Pro Bono Resource Center of Maryland

What Pro Bono Resource Center of Maryland does

Pro Bono Resource Center of Maryland (PBRC) is a Baltimore-based nonprofit founded in 1990 that operates as the designated pro bono arm of the Maryland State Bar Association, functioning as Maryland's statewide hub for connecting volunteer attorneys with low-income residents who need free civil legal assistance. Its portfolio is organized around four core program areas: the Home Preservation Project (estate planning, tangled-title resolution, mortgage and tax sale foreclosure prevention for low-income homeowners), the Maryland Immigrant Legal Assistance Project (asylum, U-visa, VAWA, and family-based representation for unaccompanied children and immigrant families), the Courtroom Advocacy Project (Tenant Justice Program and Consumer Protection Project), and the Professional Skills Academy, a one-year service-learning fellowship that trains and mentors attorneys new to pro bono practice. PBRC delivers services through in-person legal clinics, virtual consultations, structured case referrals, and an online training and registration infrastructure, supported by a statewide network of court, government, and legal aid partners.

PBRC does not charge clients for services and earns no commercial revenue; instead, the operating model is grant-funded, drawing from a diversified base that includes Baltimore and Maryland foundations (Abell Foundation, Zanvyl and Isabelle Krieger Fund, Leonard & Helen R. Stulman Foundation, Venable Foundation, Greater Washington Community Foundation), corporate and law firm sponsorships (Bank of America, Wells Fargo Foundation, DLA Piper, Morgan Stanley, Cole Schotz, Saul Ewing, Nelson Mullins, Whiteford Taylor & Preston, Kramon & Graham, Frost, Gallagher, FNB, Bowman), state government grants (Maryland Judiciary, Department of Housing and Community Development, Administrative Office of the Courts), individual donations through an "Advocate for Justice" giving program, and Community Investment Tax Credits. Volunteer engagement is the organization's primary "cost of goods" — in FY25 volunteers donated 2,090 hours valued at $453,250, impacting 13,994 Marylanders — and PBRC supplies volunteers with free training, mentorship, and malpractice insurance to reduce friction in pro bono participation.

Go-to-market is community-led: legal aid partners, Maryland courts, community groups, and immigrant-services organizations refer eligible clients to PBRC clinics and case placements, while the Maryland State Bar Association network, CLE programming, the Professional Skills Academy, and annual conferences (Partners for Justice, Veterans Legal Assistance Conference) recruit and train volunteer attorneys. The organization also conducts policy advocacy, notably on Baltimore's tax sale system, which is emerging as an additional dimension of its mission beyond direct service delivery.

Name

Pro Bono Resource Center of Maryland

Legal name

Pro Bono Resource Center of Maryland

Website

https://probonomd.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1990

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Pro Bono Resource Center of Maryland is a Baltimore-based nonprofit that recruits, trains, and places volunteer attorneys to provide free civil legal services — including housing, immigration, estate planning, and consumer protection — to low-income Maryland residents statewide as the pro bono arm of the Maryland State Bar Association.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Legal Aid Services

NAICS

Offices of Lawyers (54111), Human Rights Organizations (813311)

SIC

Services-Legal Services (8111)

akta.pro primary industry

Legal Aid & Client Advocacy Services (BPAGAEAM)

akta.pro secondary industries

Public Defense & Legal Aid Services (BPAIAFAC), Legal Literacy & Public Legal Education (Know Your Rights) (EDAAAFAI), Human Rights & Anti-Discrimination Organizations (BPAGAFAB)

Keywords

• Pro bono legal services
• Civil legal aid
• Volunteer attorney coordination
• Estate planning clinics
• Immigration legal assistance

Headquarters

HQ city

Baltimore

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Foundation and Corporate Grants: PBRC receives funding from foundations (Abell Foundation, Zanvyl and Isabelle Krieger Fund, Leonard & Helen R. Stulman Foundation, Venable Foundation, Wells Fargo Foundation, Greater Washington Community Foundation) and government grants (Maryland Judiciary's Department of Juvenile and Family Services, Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development, Administrative Office of the Courts)
2. Corporate and Law Firm Sponsorships: Corporate sponsors and law firms (Bank of America, DLA Piper, Morgan Stanley, Cole Schotz, Saul Ewing, Nelson Mullins, Whiteford, Kramon & Graham, Frost, Gallagher, FNB, Bowman) provide financial support through sponsorship and donation programs
3. Individual Donations: Individual donors contribute through the organization's 'Advocate for Justice' giving program and general donation options

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Pro Bono Resource Center of Maryland operates as a statewide hub that recruits, trains, and places volunteer attorneys to deliver free civil legal services to low-income Marylanders. The organization coordinates a portfolio of programs including the Home Preservation Project, the Maryland Immigrant Legal Assistance Project (MILAP), the Professional Skills Academy, and the Courtroom Advocacy Project, providing services such as estate planning, foreclosure prevention, immigration representation, tenant advocacy, and consumer protection. All legal services are provided at no cost to income-eligible clients.

