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Federal Government Pro Bono Program Volunteer Guide: San Francisco Bay Area

Dear Colleagues:

Welcome to the Federal Government Pro Bono Program! Thank you for your interest in using your legal skills to better your community and fulfill your professional duties through pro bono activities. We hope we can help you find an appropriate opportunity with which to get involved.

This Pro Bono Volunteer Guide provides easy access to information about the rules governing federal employees’ engagement in pro bono activities, as well as descriptions of numerous local legal services organizations that regularly offer pro bono opportunities that are generally appropriate for federal government attorneys and legal staff, in that they are generally free of conflicts of interest and offer substantial resources that will help you to succeed. Because each federal agency has its own regulations and procedures, it is important that you discuss any pro bono project with your agency’s pro bono coordinator or ethics officer before starting to volunteer. Many agencies have a specific pro bono policy that can guide you through these rules and any approval procedures that may be required.

Throughout the year, our program offers events and activities to assist you, including trainings to prepare you to volunteer, opportunities where federal attorneys and legal staff members can volunteer together, and information sessions on various topics relevant to pro bono practice. If you would like to get involved in the development of these ideas or have questions about pro bono activities generally, please contact the Federal Government Pro Bono Program at probono@usdoj.gov.

For decades, federal government attorneys and legal staff have been active in outside pro bono work. We look forward to working with you to carry on this powerful tradition of volunteering our legal skills. 

Sincerely,

Pro Bono Program Manager
Federal Government Pro Bono Program

Frequently Asked Questions about Engaging in Pro Bono Activities as a Federal Government Employee

Get answers to some of the frequently asked questions about federal government attorneys and legal staff doing pro bono work. Find information on definitions and limitations, use of positions and agency resources, conflicts of interest, and more.

Go to FAQ

Legal Services Organizations

The following legal services organizations have been screened by the Federal Government Pro Bono Program and have been determined to offer pro bono opportunities that are generally appropriate for federal government attorneys and legal staff.

  • Individual volunteers are still responsible for seeking approval to participate from their agencies, including any necessary review for conflicts of interest.
  • Employees should remember that they are prohibited from acting as an agent or attorney for any person before any agency, department, or court in any matter in which the United States has a direct and substantial interest.
  • Employees also should understand that they are acting in their individual capacities and not as representatives of their agencies and should act accordingly in all pro bono work.
  • Federal government attorneys may not ask support staff colleagues to assist them with their pro bono matters. If you are a federal government attorney and would like to request assistance, or are a support staff member interested in assisting with pro bono matters, contact the Federal Government Pro Bono Program at probono@usdoj.gov.
  • The Federal Government Pro Bono Program does not endorse or recommend any of the organizations listed and is not responsible for the content of the organizations’ linked websites.

AIDS Legal Referral Panel

1663 Mission St., Suite 500 
San Francisco, CA 94103 
Phone: 415-701-1200 
www.alrp.org  
Contact: Jake Creecy, Volunteer Coordinator, jakec@alrp.org

ALRP’s mission is to help people with HIV/AIDS maintain or improve their health by resolving their legal issues. ALRP accomplishes this mission by providing free and low-cost legal services to people with HIV/AIDS in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Volunteer Opportunities:

  • Estate Planning – Pro bono attorneys draft wills, advance directives and powers of attorney to assist clients with planning for health emergencies and end-of-life decisionmaking.
  • Housing – Pro bono attorneys represent ALRP clients in eviction defense matters.
  • Insurance Disputes – Pro bono attorneys assist ALRP clients with insurance disputes to safeguard their healthcare.

Does the organization offer malpractice insurance? Yes.

Training: ALRP offers trainings to volunteers and is willing to come to government offices to do a presentation.

Mentoring/Supervision: ALRP attorneys and other volunteer attorneys with expertise serve as mentors.

Bay Area Legal Aid

1735 Telegraph Avenue 
Oakland, CA 94612 
Phone: 510-250-5218 Fax: 510-663-4711 
www.baylegal.org  
Contact: Andrea Del-Pan, Pro Bono Director, probono@baylegal.org 

Bay Area Legal Aid (BayLegal) is the largest provider of free civil legal services to low-income individuals and families living throughout the Bay Area. Our clients are spread across our seven county service area and include the working poor, seniors, veterans and people with disabilities. We work to address both the immediate crises that they face when they walk into our offices, and the root causes of their poverty, through systemic advocacy and impact litigation. Our regional offices are located in Napa, Contra Costa; Alameda; San Francisco; San Mateo and Santa Clara and counties.

