PRO BONO PARTNERSHIP OF OHIO

Celebrating Our Corporate Attorney Volunteers: Volunteer Lawyers By Erin Childs Executive Director Strengthening Nonprofits PBPO & Our Community

and excited to learn. They help our region thrive. However, just like well-resourced for-profits, nonprofits need legal advice to navigate these uncertain times. Yet most nonprofits, particularly the smaller ones with limited resources, lack regular access to legal advice. With the help of our dedicated attorney volunteers, Pro Bono Partnership of Ohio (PBPO) engages attorneys to meet that need.

Our goal is to give qualifying 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organizations in our region access to free business legal assistance, which will in turn enable them to make more effective decisions, improve governance, management policies, and procedures while preserving their limited resources for their program implementation.

This year, PBPO is celebrating its 5 th anniversary. In that short amount of time, PBPO has provided direct legal services to over 225 nonprofit organizations in Dayton and Cincinnati on more than 1,500 different legal projects.

How were we able to accomplish this? Because we are powered by the selfless volunteerism of over 650 corporate attorneys willing to take time out of their busy schedules to volunteer pro bono for our nonprofit clients.

The collective impact of the work done by our volunteer attorneys is being felt throughout the community. Thanks to our volunteers, organizations like Clothes That Work, Life Essentials, Miami Valley Nonprofit Collaborative, and Ellie’s Rainy Day Fund are stronger and are better able to focus on what they do best – making a deep impact on the people and communities they serve.

Without the help from the staff & attorneys at PBPO, we would not have been able to navigate the process for getting our real estate tax exemption for the horse farm we purchased in 2019. Having access to an organization that is in existence to assist nonprofits with legal matters is an enormous benefit. Like most nonprofits, we have a tight budget and knowing that we have a resource to turn to that alleviates the stress in dealing with legal matters is crucial. This is not the first matter they have helped us with and, no doubt, it won’t be the last. - Jacki Mayer, Executive Director, Therapeutic Riding Institute

PBPO Helps Lawyers Do Good

At PBPO, we make it easy for corporate attorneys to efficiently and meaningfully share their expertise with nonprofits.

We offer a broad range of projects in transactional practice areas such as contracts, employment, general corporate issues, corporate governance, intellectual property, real estate, mergers, and dissolutions. Our matters are pre-screened, discrete, and generally not subject to time deadlines. The average project takes six hours to complete.

For many corporate and in-house lawyers, pro bono opportunities are limited. Becoming involved with PBPO expanded my opportunities to help nonprofit organizations and thereby help my community. My involvement with PBPO has proved that one of the best ways to receive true joy and much satisfaction is to give your time to help others. This is what it means to be a Dayton lawyer. - Walter Reynolds, Partner, Porter Wright Morris & Arthur LLP

continued on page 17 By Marcie Hunnicutt Esq.

In the City of Dayton alone, there are nearly 2,000 registered 501(c)(3) public charities working tirelessly to make a difference in the community. They bring meals to the elderly. They house families who have been displaced. They make sure children are ready, able, PBPO

Dayton Director

PBPO: Celebrating Our Corporate Attorney Volunteers continued from page 16

2019 PBPO Volunteer Appreciation – Group from LexisNexis, including Kermit Lowery, PBPO Board Member

In addition to direct legal services, PBPO provides educational outreach to nonprofit leaders about relevant employment, governance, intellectual property, and other legal obligations, and recently, COVID-19 related legal topics. These educational publications are made available to all individuals that are working or volunteering with nonprofits in Ohio. We are always looking for volunteers who are willing to either write a brief article or speak at one of our educational workshops (currently all virtual webinars).

Whether directly providing pro bono assistance or participating in educational outreach, both are simple ways for attorneys looking to meaningfully engage and connect with their community. In this way, attorneys are utilizing their skills to benefit the local nonprofit organizations that need non-litigation legal assistance that is otherwise unavailable to them.

The impact of this work is seen at many levels. PBPO and its volunteers receive many grateful calls of relief because of the access to high-quality legal expertise and the money saved. Their limited funds can be used for nonprofit community programs and services, due to PBPO volunteer efforts. It is a rewarding aspect of volunteering through PBPO and why so many attorneys are returning volunteers.

How to Volunteer With PBPO

We want to make it as easy as possible for you to jump in and be a part of the positive change happening in our community. Please consider joining our volunteer ranks!

Every month we send out one e-mail to our volunteers listing available volunteer opportunities, sorted by area of law and city.

Once an attorney expresses an interest in a particular matter, we schedule an introductory call between the attorney volunteer, a PBPO staff attorney, and the client. After that, the attorney volunteer works with the nonprofit client until the matter is complete. PBPO is there to support the attorney along the way – providing forms, template contracts, and advice. Additionally, we provide liability insurance for all volunteer attorneys and attorneys may also earn CLE credit for their pro bono service.

To learn more, or to fill out a Volunteer Application to receive our monthly e-mail, please visit our website: www.pbpohio.org or reach out to Marcie Hunnicutt, PBPO’s Dayton Director and Counsel: Marcie@pbpohio.org or (937) 396.2131.

Have a Drink With Us: Pours for PBPO

Please join the PBPO Board of Directors, Grow PBPO, staff, volunteers, nonprofit clients, and friends at our annual “Pours for PBPO” happy hour event – at home!

We are thrilled to host our first-ever virtual wine tasting featuring 3 hand-selected wines from socially conscious wineries – and PBPO will personally deliver them to your door! Enjoy a tasting with a local wine expert and the option to network with other PBPO supporters in online breakout rooms. If you can’t attend on November 12 th , it’s no problem! The program will also be recorded.

Cost: $100

Date: November 12, 2020

Time: 5:30-6:30 PM

Location: Your Living Room!

Register: www.pbpohio.org

Special thank you to The Birch in Terrace Park, OH for providing wine expertise. Lexis Nexis and Thompson Hine Dayton attorneys participating in a Nonprofit Legal Checkup client meeting