In This Issue

GiveNOLA Day

Spread The Love

Save The Date

GiveNOLA Day: 5/06/2014

One day to give as one!

National Volunteer Week: 4/06-04/12, 2014

Time to celebrate our volunteers! Spread the love: post your "Why you do pro bono" story on The Project's Facebook page - see the NVW story below for details.

Justice For All Ball: 9/19/2014

Mark your calendar for the third Friday in September from 8:00 pm to midnight. We'll be eating, drinking and dancing at The Audubon Tea Room.

Board member Norm Rubenstein of the Zeughauser Group and Michael DePetrillo of Jones Walker are JFAB 2014 Committee Co-Chairs.

Marcus V. Brown, Esq., Executive Vice-President and General Counsel of Entergy Corporation, will serve as Honorary Chair.

More details to come.

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Our Mission

The Pro Bono Project's mission is to provide free, quality civil legal services to the underserved by engaging volunteer lawyers to render pro bono services. The Project serves Orleans, Jefferson, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Tammany and Washington Parishes with funding from the Justice For All Ball and other sources. The Project works in collaboration with other legal and social service providers to improve the quality of life for our clients and our community.

GiveNOLA Day: What's It All About?

It's one day and you can make it count for The Pro Bono Project in a big way! On Tuesday, May 6, 2014 the Greater New Orleans Foundation is hosting GiveNOLA Day - an-all day online giving event to inspire the community to give generously to strengthen the non-profits in the metro New Orleans area.

The Project has set a fundraising goal of $11,665 for this 24-hour giving effort.

What's the meaning behind this odd number? This is our way of acknowledging the 1,665 cases that we serviced in 2013 and asking you to help us do even more to open the doors for those in need in 2014.

How You Can Help

As the Beatles might say, "It's easy!" Mark your calendar for Tuesday, May 6th and be ready to make an online donation to help The Project reach its goal of $11,665 in 24 hours!

Everyone can participate - the minimum donation is $10 and you can give as much as you can afford to give. Every dollar you give helps The Project multiply your donation through 'lagniappe dollars' and special prizes that GNOF and their many generous sponsors have set up to help all participating non-profits maximize this giving opportunity.

Here's the link to use on May 6, 2014 from midnight to midnight: GiveNOLA Day The Pro Bono Project

GiveNOLA Day
Hear Allen Toussaint sing about it!

How else can you help?

Whether you're with a firm, corporation or organization, or you're a solo practitioner, consultant or individual supporter, be an advocate for The Project by asking your colleagues and associates to give at least $10 to help us continue to open the doors to the civil justice system for the underserved in our community. If you want to be an active participant for The Project in your organization or as an individual on GiveNOLA Day, please email Meredith Lapre for more information.

We know that many of you most likely work with and support numerous non-profits participating in GiveNOLA Day. We understand that and want this day to be a win-win for everyone. That's the beauty of the $10 minimum contribution - you can support all of the organizations that are near and dear to your heart. When we all win, our community wins. It takes the collective group of non-profits constantly fulfilling their various missions, just as we do, to keep our community and citizens vibrant and moving forward.

On GiveNOLA Day, we ask that you share our link with your family, friends and colleagues to support The Project's mission, as well as all sharing the appropriate links for the non-profit organizations you work with and support year-round. The more you share with others, the more we can all do in our metro community.

Spread The Love: Celebrate National Volunteer Week April 6-12, 2014

At The Project, we're always finding ways to applaud and celebrate our volunteers. Without them, it would be impossible to fulfill our mission to the metro New Orleans community. They give their dollars, time and skills as lawyers, paralegals and other professionals to help us open the door to the civil legal system for countless men, women and children of all ages, who otherwise would be unable to access justice.

But, just what do our volunteers get in return besides a heartfelt 'thanks'??

Thomas H. Peyton, Esq.

Recently, one of our young lawyers, Thomas H. Peyton of Larzelere Picou, et al. was recognized as a Pro Bono Hero in the Louisiana Bar Journal's February-March issue. He was also a recipient of one of the LSBA's 2013 Pro Bono Publico Awards. Tommy's been active at The Project for the past several years, taking on CINC cases and working on the annual NOBA/YLS Pro-Bowl-O-Tournament to raise funds for The Project.

For Tommy, working on pro bono cases is more than just fulfilling his obligation to his community, it's a very rewarding journey - both personally and professionally.

My pro bono work has developed my skill set in many ways and is the cornerstone of my career. Beyond the obvious benefits of gaining experience in the courtroom and strategy development, my pro bono work has helped me to better understand the world outside of my office.

Since the bulk of my pro bono representation involves the representation of "children in need of care", I have the unique opportunity to mend difficult situations for very unfortunate children. I also get to show my young clients that I honestly care.

Compassion is an important tool often lost by lawyers - pro bono cases have allowed mine to thrive. I keep all of the cards and kind letters in my paper calendar and reflect on them after a tough day.

- Thomas H. Peyton, Esq.

Pro Bono Hero in The LA Bar Journal

Spread The Love: Tell Us Your Story

Why do you do pro bono work for The Project ? What do you, as a volunteer, get from doing this work, professionally and personally?

During National Volunteer Week, we want to hear your stories. And, not only do we want to hear your stories, we want you to post them on The Project's Facebook page. Then, we want you to get your friends, colleagues, families and FB connections to vote on the best volunteer stories.

Philip Antis, Jr., Esq

Tell us how doing pro bono work for The Project has helped you as a lawyer, paralegal or other professional or lay volunteer, and how it's impacted you personally and professionally.

Read about how Gordon Arata attorney, Phillip J. Antis, Jr. made pro bono work for The Project an important part of his professional and personal life. He was named one of CityBusiness' Leaders in Law in March, 2014.

Spread the love and share your story to help us celebrate and acknowledge all our volunteers during National Volunteer Week.

You can write it, make a YouTube video and post it - whatever you want to do between Sunday, April 6 and Saturday, April 12 to share your story with The Project's Facebook community. One post per person, please. Stories must be dated April 6-12.

The authors of the top three stories with the most Likes will each receive two tickets to the 2014 Justice For All Ball to use themselves or to bring some friends along.

The author whose post receives the most Likes will also receive his/her choice of one of the JFAB 2014 raffle prizes to be assembled for this year's raffle, without having to buy a raffle ticket! We'll also publish the top three stories/posts on our website and in an upcoming In Brief.

What fun we're having this month and next at The Pro Bono Project. We hope that you'll join in and celebrate National Volunteer Week in April and GiveNOLA Day in May and have some fun with us. Can't wait to see your stories on Facebook!! Happy Spring everyone!

Sincerely,

Rachel Piercey

Executive Director

The Pro Bono Project