Program areas at PBN
Pro Bono Net, Inc. ("pbn") aims to bring the power of the law to all by connecting attorneys to those most in need and creating legal tools and information that empower individuals to advocate for themselves. Through technology and collaboration, pbn transforms the way affordable legal assistance reaches underserved communities. Pbn's programs enable lawyers and other legal advocates to make a stronger impact, increase volunteer participation, and provide assistance directly to those who need it the most. State and national programs: pbn's state and national program incubates, scales and manages innovative (continue on schedule o) online programs that help people navigate the legal system and make that system fairer for everyone. Pbn's tools are also used by more than 200 legal and social justice organizations across the us to broaden their impact. In 2022, pbn's 20-state network of lawhelp sites had more than 9.3 million visitors. Lawhelp.org and state lawhelp sites help people without lawyers understand their rights, make informed decisions, and connect to free and low-cost help in their local community. Lawhelp interactive, pbn's free online forms program, completed more than 825,00 legal documents in 2022 for people navigating pressing legal problems. Lawhelp interactive helps low-income and economically vulnerable individuals create free and accurate court forms and self-advocacy letters simply and easily, an essential step in resolving a legal issue. Pbn's other state and national initiatives, including probono.net, remote legal connect and the legal risk detector, helped to mobilize more than 4,000 advocates and Pro Bono volunteers across the us to expand legal help for low-income and vulnerable people facing issues related to their housing, financial security, family stability and safety, disaster relief and more. New york justice initiatives: pbn's new york justice initiatives program leads lawhelpny, ny crime victims legal help, tenanthelpny, new york Pro Bono initiatives, and a statewide livehelp online chat service. In 2022, almost half a million people visited lawhelpny, viewing more than 1.7 million pages, including more than 43,000 self-help legal forms and over 217,000 referral listings. Crimevictimshelpny.org had over 18,000 visitors, a 76% increase from the prior year. More than 100 livehelp volunteers assisted more than 9,000 visitors to pbn's new york network of websites to access legal rights resources, self-help forms and referral services. Pbn's new york Pro Bono opportunities guide, a statewide directory of volunteer opportunities for legal professionals, was searched more than 10,000 times. In 2022, our team also conducted trainings to equip hundreds of advocates and volunteers with information and tools to expand access to legal help for underserved new yorkers. Justicia lab: justice lab, formerly the immigration advocates network, is pbn's incubator for immigrant justice. Justice lab's mission is to transform immigrant justice through collaboration, creativity and technology. Pbn's tools include citizenshipworks.org, an online naturalization platform to make applying for citizenship easy and affordable; immi.org, which helps immigrants in the u.s. Understand their legal options and access critical resources from any location; reclamo!, the most comprehensive digital platform to date to help immigrant workers fight back against wage theft; and the immigration advocates network (ian), the country's largest network of nonprofit immigration advocates, organizers and service providers with more than 11,000 members. In 2022, more than 150,000 users visited citizenshipworks.org to learn about or begin the naturalization process and over 28,000 visitors used immi.org to learn about their rights and options for relief. Since it was pilot launched in october 2022, reclamo! Has helped file nearly $1,000,000 in wage theft claims with the new york state department of labor. Ian developed dozens of collaborative, authoritative and free resources and trainings to increase the capacity of the nonprofit immigration legal sector. Pro Bono manager: Pro Bono manager, a social enterprise venture, offers law firms a customized practice management application to increase the effectiveness and reach of their Pro Bono programs. Pro Bono manager has been adopted by leading international law firms and is used by thousands of lawyers and paraprofessionals within those firms to provide free assistance to those in need.