Message to Attorneys on Voluntary Pro Bono Reporting

The Ohio Supreme Court will again invite attorneys to report pro bono service, voluntarily and anonymously, early in January.

The Court will send an email during the second week of January (for 2013, the week beginning January 7) to every attorney on active status with an email address on file at the Court's Attorney Services Division. The sender of the email will appear as "The Supreme Court of Ohio." The email will contain a link that an attorney may use to connect to the voluntary pro bono reporting website. The reporting process consists of 8 questions and should take about ten minutes to complete.

The Court allows a firm representative to report pro bono hours and financial contributions to legal aid programs on behalf of firm members. The law firm representative may do so by using the link found in the email sent by the Supreme Court to a firm member, and then following onscreen prompts.

Law firm equity partners may report a pro rata share of law firm contributions to Ohio organizations that provide legal services to persons of limited means, including bar associations that operate pro bono programs, provided that duplication of reporting by firm representatives is avoided.

The information will be used to identify gaps in the delivery of legal services in order to strengthen the network of civil legal services available to low income Ohioans.

The Court partners with the Ohio Legal Assistance Foundation to implement voluntary pro bono reporting. For more information and FAQ's on voluntary pro bono reporting, visit Voluntary Reporting.