Robert Ambrogi Blog
Paladin, a legal technology company whose platform is used by law firms, in-house legal teams, and legal services organizations to match lawyers with pro bono opportunities and manage pro bono engagement, is today launching a pro bono platform designed specifically for law schools and law students.
Developed in collaboration with some 30 law schools, the platform is designed to make it easier for law students to find pro bono opportunities, while enabling school administrators to centralize and manage pro bono and public interest programs.
It also allows students to create an organized record of their volunteer experience.
A future iteration will support engagement with alumni and partnering with law firms and corporate teams on pro bono projects.
“Law students are eager to make a difference and build professional legal skills, and we want to empower them with tools that match those goals,” said Kristen Sonday, cofounder and CEO of Paladin. “This new platform will support students in gaining real-world experience while giving back to their communities, and give schools the essential infrastructure to support, track, and celebrate that work.”
A Portal to Opportunities
Similar to how Paladin’s platform works with law firms, the law school platform will offer a centralized portal where students can browse, sign up for, and track vetted pro bono and volunteer opportunities across over 350 legal services providers.
It will also include a feature for students to log their pro bono and clinical hours in one place, effectively creating a pro bono portfolio that they can share with potential employers.
For administrators, the platform will include dashboards for tracking student participation, coordinating opportunities, and generating detailed reports.
Among the benefits to administrators of the platform, Paladin says, is that it will allow them to expand pro bono offerings to include more nationwide and remote opportunities. The platform could also broaden schools’ networks of connections for student relationship-building and mentoring, and enable schools to track more granular data about their pro bono programs.
For students, benefits of the platform include allowing them to track professional skills and community impact in one place, as well as visualize progress toward pro bono hour targets for honors distinctions, participation pledges, or state bar requirements, Paladin says.
Paladin is offering free accounts to student groups and legal services organizations to better manage student clinics, externships, and community outreach programs in a unified way.
Alleviating Administrative Tasks
Leah Gould, assistant dean of public interest at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, said the platform will enhance the school’s ability to fulfill its commitment to public service.
“By co-developing a platform that meets the real needs of law students, administrators, and legal services organizations, we’re making it easier for students to find meaningful opportunities, for administrators to track and support their work, and for community partners to connect with capable and passionate volunteers,” Gould said.
One of the problems the platform tackles is that of tracking law students’ pro bono work. According to the Association of American Law Schools, nearly 19,000 law students contributed at least 4.7 million hours to pro bono legal services last year. However, most of that work was tracked via a patchwork of handwritten forms, spreadsheets, and online job boards.
Erin Han, director of the Judge Rand Schrader Pro Bono Program at UCLA School of Law, said she is excited about the potential of this platform to consolidate many of the administrative aspects of tracking pro bono.
“Rather than using multiple platforms to promote pro bono opportunities, track hours, and send out newsletters, Paladin offers the potential for these functions to happen on one single platform,” Han said.
Of course, the bottom line is about expanding law students’ opportunities to engage in pro bono work.
“Having a central database of pro bono related opportunities can greatly help our students provide support to nonprofits across the country and expand their understanding of various access to justice needs,” said Alexi Freeman, director of externships and social justice initiatives at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law.
“Aligned with our values at Denver Law, this partnership has the potential to grow meaningful connections among students and legal service providers, hopefully planting seeds for students’ lifelong commitment to service and pro bono,” Freeman said.
Participating Law Schools
Law schools and organizations involved with the co-development include (not a complete list):
- Albany Law School.
- Arizona State University Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law.
- Belmont University College of Law.
- Chicago-Kent College of Law, Illinois Tech.
- Emory University School of Law.
- Georgetown University Law Center.
- George Washington University Law School.
- Harvard Law School.
- Lewis & Clark Law School.
- Marquette University Law School.
- Minnesota Justice Foundation (which provides pro bono opportunities for students from three Minnesota law schools).
- New York Law School.
- Northwestern Pritzker School of Law.
- Oklahoma City University School of Law.
- Seattle University School of Law.
- SMU Dedman School of Law.
- Stanford Law School.
- St. John’s University School of Law.
- UCLA School of Law.
- University of Denver Sturm College of Law.
- University of Kansas School of Law.
- University of Nebraska College of Law.
- University of Wisconsin Law School.
- Vanderbilt Law School
Schools interested in learning more about the platform can visit joinpaladin.com, read a one sheet here, or reach out directly to support@joinpaladin.com.