“We understand that it takes time and energy on our part to make the match a successful one,” said Tiela Chalmers, Executive Director of VLSP, which works with 1,500 volunteers a year.  “We really try hard to provide fairly extensive support to our volunteers.  We want them to know that we need your effort, but we’re not going to leave you hanging.”

Since fall 2000, the Bay Area probono.net site, www.probono.net/bayarea, has been a big part of that support, with its Pro Bono Programs Guide, training calendar and libraries of training manuals, briefs and practice materials in four major practice areas: Homelessness/Immigration, Eviction Defense, Family Justice and Business Law, for advocates working with nonprofits.

Probono.net/sf was the second probono.net site to launch outside of New York, right after Minnesota’s statewide advocate site, ProJusticeMN.org.  VLSP worked with Pro Bono Net to develop the site at the urging of Tanya Neiman, the well-respected Director of VLSP for 25 years, who passed away in 2006.  When Michael Hertz, co-founder of Pro Bono Net, approached Tanya ten years ago with the idea for probono.net, she was an immediate strong supporter and agreed to serve on Pro Bono Net's Board, as Tiela does today. 

In fall 2006, probono.net/sf broadened to include the larger Bay Area pro bono legal services community and changed its name to probono.net/bayarea.  At that same time, VLSP began partnering with Public Interest Clearinghouse on the launch of CaliforniaProBono.org statewide.  A new probono.net site, the SoCal Pro Bono Center, launched this month for Southern California (see related article).

VLSP, which dates back to 1977, is the largest legal services provider in San Francisco.  It serves about 8,000 low-income clients per year, providing extensive assistance to about 4,000.  Its main areas are housing and homelessness prevention, family law and domestic violence, nonprofit law and, most recently, consumer law.  A Debt Defense and Education Clinic helps the growing number of people wrestling with debt collection issues or considering filing for bankruptcy.  A consumer law area will soon be added to probono.net/bayarea.

VLSP takes a holistic approach, working to address the underlying issues of its clients in addition to providing legal help.  “If someone’s being evicted, is it because they’ve had benefits cut off, do they need mental health treatment, those kinds of approaches,” Tiela explains.  “We have some volunteer social work professionals and two social workers on staff who serve as a resource.”  Attorneys who volunteer with VLSP can rest easier knowing that their clients will receive help beyond the pressing legal problem that brought them there, she noted.

Pro bono attorneys working with VLSP represent a mix of large firms and small-firm and solo practitioners.  “For most of our full scope pro bono work, the majority of our volunteers are solo and small firm practitioners,” explained Megan Low, Volunteer Services Manager.  “For limited scope or clinical projects more large firms participate.” VLSP recently got a grant from the Association of Corporate Counsel to support outreach to corporations, which are increasingly interested in getting involved. 

The probono.net site is a key means of communicating with volunteers, said Megan, whose role is to build relationships with firms, law schools and other potential sources of volunteers.  VLSP uses probono.net/bayarea to promote pro bono opportunities and publicize its monthly trainings, which are offered free in exchange for a commitment to take on volunteer work. In 2008 alone, the Volunteer page on probono.net/bayarea was viewed more than 18,000 times. An e-calendar of upcoming trainings is sent to nearly 2,000 site members monthly.

Megan also uses the probono.net email tool to place cases.   “Most lawyers prefer to use email now,” she said.  “They don’t like when somebody calls them on the phone.”  Furthermore, “we can include a lot of information in the email.  It’s more efficient and it’s easier.” 

It wasn’t obvious back in 2000 that technology would prove so valuable in engaging pro bono attorneys, Tiela noted.  “At the time we were wildly un-automated in everything we did,” she said.  “So it was quite a leap for us.” 

Once VLSP made the decision to get involved, they promoted the site in earnest. “We made a commitment, for example, to put the probono.net site on all of our business cards,” Tiela said. “We viewed it as being important.” 

Tiela, who joined VLSP in 1997 as a supervising attorney, says she is living proof of probono.net’s ease of use.  “I’m probably the most un-tech-savvy person working on technology things around,” she said.

On a more serious note, she adds, “[probono.net] is one of the many examples of how it’s been an honor to work on things that Tanya Neiman envisioned.  It’s been a pleasure to carry on that legacy.”