Sebastian Kurian, an in-house lawyer at Amazon Inc., spends most days dealing with the legal issues that arise from the company's effort to use only renewable energy. But other days, he can be found lending his legal expertise to dog groomers and hairstylists.

Kurian is one of the hundreds of lawyers affiliated with Wayfind, a Seattle-based nonprofit that connects attorneys, both in-house and at law firms, with small businesses and nonprofits that need pro bono legal services. Since its founding in 2003, it's also partnered with the legal departments at Amazon, Microsoft Corp., AT&T Inc., Attachmate Corp. and Pacific Continental Bank.

Kurian says that the more he heard about it, the more it seemed like an organization "where legal professionals could leverage business law skills from our Amazon-related experience to help microenterprises." Continue Reading