This article provides the first systematic look at the professionalization of pro bono programs in large firms and the challenges they face in the current economic climate. It draws upon a survey of large-firm pro bono counsel conducted in 2009.
Pro Bono
Report of the Pro Bono Task Force
LSC created a 67-member Pro Bono Task Force which has compiled recommendations to LSC and its grantees, as well as a set of requests for the legal profession as a whole.
The 2014 Tennessee Pro Bono Report
This 2014 Tennessee Pro Bono Report contains information about and statistics on the hours devoted to pro bono activities of legal aid providers, bar associations, law schools, mediation centers, and other organizations in 2014.
A National Study of Access to Counsel in Immigration Court
This study of immigration cases between 2007 and 2012 provides data to support claims that a public defender system for immigrants facing deportation may be efficacious for both the immigrants and the immigration courts.
Pro Bono: Looking Back, Moving Forward
This study examines the causes of stagnation and decline in pro bono legal services in the state of Florida during the early 2000s.
Representation for Unaccompanied Children in Immigration Court
The Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) is a data research and distribution organization at Syracuse University. TRAC analyzed the cases in immigration court.
Data on access to counsel and reintegration services for children and their impact on improving policies and protection for Central American unaccompanied children
This article demonstrates how improved access to legal representation increases children’s access to humanitarian protection. Increased access to representation would mean more responsive migration policy and greater protection. They use data from approximately 16,000 cases.
Child Maltreatment and Immigration Enforcement: Considerations for Child Welfare and Legal Systems Working with Immigrant Families
This article presents an overview of the issues and challenges facing Hispanic children and families in the child welfare system. It presents risk factors associated with child welfare involvement, child placement rates for Hispanic and non-Hispanic children, and immigration enforcement as a risk for child welfare involvement.
Improving the Protection and Fair Treatment of Unaccompanied Children: Recommendations for the Next Administration
This brief presents policy recommendations for the incoming administration, which range from improving border screening practices, improving shelter conditions, increasing access to legal counsel, expedited court procedures and impact on due process, adjudication of children’s immigration and asylum cases, and return and reintegration.
California’s Attorney Deserts: Access to Justice Implications of the Rural Lawyer Shortage
In this study, the California Commission on Access to Justice reports on attorney deserts — places where there are too few attorneys and high numbers of unmet legal needs. They find that attorney deserts are an acute problem in rural areas. This is not a problem concentrated in California — in the US, approximately 2 percent of small law practices are in rural places, serving approximately 20 percent of the US population.
Legal Aid Research 