MOBILIZATION

The Council will leverage its board, member networks, and committee chairs to recruit lawyers to serve as part of an informal “Pro Bono Corps” of attorneys that stand ready, willing, and able to take civil pro se cases from the courts’ docket. Working closely with the Offices of Pro Se Counsel in both the SDNY and EDNY, the A2C Project will assist with attorney list management and communication efforts about available cases.

CONSULTATION & PARTNERSHIP: the A2C PRO BONO ADVISORY PANEL

The A2C Pro Bono Advisory Panel is a council of experts in civil rights, employment, trial skills, immigration, and other substantive areas of law that often appear in pro se cases. The Panel will be available to pro bono attorneys and trial teams for mentorship, dialogue, and Q&A. The Advisory Panel will also engage in educational programming and outreach through the Project. Pro bono attorneys will be paired with Advisory Panel members for case mentoring on an as-needed basis to support law firms’ existing pro bono supervision networks. A full list of Advisory Panel members can be found here.

SECOND CIRCUIT PRO BONO MANUAL

The Pro Bono Advisory Panel, in partnership with practitioner volunteers, has developed and is publishing the Second Circuit Pro Bono Manual, an online compendium of guidance on issues, case law, discovery, and strategic and logistical issues that arise in pro bono cases. The Second Circuit Pro Bono Manual is available to practitioners actively representing pro se litigants within the Second Circuit. For more information and to register for access to the Manual, please visit the Second Circuit Pro Bono Manual website here.

PRO BONO TRIAL SKILLS TRAINING PROGRAMS

In addition, the Access to Counsel Project will offer targeted skills-based training to help train lawyers for pro bono service. This program is offered in partnership with the American College of Trial Lawyers and NITA. Training programs will follow the NITA method of fully interactive trial skills training in small-group settings. The training program will begin with intensive deposition trainings in the spring and fall of 2022. More information is available here.

RECOGNITION

The Access to Counsel Project will host recognition events and publicly promote the pro bono contributions of attorneys. More information and a schedule of events to follow.