Our Priority Areas:

  • Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Prevention: We help survivors escape violence and create safe and stable environments for themselves and their families through Family Law and Restraining Order assistance.
  • Housing Preservation: We help clients access and preserve safe, affordable housing free of discrimination, with a specific focus on Eviction Defense and Fair Housing.
  • Consumer Protection: We help clients to obtain economic self-sufficiency and avoid predatory lending and abusive collection practices.
  • Access to Healthcare: We help clients to obtain and navigate essential health services.

Volunteer Opportunities Offered:

  • Accept a case for representation with our training and mentorship, or within your specialty or experience (we have both full- and limited-scope opportunities).
  • Limited Scope Representation in Domestic Violence Restraining Order Hearings – Volunteer attorneys provide limited scope representation (appx. 1 or 2 hearings) for domestic violence survivors seeking permanent restraining orders and important related child custody, visitation and support orders. Volunteers receive training, a practice manual and sample pleadings and ongoing mentorship. Opportunities are available throughout the year and the project runs a summer associate program. Estimated time commitment: 25 hours.
  • Domestic Violence Restraining Order Clinics - BayLegal staff and volunteers assist self-represented domestic violence survivors complete the paperwork and understand the process to request a restraining order and important custody, visitation and support orders.
  • Consumer Rights Legal Clinics– BayLegal staff and volunteers assist self-represented litigants in limited civil debt collection matters. Clinics are offered weekly in Bay Point, Fremont, Redwood City, Richmond, Napa, and San José.
  • Research/investigate systemic legal issues facing indigent and working poor communities

Does the organization offer malpractice insurance? Yes.

Supervision and Training: We provide mentorship and training to pro bono attorneys from a broad array of legal backgrounds. We are committed to working with you to find the right opportunity that matches your skills and interests

Get Involved: Learn more about our work by visiting our website – www.baylegal.org and by completing a volunteer application at Volunteer Application Form | Bay Area Legal Aid.

Community Legal Services of East Palo Alto

1861 Bay Road 
East Palo Alto, CA 94303 
Phone: (650)-326-6440 
www.clsepa.org  
Contact: Romana Castaneda, Intake and Clinic Coordinator, rcastaneda@clsepa.org 

Community Legal Services of East Palo Alto (CLSEPA) is a nonprofit offering legal services to improve the lives of low-income families throughout the Bay Area. We specialize in immigration, housing, workers’ rights, records clearance, and consumer protection. Our team works side-by-side with low-income communities and partners with community-based organizations, churches, and schools to bring about lasting change. We achieve our mission using multiple, innovative strategies, including community education, individual legal advice and representation, legal assistance to community groups, policy advocacy, and impact litigation.

Volunteer Opportunities:

Re-Entry Opportunities:

  • RAP Sheet Review clinic (NOTE: This opportunity is not appropriate for DOJ attorneys.) A ‘RAP Sheet’ is a Record of Arrests and Prosecutions. For an individual to clean up their criminal record, they need to understand the details of their record. It isn’t always easy to decipher a RAP sheet, so volunteers review and analyze the RAP sheets, creating a summary and completing judicial council forms for the eligible petitions for dismissal. Time commitment per RAP sheet: 30 minutes to 1-2 hours (depends on RAP sheet length)
  • Declaration of Rehabilitation drafting clinic(NOTE: This opportunity is not appropriate for DOJ attorneys.) Volunteers will participate in declaration drafting with clients who are eligible for dismissals. This requires interviewing a client, obtaining pertinent facts and supporting documents to produce a persuasive declaration of rehabilitation that can be filed with their petitions for dismissals to the Court. Time commitment: 2-8 hours over the course of 2-3 weeks
  • Interview Workshop: To expand the impact of our clinic work and further serve our clients, we are inviting people who are interested in improving their interviewing skills, learning about the laws governing interviews, and seeking employment.

    California has passed a statewide “Ban the Box” that prohibits employers from asking about convictions in a job interview and only allows for a background check after a conditional offer has been made. We want to offer holistic services to people to learn more about their rights as job-seekers, and also have the soft skills to address questions about their backgrounds with confidence and professionalism. 

