Corporate Spotlight: New Jersey Companies and Pro Bono
Corporate Counsel Take to Pro Bono
by
Kris W. Scibiorski
For the past three years, Merck has hosted steadily growing groups of students from high schools in Hoboken, West Orange and Union at a daylong event at its Whitehouse Station headquarters.
November 1, 2007
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Whitehouse Station, NJ
Corporate legal departments are the relatively new kids on the pro bono block, and there's still a long way to go before in-house lawyers match their firm-based counterparts.
Still, a number of national trends seem to indicate that real changes are occurring at general counsel offices, including those in New Jersey.
"Companies are starting to think of pro bono work as part of their philanthropic efforts," says Bret I. Parker, assistant general counsel and chief trademark and copyright counsel for Wyeth Pharmaceuticals.New Jersey is home to some of the earliest adopters of corporate pro bono work like Merck, as well as companies that only recently institutionally embraced the concept, like Wyeth.Corporations historically have been reluctant to let their staff attorneys take time off for pro bono, but the climate is changing. And a number of trends are causing the mind shift.
Part of it is a result of various national, regional and local initiatives providing information and resources that make the creation and management of corporate pro bono programs a much easier task than even a decade ago.Another development is the companies' recognition of their lawyers' obligation to provide legal aid for those in need and incorporating such programs into their charitable activities.
Also, according to Esther F. Lardent, president of the Pro Bono Institute at Georgetown University Law Center, many in-house department leaders formerly worked at large law firms where pro bono was long a part of their professional life.As a result of all these forces, there is "a very strong trend" of corporations stepping up to the pro bono plate - but only very recently."The vast majority of the organized, formal corporate pro bono programs are somewhere between one and two years old, and they're growing very quickly," said Lardent.However, in-house lawyers in New Jersey still lag behind their law firm counterparts in pro bono contributions, and changing that will be a challenge.For example, when Legal Services of New Jersey staffers were asked to name state-based corporations doing such pro bono other than traditional leader Merck and newcomer Wyeth, they struggled to identify a consistent, sizeable contributor.
"It's a small but still growing area," said Melville D. Miller Jr., head of Legal Services.
"I think there's greater interest in pro bono work than there was 10 years ago, but it's still a hard-sell," Miller said, adding, "Unless the general counsel is prepared to say 'This is a priority for our staff,' there's not going to be a very high enrollment."
Merck
Merck's program, which started in 1994 and has won numerous awards in the legal community, currently involves about 100 of its attorneys, paralegals and administrative associates.According to Mark R. Daniel, managing counsel for patents and Merck's pro bono coordinator, "Very few companies did in-house pro bono" in 1994.
The program had humble beginnings: Fewer than 10 attorneys at the company's Rahway location took part and the goal was to handle one case per month.It has grown since to include all of the company's New Jersey sites, paralegals and administrative assistants, and has generally been "incredibly successful," Daniel said.Miller said Merck is a clear leader among New Jersey's corporate pro bono programs in terms of longevity and the number of participants.These days, Merck's legal employees participate in a variety of programs including the Pro Bono Partnership, which provides legal aid to New York, New Jersey and Connecticut's non-profits, Legal Services of New Jersey and Street Law programs at local high schools.
Through these and other programs, Merck lawyers and paralegals have helped tackle bankruptcy, matrimonial and family law, and landlord-tenant issues.Significantly, programs such as Legal Services also provide these in-house attorneys with malpractice insurance, which previously was a sticking point for many corporations' participation in pro bono programs.
The Street Law program allows non-attorney employees to take leading roles in introducing inner-city students to various jobs in the legal profession.
For the past three years, Merck has hosted steadily growing groups of students from high schools in Hoboken, West Orange and Union at a daylong event at its Whitehouse Station headquarters.The day is capped by scholarship awards and a presentation by Kenneth C. Frazier, former general counsel and current president of Global Human Health.
Wyeth
The legal division at Wyeth, the Madison-based pharmaceutical company, started a systematic pro bono program in June.
Parker, Wyeth's point man, handled one of the first cases assigned to the company.Along with a non-lawyer employee of the department, he helped a victim of domestic violence pursue her case in court and achieved a "very successful settlement."
Parker said that while his pro bono efforts "had nothing to do" with his legal duties at Wyeth, it proved to be "incredibly rewarding to give back to the community."
Wyeth lawyers have received training on handling Social Security benefit matters and domestic violence cases, and also are being trained at Legal Services programs.Parker also is on the executive committee of Corporate Counsel Pro Bono Coordinators, a New York-based group of in-house counsel that seeks to involve more legal departments in pro bono efforts.Parker said the group's website is a great source of information, providing blueprints for other in-house lawyers looking to have their companies join the effort.
See original article.
Source:
Pro Bono Wire
(Reproduced with permission)
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