The American Bar Association Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service is has announced plans for the first annual National Pro Bono Celebration.

Scheduled for October 25 through 31, 2009, the National Pro Bono Celebration is designed to be a coordinated national effort to showcase the incredible difference that pro bono lawyers make to our nation, to our system of justice, to our communities and, most of all, to the clients they serve.

One of the guiding principles of the Pro Bono Committee's planning is not to undercut or interfere with existing local pro bono awards, events, programs and celebrations. The legal needs of the poor are local issues, and this nationwide celebration is intended to be local in its focus and impact as well.

The goals of the proposed program are to:

• Recognize the pro bono efforts of America's lawyers;
• Recruit more pro bono volunteers; and
• Mobilize community support for pro bono.

Modeled after the ABA Division for Public Education's Law Day activities, the National Pro Bono Celebration will make local participation simple.