    In the workshop, our volunteers will learn about laws governing criminal background checks. Volunteers will work with clients to do mock interviews, including asking difficult or prohibited questions and provide feedback and advice on the participant's performance in the interview. There will be a brief training covering the fair chance law, AB 2138, and what questions can and cannot be asked during the mock interviews.

Housing Pro Bono Opportunities:

  • Mandatory Settlement Clinic: This clinic will mostly involve talking with the client, figuring out their goals and legal issues, and then negotiating with opposing counsel by phone or email. Then hopefully finalizing a written settlement agreement 

    Volunteers to sign up for virtual settlement conference clinics that are held every Tuesday morning from 8:30 am to 12:15 pm via Zoom and by phone. We have also found that it's best to start working with the clients before the conference date, and we now can provide client contact info in advance so that you can talk with your client, review the court papers, and even start negotiating with opposing counsel before Tuesday morning, hopefully making this a less stressful experience for all. You will do a brief court appearance to provide a status update, not a formal argument. 

    Time commitment: 3.5-6 hours per clinic.

Does the organization offer malpractice insurance? Yes.

Training: Yes, if needed. Can also provide group training and MCLE credit.

Supervision/Mentoring: CLSEPA always provides supervision at clinics. CLSEPA can also provide interpretation, space for client meetings, if needed, and resources such as sample briefs.

Justice & Diversity Center | Pro Bono Legal Services Program of the Bar Association of San Francisco

201 Mission St., Suite 400 San Francisco, CA 94105 
www.sfbar.org/jdc | Phone: 415-782-8970 
Contact: Antonia More, Director of Pro Bono Legal Services, amore@sfbar.org 

Volunteer Opportunities Available:

  • Family Law Project – Volunteering with JDC’s Family Law Project offers valuable experience and the chance to make a real impact on your client’s life. FLP has options to take dissolution/divorce cases full-scope (with or without property or custody and support issues), as well as limited-scope motions and hearings on child custody and support, or spousal support. Volunteer attorneys may also file petitions for guardianships over children, which is a process largely based on legal forms. All proceedings are before the Superior Court of California, County of San Francisco. The FLP accepts attorneys with all levels of experience and provides basic family law training and supervision from our experienced supervising attorney.
  • Community Organization Representation Project (CORP) –CORP provides free business/transactional services to nonprofit organizations that serve low-income communities across Northern California. Volunteers must have at least five years of experience in transactional law, or be working with a colleague with that experience. Volunteer attorneys take on limited-scope matters for nonprofit clients, such as contract review/negotiation and labor/employment questions or manual updates.
  • Tenant Advocacy Project - The Tenant Advocacy Project (TAP) assists low-income tenants in San Francisco to avoid eviction by negotiating with landlords, rent boards, master tenants and property managers. Issues include: rent disputes, rental assistance, housing conditions, income recertifications, and other disputes with landlords or property managers. This is a limited representation opportunity that does not involve litigation.
  • Mentoring and Education-Related Opportunities – From high school to law school, our programs break down barriers, build confidence, and show that the legal profession is for everyone. Volunteer attorneys can mentor students to prepare them for college, give short presentations, and coach mock trial teams.

Does the organization offer malpractice insurance? Yes.

Training: JDC offers legal training for the Family Law Project and the Tenant Advocacy Project and can coordinate group trainings specifically for government attorneys.

Legal Services for Children

1254 Market St. 3rd Floor 
San Francisco, CA 94102 
Phone: 415.863.3762 
http://www.lsc-sf.org/   
Contact: Cynthia Henning, Pro Bono Director, cynthia@lsc-sf.org

Legal Services for Children (LSC) provides free legal and social services to children and youth in order to stabilize their lives and help them realize their full potential. LSC’s in-house attorneys and social workers, as well as our pro bono attorneys, provide clients with comprehensive, holistic services to enable them to achieve safety and stability at home, educational success, and freedom from detention and deportation.

