Your MSBA membership helps support education and training for legal professionals to engage in public interest work. Join the Pro Bono Resource Center in upcoming pro bono trainings:
Impact Speaker Series: Why Pro Bono Matter – Utility Bills
January 25 @ 12:00 pm–1:00 pm via Zoom
Issues with utility bills are a constant problem for Baltimore City’s low-income residents. Through our utility bill clinics, PBRC and our partner Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service advocate for low-income residents with utility bill issues, helping to stabilize their finances and preserve home ownership.
With temperatures dropping and homeowners and tenants facing energy bill shutoffs, learn about some of the issues our clinic clients face and the ways that our community partners try to prevent these shutoffs by helping them apply for financial assistance and other benefits to supplement their income.
The Impact Speaker Series is a monthly 1-hour virtual lunch discussion with community organization members, volunteers, and PBRC’s project staff to discuss current events/issues and the importance of clinic projects. Each live event is recorded and later linked on this webpage for continued viewing. This program is free to all advocates.
Register here.
Maryland Court Procedure and Top Ten Questions in the Self-Help Center
February 3 @ 10:00 am–12:00 pm via Zoom
Topics include:
- Tips on the most frequent procedural issues that pro se litigants face when representing themselves in Maryland’s state courts.
- Best practices for providing brief advice on a variety of legal issues.
- Resources for making effective referrals to legal service providers in the community.
Participating lawyers must agree to volunteering 4 hours on the Maryland Center for Legal Assistance (MCLA) chat or phone hotline within 1 year of registering.
Co-sponsored by Pro Bono Resource Center of Maryland and Maryland Center for Legal Assistance
Register here.
Litigation Skills: Expert Testimony on a Shoestring
February 5 @ 12:00 pm–3:00 pm via Zoom
This training provides practical information on the topic of experts – including creative ideas for how to work with expert testimony even if you don’t have a big budget. We’ll cover:
- Procedural basics with expert witnesses
- Discovery issues
- Expert reports
- Expert testimony
- Cost-cutting ideas
Litigation Skills Series trainings include three components: a 50-minute skills training; a 50-minute exercise; and a 50-minute mentoring roundtable, where attendees can bring up litigation questions they’re currently facing (whether related to the presentation topic or not), and get input from the group. The skills segment will be recorded for continued use.
Participation is open to attorneys who have already accepted a pro bono commitment through a PBRC training within the past 12 months OR who commit to answer at least 3 legal questions for low-income Marylanders using the https://Maryland.FreeLegalAnswers.org website, within 1 year of registering.
Register here.