William M. Corrigan, Jr.

We are all regularly reminded that Missouri is the Show-Me State. Now, corporate counsels across Missouri have the opportunity to "show" their colleagues throughout the nation their complete commitment to pro bono activities.

In April, The Missouri Bar launched a new, statewide corporate pro bono program, the first of its kind for any state bar in the nation. The program was greeted with enthusiastic support from the corporate community. Corporate counsel representing 27 corporations from across Missouri gathered at luncheons in St. Louis, Kansas City and Columbia to learn about the new program.

Background

Lawyers in Missouri have a proud history of providing pro bono legal services. A survey conducted in 2002 by the University of Missouri-Columbia indicated that, on average, Missouri lawyers provide 42 hours per year in pro bono services to clients who cannot afford to pay for those services.

While Missouri corporate counsels have always had a commitment to providing pro bono services, there have been a number of barriers preventing them from giving back to their communities. Those barriers include time constraints, lack of training or expertise, concerns about malpractice coverage, and lack of support from senior management.

In response, the Board of Governors of The Missouri Bar appointed Board member Karen McCarthy, president and CEO of The Bar Plan Mutual Insurance Company (and a former general counsel of The Bar Plan), to develop a program to facilitate the involvement of corporate counsel in pro bono activities. Other members of the Corporate Pro Bono Committee include Gen Frank (St. Louis), Jolie Justus (Kansas City), and Missouri Bar Board of Governors members Tom Lang (St. Louis), Rick Bien (Kansas City) and Dick Halliburton (Kansas City). After surveying more than 400 corporate counsels from across the state to design a program to meet their needs, Karen and her committee established this program.

How Does the Program Work?

A special website http:\\members.mobar.org \CorpProBono\ webform1.aspx has been developed by Wayne Greer of The Missouri Bar staff, where not-for-profit organizations, corporate counsel and private law firms can register to participate in the program. The web page includes descriptions of pro bono opportunities that are uniquely tailored to corporate counsel, answers to frequently asked questions about malpractice insurance, time constraints and other issues, listings of law firms that are willing to partner with corporate counsel on pro bono activities, and much more information.

Not-for-profit organizations across Missouri can submit pro bono projects to TheMissouri Bar through this corporate pro bono web page that has been established by the bar. Each request will be screened and, if a manageable and appropriate request, placed on the website.

Corporate counsel can register for the pro bono projects through the website. Moreover, the bar will regularly update the website with new projects and contact corporate counsel about the availability of these projects. The corporate pro bono program is designed for corporate legal departments from one lawyer to large corporate legal departments, where two or more lawyers and paralegals may want to work in teams.

Private law firms will also be involved in the program. Attorneys in private practice will provide expertise in a number of areas of the law in which corporate attorneys may not have the experience or training. Moreover, private law firms have also signed up to split the work load with corporate law departments, which will allow a greater variety of projects to be accepted into the program. Finally, the legal aid offices throughout Missouri have also agreed to provide training and support.

Good Corporate Citizens

Thus far, the following corporations across Missouri have expressed their interest and support of the program, and I would like to recognize and thank them for their support:

Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc.
Applebee's
The Bar Plan
BJC Healthcare
The Boeing Company
Brown Shoe Company, Inc.
Emerson Electric Company
Employers Reinsurance Corporation
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
First Consulting & Administration, Inc.
Forever Enterprises, Inc.
Furniture Brands International
J.E. Dunn Construction
Kansas City Life Insurance Company
KPMG LLP
Laclede Gas Company
The Lockwood Group
May Department Stores
Metro Specialties, Inc.
Missouri Consolidated Health Care Plan
Protective Asset Protection Division
Shelter Insurance Companies
Sprint Corporation
U.S. Title Company
UMB Bank
University of Missouri-Columbia
Water District One of Johnson County, Kansas

I am pleased to announce that the Board of Governors, at its May meeting, voted unanimously to establish a "Corporate Pro Bono Award" to be presented annually at the Annual Meeting of The Missouri Bar "to a Missouri corporate lawyer or legal department that has demonstrated a significant commitment of time and/or resources to further the tradition and fulfill the duty of providing pro bono legal services to individuals or not-for-profits who would otherwise not have access to justice."

I hope to have the opportunity to present this award at the Annual Meeting in St. Louis on October 1, 2004.

Let Us Show the Nation

One of the great traditions of our profession, and one of our privileges and duties, is to provide free legal assistance to those who cannot afford it. The barriers that previously made it difficult for corporate counsel to provide pro bono work have now been removed.

If you are a corporate counsel, no matter whether you are in a large or small legal department, The Missouri Bar's corporate pro bono website provides you (and members of your staff, such as paralegals) with a wonderful opportunity to fulfill that duty.

If you are in a law firm and are interested in partnering with corporate counsel, you may also register through The Missouri Bar's web page.

I would like to express our deep gratitude to Karen McCarthy and Wayne Greer, who have spent countless hours working on this initiative to make it a reality. I would also like to thank Karen's committee, which has also worked diligently on this initiative.

Finally, I would like to again thank and congratulate all of the corporations around Missouri that have supported this program. I know that they will take this opportunity to continue the long tradition of pro bono service in our state and be examples to their colleagues around the country.