Twelve federal judges and more than sixty attorneys gathered at the Phillip Burton Federal Building and United States Courthouse in January to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Justice & Diversity Center’s (JDC) Federal Pro Bono Project. Chief Judge Phyllis J. Hamilton and Judge Edward M. Chen spoke about the longstanding partnership between JDC and the Northern District of California to give low-income litigants access to justice in federal court. Michael Wahlander of Seyfarth Shaw LLP spoke about his experience volunteering for the project.

Since the Federal Pro Bono Project started in 2008, over 100 law firms and solo practitioners have represented over 250 people who’d been proceeding pro se. In addition, JDC staff attorneys have helped over 2,200 pro se federal litigants at self-help centers in San Francisco and Oakland.

If you’d like to get involved with the Federal Pro Bono Project, please contact Supervising Attorney Manjari Chawla at MChawla@sfbar.org or 415-626-6917.