Volunteer opportunities to directly represent children in the following legal proceedings:

  • Probate Guardianship Proceedings: There are many situations in which a child or young person cannot live with their parents. A legal guardianship allows the minor to stay with a relative or another adult and gives that relationship legal protection. Guardianships can offer a great deal of stability for the minor. Volunteer attorneys represent minors in petitioning the Probate Court for a legal guardianship. The process includes meeting with the youth and caregiver, preparing legal documents, and appearing at a court hearing.
  • School Discipline Proceedings: Volunteer attorneys (and non-attorney advocates) represent children facing expulsion or other disciplinary action to ensure that their right to due process is upheld. After meeting with the student and investigating the case, volunteer attorneys negotiate on behalf of their client, and may represent students at a hearing in front of a school administrative panel. Attorneys ensure that their client’s voice is heard. Very often having an attorney involved means that the student is not expelled and is able to continue with their education.

Does the organization offer malpractice insurance? Yes.

Training and Resources: LSC is available to provide 1-2 hour-long trainings throughout the year, and could set up an exclusive training for federal attorneys if there is sufficient interest. Webinars and video trainings are also available. LSC also has a comprehensive Legal Resource Library that includes their own Guardianship Manual and Expulsion Defense Manual, as well as many other templates and resources to help throughout the case.

Supervision/Mentoring: Each pro bono attorney has an LSC mentor assigned to provide technical assistance, help strategize, and address any questions or concerns that may arise during the case. Pro bono attorneys also work in partnership with their client’s LSC social worker, taking a holistic approach to legal advocacy.

Open Door Legal

60 Ocean Avenue 
San Francisco, CA 94112 
Phone: 415-735-4124 Fax: 415-534-3469 
www.opendoorlegal.org  
Contact: Kelsey Renz, kelseyr@opendoorlegal.org

To get involved, please fill out this online form.

"It always seems impossible until it’s done." - Nelson Mandela

At Open Door Legal, we have proven that universal access to civil legal representation dramatically reduces poverty and that the law really can belong to all of us. We serve San Francisco’s low-income communities in Bayview, Excelsior and Western Addition. Open Door Legal represents clients in custody/visitation hearings in family law court, prevents illegal evictions, drafts living trusts, sues employers for illegal discrimination, assists clients in improving their credit scores, and helps with almost every other civil legal matter. Check out this video: The Law Belongs to All of Us

Volunteer Opportunities Offered:

  • Pro Bono Attorney: We provide attorneys the opportunity to work on one case at a time with us as a volunteer Attorney; a CA attorney license is not required. Our attorney staff is always available to support and train. Open Door Legal is unique in that we take civil suits for cases that do not have enough damages to be placed with private attorneys, thus providing great low-risk litigation opportunities in affirmative housing and personal injury cases. We also have many cases available for placement in family custody, probate and estate planning.

Does the organization offer malpractice insurance? Yes.

Training: We offer free CLEs, including manuals and sample materials.

Supervision/Mentoring: Open Door Legal provides ongoing mentorship and technical assistance, including assistance from experienced staff and volunteers, throughout all pro bono work. Open Door Legal provides training, manuals and sample materials.

San Francisco Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing

Contact Janay Washington, Janay.Washington@sfgov.org 

The Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing (HSH) is recruiting volunteer arbitrators to participate in our arbitration process within the temporary shelter system (Adult, Family and TAY).

San Francisco offers shelter guests the opportunity to grieve a Denial of Service issued by a shelter site, when a shelter believes the guest has violated the shelter’s program rules. The guest can request a program hearing and if they are not satisfied with the outcome, guest can request an Arbitration. This process is controlled by the Shelter Grievance Ordinance (San Francisco Administrative Code, Section 20, Article XVIII).

When a grievance proceeds to Arbitration, the Arbitrator duties are as follows:

  1. Conducts the Arbitration process.
  2. Reviews documentation pertaining to the Denial of Service.
  3. Hears statements from the shelter, guest(s) and Shelter Client Advocates (SCA).
  4. Makes a final decision on the Denial of Service.

Volunteer Arbitrator Requirements:

  • Volunteer arbitrators must be active members of the California Bar Association or attorney employed by the Federal Bar Association and an active member of any state bar.
  • Volunteer Arbitrators are required to facilitate one three-hour arbitration session quarterly and attend Arbitration training once a fiscal year.

Does the organization offer malpractice insurance? No, but the Department of Justice Government Ethics Office advised that malpractice insurance is not required when serving as an arbitrator.

Training - The SF Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing offers periodic trainings which cover the City’s homeless shelter programs, shelter policies, rules, and grievance/arbitration procedures.

Attorneys interested in becoming an arbitrator can send an email to HSHShelterArbitrations@sfgov.org.

Updated February 10, 2026