Mark O’Brien, who cofounded the innovative access-to-justice organization Pro Bono Net together with Michael Hertz 25 years ago, and who has been its executive director since 2005, is stepping down from the organization Sept. 1.
In an email this morning to Pro Bono Net supporters, O’Brien said he is leaving “to embark on a long-planned retirement.” Although Sept. 1 will be his last day as executive director, he will stay on as an advisor through the end of the year to help with the transition to new leadership.
Pro Bono Net’s board will conduct a national search for a new director, he said. In the interim, two long-serving members of the management team will serve as interim co-directors: Liz Keith, currently chief partnerships officer, and Rodrigo Camarena, currently director of Justicia Lab, Pro Bono Net’s immigrant justice technology lab.
In his email, O’Brien wrote:
Twenty-five years ago, Michael Hertz and I started Pro Bono Net with a simple idea about the potential for technology and collaboration to serve as a force multiplier for pro bono legal services delivery. That has grown into an organization that partners with hundreds of legal services, immigrants’ rights and community organizations, as well as law firms, corporations, courts and government agencies to drive innovation in legal service delivery and serve more than nine million people nationally and more than 1.2 million in New York State every year. Most importantly, we are helping individuals access justice and empowering them to vindicate their rights. And that is a legacy I am very proud of.
Throughout its 25-year history, Pro Bono Net’s mission has been to harness the potential of technology to connect pro bono attorneys to those most in need of their services and to provide legal tools to help individuals advocate for themselves.
It does this through state-level programs such as LawHelp.org, which connects people to legal aid programs and self-help tools, and TenantHelpNY.org, which helps tenants avoid eviction; national programs such as Citizenshipworks.org, which helps people apply for citizenship, and OlmsteadRights.org, which provides legal resources for people with disabilities; and tools such as LawHelp Interactive, which is used by programs across the country to help individuals create legal documents.
Earlier this year, Pro Bono Net sold its Pro Bono Manager product, which enabled large firms to manage their pro bono programs, to Paladin, a company whose platform connects lawyers with opportunities to provide free legal help.
In 2022, I interviewed O’Brien for my LawNext podcast. If you are interested in learning more about the history and work of the organization, you might want to give that episode a listen via the player below.
