How to Volunteer to Help Nonprofits or Small Businesses

How to Volunteer to Help Nonprofits or Small Businesses

The Community Economic Development (CED) Project seeks attorneys to provide assistance to nonprofits and small businesses. As a volunteer you can participate in one of the CED Project’s Small Business Clinics, provide legal counsel to a nonprofit, or help the CED Project with its training workshops for nonprofit and small-business owners.

• Volunteering Through Your Firm
• Volunteer Training Sessions
• Not a D.C. Bar member?
• Other Pro Bono Resources
• Malpractice Insurance
• Interested in Volunteering?

Volunteering Through Your Firm
If your law firm, government agency, or in-house legal department has a pro bono coordinator, he or she will be able to tell you about how you can become involved in the work of the CED Project through your employer.

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Volunteer Training Sessions
Periodically the CED Project provides training sessions for attorneys attending the small-business clinics. The purpose of the training sessions is to familiarize attorneys with the various areas of law that are important to small-business owners. Trainees generally commit to attending two small-business clinics within the next two months. This is a great way to learn a new practice area and gain practical experience quickly. If a volunteer attorney already has significant experience in one of these areas of law, however, then the attorney does not need to attend a training session.

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Not a D.C. Bar member?
District of Columbia Court of Appeals Rule 49 specifies certain exemptions for attorneys licensed in other states who are not District of Columbia Bar members and who are engaged in pro bono work in the District. Please check the rule to see whether you fall within one of these exemptions. Non-Bar members who fall within one of the Rule 49 exemptions are welcome to attend pro bono training sessions.

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Other Pro Bono Resources
If you aren’t currently employed, or if your organization does not have a pro bono program or is not doing the type of pro bono work that interests you, research our directory of legal service providers and look at www.probono.net/dc to learn about opportunities to work on specific types of cases or with specific populations of clients. Probononet/dc, the online clearinghouse for pro bono opportunities in the District, contains information and resources for pro bono attorneys in a variety of subject areas. Membership is free. The site also contains an area specially dedicated to U.S. government attorneys.

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Malpractice Insurance
The D.C. Bar maintains malpractice insurance for attorneys who volunteer at the small business clinics.

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Interested in Volunteering?
Please contact the CED Project.

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