, billing, timekeeping, and docketing systems. The product was developed with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and offered as a subscription service. The organization has relied on a broad support base that includes foundations, law firms, corporate sponsors, nonprofit partners, and public-interest institutions. Its programs have been adopted across approximately 30 states and regions and, according to the reference material, reach roughly two-thirds of the United States poverty population and lawyers. Pro Bono Net's significance lies less in selling conventional legal services than in providing shared digital infrastructure and coordination mechanisms for the access-to-justice ecosystem.

Pro Bono Net was founded in 1998 with a grant from the Open Society Institute to address a persistent access-to-justice problem: millions of people with legal needs could not obtain help from a lawyer, while legal aid organizations and potential volunteers often lacked effective ways to coordinate. Rather than operating primarily as a conventional law firm, the organization developed shared technology and partnership models for the nonprofit legal sector. The first major expression of that model was Probono.net. Its prototype was launched in New York City in March 1999 with two practice areas. The service created online communities for legal aid attorneys, pro bono lawyers, law professors and students, and related advocates. It combined searchable practice resources with opportunities for volunteer work, training, mentoring, and professional collaboration. Over time, the platform expanded beyond its initial local scope through topical and geographic communities maintained with public-interest legal organizations and law firms. The reference material reports participation by more than 50,000 advocates from hundreds of organizations and firms. The organization next developed a public-facing information model through LawHelp. The first LawHelp site was launched in New York City in April 2001. Its purpose was to help low- and moderate-income people find free legal services, learn about legal rights, obtain court information, and identify relevant social-service agencies. Rather than treating online information as a substitute for all legal representation, the service functioned as a referral and self-help layer connected to legal aid, pro bono, and court-based programs. LawHelp sites were built and maintained through partnerships across the country. Its public-service orientation was later recognized through a 2007 Webby Award for best law website and a 2008 nomination in the same category. Pro Bono Net also moved into document automation. LawHelp Interactive became a centralized national effort supporting online legal document assembly for poverty-law and court-access programs. Subject-matter experts could create interview templates that transformed users' answers into court forms and other legal documents, including PDF and Rich Text Format outputs. The system was developed in collaboration with the Ohio State Legal Services Association, with funding from the Legal Services Corporation and use of HotDocs software donated by LexisNexis. Its goal was to improve the ability of self-represented litigants to prepare documents while reducing repetitive work for legal aid and court programs. A further strand of development focused on the operational needs of law firms that manage substantial pro bono practices. With support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the organization developed Pro Bono Manager, a hosted application intended to operate alongside a firm's intranet. It brought together volunteer opportunities, training events, public-interest legal news, reporting, knowledge management, and lawyer-matching functions, while drawing on relevant internal personnel, timekeeping, billing, and docket information. The product was offered as a subscription service to large law firms. Across these stages, Pro Bono Net built a support base involving foundations, law firms, corporate sponsors, nonprofit partners, and public-interest institutions. Its programs were adopted in approximately 30 states and regions and were described as reaching about two-thirds of the United States poverty population and lawyers. The organization's current identity is also associated with Scale Justice, a name reflecting a broader focus on scaling technology and collaboration for access to justice. Its continuing role is that of a nonprofit network and technology provider serving legal professionals, partner organizations, and members of the public rather than a mass-market consumer brand.

• 2008

  LawHelp receives Webby nomination

  [1]Pro Bono Neten.wikipedia.org

  LawHelp.org was nominated again in the Webby law website category.

• 2007

  LawHelp wins Webby Award

  [1]Pro Bono Neten.wikipedia.org

  LawHelp.org received a Webby Award in the law website category.

• 2001

  First LawHelp site launched

  [1]Pro Bono Neten.wikipedia.org

  The first public-facing LawHelp site opened in New York City, providing legal-aid referrals, rights information, and court and social-service resources.

• 1999

  Probono.net prototype launched

  [1]Pro Bono Neten.wikipedia.org

  The initial Probono.net platform launched in New York City with two practice areas for public-interest and pro bono legal participants.

• 1998

  Organization founded

  [1]Pro Bono Neten.wikipedia.org

  Pro Bono Net was established with a grant from the Open Society Institute to expand access to justice through technology and nonprofit legal-sector collaboration.

Nonprofit access-to-justice infrastructure provider that combines legal technology, public legal information, volunteer-lawyer coordination, and partnerships with legal aid organizations.

• Online legal collaboration network · 1999

  Probono.net

  A national online resource and collaboration network for legal aid attorneys, pro bono lawyers, law professors and students, and related social-service advocates. It organizes communities by practice area and geography and provides searchable legal resources, volunteer opportunities, training information, mentoring connections, and channels for collaboration. Participating public-interest organizations and law firms help maintain the network's specialized content.

• Public legal-information and referral service · 2001

  LawHelp.org

  A public-facing resource for low- and moderate-income people seeking legal assistance. LawHelp helps users locate free legal aid programs, learn about legal rights, find court information, and identify related social-service agencies. The service is developed with legal aid, pro bono, and court-based programs, allowing local and national information to be presented through a shared access-to-justice framework.

• Online legal document assembly

  LawHelp Interactive

  A centralized document-assembly system for legal aid, pro bono, and court-access programs. Subject-matter experts create guided interviews that use a person's answers to generate court forms and other legal documents in formats such as PDF and Rich Text Format. The service is designed to help self-represented litigants complete legal processes and to make document-production work more efficient for partner organizations.

• Law-firm pro bono management software

  Pro Bono Manager

  A hosted application for law firms that manage structured pro bono programs. It combines volunteer opportunities, training events, public-interest legal news, reporting, knowledge management, and lawyer-matching functions. The platform can draw on a firm's internal personnel, billing, timekeeping, and docketing information, allowing pro bono administrators to coordinate work and measure participation through systems connected to the firm's existing operations.

• 2001

  Launch of LawHelpProduct launch

  Background

  Many people needing legal help lacked a lawyer and needed a reliable way to find legal aid, understand basic rights, and navigate courts and related services.

  Action taken

  Pro Bono Net introduced a public-facing LawHelp site in New York City and developed the service with legal aid, pro bono, and court-based partners.

  Aftermath

  LawHelp developed into a broader network of public legal-information and referral resources and later received Webby recognition.

  Source

• 1999

  Launch of the Probono.net collaboration modelProduct launch

  Background

  The organization sought to improve legal-sector coordination by giving nonprofit and pro bono advocates shared online practice communities and resources.

  Action taken

  It launched an initial New York City prototype with two practice areas and subsequently expanded the model through regional and topical partnerships.

  Aftermath

  The platform became the foundation for a broader network serving legal professionals and public-interest advocates across multiple states and regions.

  Source

• Expansion into document automation and law-firm managementStrategy

  Background

  The organization extended its technology work beyond information sharing to address document preparation for self-represented litigants and administrative needs inside law firms.

  Action taken

  It developed LawHelp Interactive for guided legal document assembly and Pro Bono Manager as a hosted system for organizing law-firm pro bono programs.

  Aftermath

  The two services broadened the organization's role from online information provider to shared infrastructure provider for courts, legal aid organizations, self-represented litigants, and private law firms.

  Source

1. 1Pro Bono Neten.wikipedia.org
2. 2Pro Bono Net official websiteprobono.net