Robert Ambrogi Blog
Paladin, a legal technology company whose platform enables law firms and legal services organizations to streamline and manage their pro bono programs and opportunities, is expanding from the United States to the United Kingdom.
The expansion comes by way of a partnership with six major law firms who are already Paladin customers in the U.S.: Akin Gump, Clifford Chance, McDermott Will & Emery, Vedder Price, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, and Winston & Strawn.
Through this expansion, partner NGOs, charities, and clearinghouses in London and Newcastle will be able to use a free version of Paladin’s platform to post pro bono and community outreach opportunities as they arise, to be referred out through a central dashboard.
Lawyers and business professionals who wish to volunteer their services will be able to filter opportunities across organizations by practice area, communities served, type of engagement, and whether the work is in person or remote, Paladin says.
The platform will also provide a personalized weekly email digest for volunteers to help them more readily find opportunities that meet their interests.
Kristen Sonday
“Leveraging technology to increase access to justice globally has always been Paladin’s vision,” Kristen Sonday, Paladin’s cofounder and CEO, said in a statement announcing the expansion. “We’re thrilled to take the next step towards building global pro bono infrastructure with our U.K. launch. By partnering with these six innovative firms and their NGO, charity, and clearinghouse partners, we’ll streamline legal aid workflows and more efficiently place volunteers on pro bono cases around the world.”
Paladin said that Clifford Chance, which nearly doubled its annual pro bono hours in the first year of partnering with Paladin in the U.S., will be a key partner in the launch. “We believe it is important not only to do good, but to be smart about how we do it, and Paladin is the perfect partner for any law firm chasing the same goals,” Tom Dunn, Clifford Chance pro bono director, said. “With just a few clicks, Paladin better matches those with skills they want to offer to those in need, leaving everyone better off.”
Sonday said that the company’s partner firms in the U.S. have been asking to expand the platform globally, which she said is a testament to the value they see in streamlining their volunteer programs through Paladin, as well as to the need for innovation in the pro bono ecosystem.
Paladin Launches New Pro Bono Portals in U.S.
In other Paladin news, the company has recently helped two states, Colorado and Indiana, launch pro bono portals, bringing to seven the number of state portals it has supported.
In Colorado, Succession to Service, a pilot program of the Colorado Attorney Mentoring Program (CAMP), partnered with Paladin to launch a statewide online Pro Bono Opportunity Portal in August. Through the portal, Succession to Service will connect volunteer lawyers to their communities through local legal services organizations in order to help Colorado residents obtain legal help.
In Indiana, it worked with the Indiana Bar Foundation and the Coalition for Court Access to launch the Indiana Legal Help Pro Bono Opportunity Guide, which helps lawyers, law students and other legal professionals find opportunities to provide pro bono services.
These join other portals that Paladin has helped launch: Pro Bono Texas, in partnership with The State Bar of Texas, Oklahoma’s Pro Bono Opportunity Portal, in partnership with the Oklahoma Access to Justice Foundation; the Unemployment Insurance Relief portal launched by the New York State Bar Association, in which Clio was also a partner; and Wisconsin’s Pro Bono Opportunity Portal, together with the State Bar of Wisconsin.
Paladin also helped create the Disaster Relief Pro Bono Portal in partnership with the American Bar Association.