(ARA) - For one week at the end of October, law schools, law firms, bar associations and other legal groups from New York to New Orleans and Boston to Seattle will recognize work done by lawyers on behalf of the poor and underserved through the first national pro bono celebration.

Pro bono refers to legal work that lawyers do without a fee for the benefit of their communities.  This work can include representing individuals near the poverty line in civil cases such as landlord-tenant disputes, custody issues or foreclosures. It can also include legal work on behalf of an organization that serves the poor, such as a homeless shelter.

The American Bar Association Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service is sponsoring this pro bono recognition from Oct. 25 through 31. To date local organizers have planned more than 250 events in 48 states.

The legal profession in the United States is among the very few that calls on its members to make a difference in their communities through pro bono work, taking pride in the fact that nearly three quarters of lawyers - 73 percent - report providing free legal work for people of limited means. 

This national celebration offers a time for lawyers to reflect on this core value of the profession. Pro bono legal work  brings hope to the powerless and gives a voice against injustice. While lawyers have done much, there is still much to do.

As part of the National Pro Bono Celebration Week, former Vice President Walter Mondale will speak during an Oct. 30 continuing legal education program on civil legal aid sponsored by the Minnesota State Bar at the University of St. Thomas Law School in Minneapolis. Also during that week the Pennsylvania State Bar will offer child advocacy training in Philadelphia and the Wyoming State Bar will present a legal clinic at the Cheyenne Public Library.

"We are gratified to see the response from the legal community," says Mark Schickman, who serves as the chair of the inaugural pro bono event. "In addition to legal clinics, we have seen law firms planning events to recruit more lawyers to take on pro bono projects, continuing legal education programs on such topics as domestic violence and bankruptcy, and a series of bar and law school symposia throughout the San Francisco Bay area."

More information about the National Pro Bono Week Celebration is available at www.celebrateprobono.net. of ARAcontent

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Caption 1: Medical-legal partnerships are a form of pro bono service that involves lawyers and doctors working together to solve problems on behalf of patients, such as landlord-tenant or employment concerns. Medical-legal partnerships, in which lawyers volunteer their services, operate at 81 sites serving 185 hospitals and health centers in the United States.