FAQs
The short answer is no. Mass Pro Bono connects volunteers with organizations and programs that serve low-income clients. It does not connect clients directly with pro bono lawyers.
Here are some ways to get legal help and information:
- The Massachusetts Legal Resource Finder. Use the Legal Resource Finder to get contact information for programs that provide free and low cost legal help. It will also give you links to information that will help you to learn more about your legal issue. The LRF only includes information about civil - not criminal - issues.
- If you want to hire a lawyer for a criminal, personal injury, worker's compensation, or other type of case, see this list of lawyer referral services.
- The Committee for Public Counsel Services provides court appointed lawyers for low-income people in criminal cases and in certain other types of cases.
- You can get legal information at MassLegalHelp and Massachusetts Trial Court Law Libraries.
Click the “Opportunities” tab in the menu. This will provide an overview of categories of opportunities available. Click the type you are interested in; you can filter by a variety of criteria including issue area, time commitment, and more. Or, browse all opportunities. When you find an opportunity you are interested in, click on it to learn more, then click the “Express Interest” button to the right of the opportunity description.
There are a wide range of legal services, nonprofits and government agencies that offer pro bono legal opportunities. To see the list of programs that are currently in our directory,
- go to massprobono.org/opportunities,
- click the "Browse Opportunities" button,
- click the "More Filters" button,
- click "Referring Organizations" from the list of options.
This will display the current list of programs.
Like many things in law, it depends. Many pro bono legal programs provide malpractice insurance for their volunteers. But there are exceptions. On this site you can filter opportunities based on whether malpractice insurance is provided. But always confirm with the program whether or not malpractice insurance is provided before you start a volunteer opportunity.
Good news: If your legal work is limited to pro bono legal services with a legal aid organization, you may assume Pro Bono Retired status with the Board of Bar Overseers. There is no registration fee for this status. See Rule 8(b) below. You can find the BBO's Retired - Pro Bono Registration Statement here.
SJC Rule 4:02
(8) Pro Bono Status.
(a) Any attorney admitted to the practice of law in the Commonwealth who has assumed inactive status in accordance with Rule 4:02(4) but who wishes to provide pro bono publico legal services without compensation or expectation of compensation as described in Rule 6.1 of the Massachusetts Rules of Professional Conduct (S.J.C. Rule 3:07) may advise the Board by filing an appropriate annual registration statement that he or she will limit his or her legal practice to providing pro bono publico legal services under the auspices of an approved legal services organization, as defined below. The annual registration statement shall indicate whether the attorney is, or was at the time he or she assumed inactive status, the subject of any pending grievance or disciplinary charge and shall be signed by an authorized representative of the approved legal services organization under whose auspices the attorney will provide services. Unless the Board of Bar Overseers objects, the attorney may begin providing pro bono services after filing such a statement.
(b) Any attorney admitted to the practice of law in the Commonwealth who has retired from the bar and discontinued the practice of law in this Commonwealth in accordance with Rule 4:02(5) may advise the Board by filing an appropriate annual registration statement that he or she will limit his or her legal practice to providing pro bono publico legal services without compensation or expectation of compensation as described in Rule 6.1 of the Massachusetts Rules of Professional Conduct (S.J.C. Rule 3:07) under the auspices of an approved legal services organization, as defined below. The annual registration statement shall indicate whether the attorney is, or was at the time he or she retired, the subject of any pending grievance or disciplinary charge and shall be signed by an authorized representative of an approved legal services organization under whose auspices the attorney will provide services. Unless the Board of Bar Overseers objects, the attorney may begin providing pro bono services after filing such a statement.
(c) For purposes of this Rule, an approved legal services organization shall include a pro bono publico legal services program sponsored by a court-annexed program, a bar association, a Massachusetts law school, or a not-for-profit organization that provides legal services to persons of limited means and that receives funding from the federal Legal Services Corporation, the Massachusetts Legal Assistance Corporation, the Massachusetts Bar Foundation, the Boston Bar Foundation, or the Women's Bar Foundation, and in addition, shall include any not-for-profit legal services organization designated as an approved legal services organization after petition to the Supreme Judicial Court.