New pro bono platform will help lawyers help their community
TORONTO – The Ontario Bar Association (OBA) is launching a first-of-its kind portal to match lawyers looking for opportunities to give back with organizations who need their help. The portal will be a one-stop shop for lawyers to quickly find opportunities that fit their practice-area expertise, availability and passions.
In partnership with Paladin – the world’s leading pro bono management platform – the OBA will make a centralized, easy-to-navigate portal available for free to all lawyers and law firms in Ontario. This OBA initiative will connect thousands of lawyers with organizations looking for pro bono or volunteer help from lawyers – everything from litigation support through Pro Bono Ontario (PBO) projects, to serving on boards, to helping entrepreneurs get their businesses up and running.
“We know Ontario lawyers – they are generous, eager to give back to their communities and causes, interested in building their skills and broadening their experience. And they are busy. We wanted to provide a one-stop-shop that leverages the inherent desire to give back while taking the time and effort out of searching for the right opportunity,” said OBA President Kathryn Manning. “We are excited to partner with leaders in this work, including Paladin and PBO.”
The OBA and its partners, including Louis Frapporti, a community leader and lawyer at Gowling WLG and an early advocate for Paladin’s launch in Canada, will be working to engage service organizations, corporations and governments to ensure the portal offers a wide variety of opportunities. The portal will feature a broad array of pro bono opportunities available to lawyers and law firms.
“The pro bono community in Canada is quickly advancing, and we are honoured to be able to leverage our technology to support the growth of pro bono in Ontario,” said Kristen Sonday, Paladin’s co-founder and CEO. “We look forward to working closely with the OBA on a tech blueprint that we can scale nationwide to help even more Canadians in need.”
“PBO believes every Ontarian deserves meaningful access to justice,” said Kirsti McHenry, Pro Bono Ontario’s executive director. “Thanks to our dedicated roster of volunteer lawyers, we delivered direct legal services to more than 33,000 clients last year. We're proud to participate in this important initiative to engage even more lawyers committed to achieving 100% access to justice.”
“As with every other economic sector and the legal industry, generally, innovation holds the key to transformative change, as does making purpose a key element of our industry’s value proposition,” said Frapporti. “Paladin – and the new partnerships it is inspiring – hold enormous promise in demonstrating to the profession, as a whole, that ‘doing good’ can be ‘good business’.”
Lawyers looking to provide pro bono legal services can view opportunities and sign up at www.oba.org/probono.
About the Ontario Bar Association
Established in 1907, the OBA is the largest legal association in Ontario, representing over 17,000 lawyers, judges, law professors and law students. The OBA provides professional development, technology training and information services for lawyers. It advocates for improvements to the law in the interests of the profession and public.
About Pro Bono Ontario
PBO is an access to justice non-profit that leverages lawyers’ goodwill to help low-income Ontarians address the civil legal problems that interfere with their ability to lead secure, healthy and productive lives. PBO delivers on this mission by developing and managing programs that enable lawyers to donate their services to a high volume of people in a supported and risk-managed environment. PBO is funded in part by the Law Foundation of Ontario.
For more information:
Michael Speers - Media & Communications Specialist
416-602-6146