Students

Why do Pro Bono?

It's your professional responsibility: ABA Model Rule 6.1 encourages all lawyers to commit at least 50 hours per year to pro bono work.

• Pro bono work gives you more practical experience than most classes and even in many summer jobs.
• There is a great need for free legal services in the North Carolina community and beyond.
• At certain levels of participation, you can be recognized by the school and the North Carolina Bar Association. Once you have 50-plus hours, you will receive a notation on your transcript.

How to Do Pro Bono

• Attend our 1L Kickoff, held each year at the beginning of September.
• Sign up for a project on our bulletin board by the student mailboxes (also listed online). These postings are updated several times a week as students sign up, and are requests by attorneys for law student help.
• Apply for our Fall, Winter, and Spring Break Trips. Keep an eye on the law school calendar for upcoming interest meeting dates and application deadlines.
• Sign up for a Winter or Spring Break project, which is a request by an attorney for pro bono work to completed just during break.
• Doing work that you think counts as pro bono, or interested in starting your own project? Create a DIY Pro Bono Project by downloading the DIY Kit in the right-hand column.
• Attend our special events, like our Alumni Networking Event, where you meet individually with pro bono alumni and learn tips on how to talk about your pro bono work during job interviews.
• Buy a t-shirt! All proceeds go to funding our trips.
• Get to know the members of the Pro Bono Board, and stop by the Pro Bono Office during our office hours.
• Apply in September to join the Pro Bono Board as 1L Class Coordinator.

What counts as Pro Bono?

The following criteria must be met for a student's work to qualify as pro bono for the purposes of recognition by the Pro Bono Program:

1. The law student must engage in law-related activities.
2. The law student's work must be supervised and/or approved by an attorney. Supervision and/or approval includes, at a minimum, attorney review of student work product.
3. Receiving class credit for law-related activities precludes these activities from qualifying for pro bono credit. Receiving monetary compensation for law-related activities precludes these activities from qualifying for pro bono credit.
4. The law-related services must be provided to the client for free or at a substantially reduced rate (whether reduced rate work will qualify as pro bono may depend on several factors, including the actual rate being charged the client, whether the attorney would normally bill for work performed by students, the economic factors preventing the client from obtaining full-rate services, and the population affected by the legal issues involved).
5. The law-related activities must be on behalf of:
   1. person(s) of limited financial means; or
   2. person(s) with limited access to legal representation; or
   3. nonprofit, civic, community, religious or governmental organizations.

NOTE: The following activities are expressly excluded from qualifying as pro bono work:

1. Work done on law journals.
2. Work resulting in submission of writing into competition or other journals.
3. Work on law related symposiums, conferences, and panel discussions.
4. Any and all fund-raising activities.

Get Recognized!

When you log 50 hours, you'll receive a letter of recognition from the dean of the law school and a notation on your transcript. At 75 hours, you'll receive a certificate of acknowledgement at the end of your third year from the North Carolina Bar Association and the law school. At 100 hours, you'll be honored at Commencement by being asked to stand for recognition. We also honors students through our annual Pro Bono Publico Awards.

Log Your Hours

Log your hours online.

Helpful Information

• The Path to Pro Bono: An Interviewing Tool for Law Students (Published by ABA)
• NCBA Justice for All of North Carolina