Skip Navigation
Help us raise $75,000 before January 1 to fund our mission of expanding access to justice in 2024!
Read more
 
 

Volunteer Support

VIP volunteers are never on their own

How VIP can help

VIP volunteers can rely on our staff expertise, trainings, templates, and more to handle their pro bono case. With VIP’s support, even attorneys with no experience in a given practice area can sign up to expand access to justice.

Download our Volunteer Handbook or explore this page to learn how VIP can help.

Ask a staff member

VIP’s Staff Attorneys and Supervising Attorneys specialize in the subject areas our volunteers handle. When questions arise while handling your VIP case, don’t be shy: give us a call.

Homeownership/Real Property Law
Mike Jones, Senior Staff Attorney
(215) 523-9561

Landlord/Tenant Law
Allie Robinson, Staff Attorney
(215) 523-9560

Family Law
Denise Lynch, Supervising Attorney
(215) 523-9563

Miscellaneous substantive topics
Lindsay Schoonmaker, Supervising Attorney
(215) 523-9555

Office space and administrative support
Tom Chaykun, Administrative Assistant
(215) 523-9551

Request a mentor

When you accept a VIP case in an unfamiliar practice area, we will happily match you with a mentor: a seasoned volunteer who can provide guidance for the legal issue at hand. Email Joe B. Durkin to request a mentor for your case.

Earn CLE credits for pro bono

VIP volunteers can earn CLE credits at the close of their pro bono case. You can request one substantive credit for every five hours of pro bono work, up to a yearly maximum of three credits.

If you are ready to close your VIP case and wish to request CLE credits, you can do both using the Report Your Case Status page.

Attend a training

VIP’s trainings, discussions, and practice group meetings connect volunteers with experienced practitioners and enable everyone, from newly-minted lawyers to seasoned professionals, to feel comfortable saying “yes!” to a pro bono matter. View all upcoming events here.

Currently, all of VIP’s trainings are live-streamed.

Explore the Resource Library

VIP offers an extensive library of training manuals, template documents and pleadings, recorded CLE courses, and more. Sort and filter the library by subject area and resource type, or search by resource name if you know what you’re looking for.

Join the Philadelphia Bar Association

VIP is proud to have been founded within — and, decades later, to remain the pro bono arm of — the Philadelphia Bar Association.

As a Bar Association member, you’ll enjoy a wide range of benefits that will help you grow and thrive in your legal practice. Connect with fellow professionals by joining one of the Bar Association’s 100-plus committees or by attending one of its networking events; keep yourself and your employees secure with discounted insurance coverage; and seek guidance on ethical questions from the Bar Association’s Ethics Hotline. A full list of benefits is available here.

Ready to join this vibrant community of Philadelphia attorneys? Fill out an application here.