Updated MassProBono site simplifies search for pro bono work
By David Spinosa
MassProBono is a comprehensive, yet easy-to-use online resource for lawyers, law students, and other legal professionals who want to find the right volunteer opportunity.
Starting in 2010, MassProBono is a collaboration between legal aid groups, bar associations, the Massachusetts Access to Justice Commission, and the Volunteer Lawyers Project of the Boston Bar Association that supports legal professionals in their pro bono efforts. Almost a decade later, this vision hasn’t changed – but its resources have expanded.
With more than 100 legal aid organizations and programs listed, as well as 63 specific projects, MassProBono’s website, MassProBono.org, offers pro bono opportunities for many interests and schedules. The specific filters allow users to look for organizations or projects, or search by an area of law and county. Each listing and project has easy-to-follow and relevant information about the program as well as contact information.
MassProBono also includes an extensive library of resources from “Know Your Rights” manuals to court forms. Checklists and guides offer volunteers an overview of several areas of law – a valuable resource if they are volunteering with Eastern Housing Court’s Lawyer for the Day Program or taking on a Guardianship case.
As MassProBono’s partnerships and resources have grown, so has its technology. To keep people updated on what’s going on in legal programs around the state, MassProBono has added a calendar feature with upcoming trainings and events as well as a Twitter feed.
Each MassProBono resource and feature has been designed to make pro bono searches easier and more enjoyable. MassProBono will be hosting a webinar Tuesday, June 4th, to go over how to best use the site as well as some of its newer features.
If you are interested or have any questions about MassProBono, please email David Spinosa, dspinosa@vlpnet.org.
David Spinosa is an AmeriCorps Legal Advocate with the Volunteer Lawyers Project.