Product overview

Pro Bono Resource Center of Maryland (PBRC) operates as Maryland's hub for pro bono civil legal assistance, functioning as a platform of interconnected legal service programs rather than a single unified product. The core portfolio includes the Home Preservation Project (HPP) providing estate planning, deed preparation, and foreclosure prevention services; the Maryland Immigrant Legal Assistance Project (MILAP) offering immigration legal consultations and representation; and the Professional Skills Academy providing year-long training and mentoring for attorneys. Additional programs include Courtroom Advocacy Project, Tax Sale Foreclosure Prevention clinics, and various volunteer training programs. These programs work together to address the legal needs of low-income Marylanders across housing, immigration, estate planning, and consumer protection domains.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Home Preservation Project: Provides legal representation to low-income homeowners including estate planning services, deeds, tangled titles, estate administration, mortgage foreclosure counseling, and tax sale foreclosure prevention.
• Maryland Immigrant Legal Assistance Project (MILAP)
• Courtroom Advocacy Project
• Professional Skills Academy

Products and services

• Home Preservation Project (HPP) Provides legal representation and support to low-income homeowners, including estate planning services, deeds, tangled titles, estate administration, mortgage foreclosure counseling, and tax sale foreclosure prevention.
• Maryland Immigrant Legal Assistance Project (MILAP) Connects unaccompanied children and families with volunteer lawyers to help them gain access to critical legal assistance with valid claims to remain in the United States, including asylum representation, U visas, and VAWA protections.
• Professional Skills Academy A one-year, service-learning program including training, mentoring, and pro bono opportunities for Maryland attorneys who are new to the profession, returning to the profession after a hiatus, or interested in an in-depth pro bono opportunity.
• Courtroom Advocacy Project Includes the Tenant Justice Program and Consumer Protection Project, providing advocacy services for low-income individuals in court proceedings.
• Estate Planning Clinics Free, in-person clinics where volunteer attorneys meet one-on-one with low-income Baltimore City and Baltimore County homeowners to prepare wills, financial powers of attorney, and advance medical directives.
• Tax Sale Foreclosure Prevention In-person clinics and telephone consultations providing information and advice to Baltimore City homeowners who are behind on property taxes or at risk of tax sale.
• Immigration Consultations Training Training that equips volunteer lawyers to provide brief legal consultations to immigrant children and families using trauma-informed techniques.
• Asylum Representation Training Training on representing children and families applying for asylum while in removal proceedings, including asylum law, special protections for unaccompanied children, and mock hearing practice.

Quantifiable outcome

• 2,090 volunteer hours donated; $453,250 in legal services; 13,994 Marylanders impacted in FY25

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Maryland State Bar AssociationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPBRC is the official pro bono arm of the Maryland State Bar Association, playing a unique statewide role as the training, support, innovation, and advocacy center for pro bono legal services. MSBA provides organizational infrastructure and access to the legal community.
• Maryland JudiciarycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Administrative Office of the Courts and Maryland Judiciary's Department of Juvenile and Family Services provide grants and institutional support for PBRC programs including MILAP and court-based clinics.
• Maryland Legal Services CorporationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerState-funded legal services corporation that supports access to justice initiatives and partners with PBRC on pro bono service delivery.
• Maryland Immigrant Legal Assistance Project PartnerscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMILAP is a joint venture involving the Department of Human Resources, Governor's Office for Children, Governor's Commission on Hispanic Affairs, Department of Juvenile and Family Services for the Administrative Office of the Courts, and various nonprofit legal services programs.
• University of Baltimore School of LawcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAnnual host of the Veterans Legal Assistance Conference; law school partner providing student volunteers and continuing legal education collaboration.
• Maryland Legal AidcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-organizer of the Veterans Legal Assistance Conference; major legal aid partner for case referrals and collaborative programs.
• Kids in Need of Defense (KIND)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-sponsor of MILAP immigration training programs; provides training resources and case referrals for unaccompanied minors.
• Tahirih Justice CentercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-sponsor of immigration training programs focused on immigrant survivors of violence; provides expertise on U-visas and VAWA protections.
• HIAScoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational Jewish refugee resettlement agency; co-sponsor of asylum training programs and case referrals.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Regional players

• Tahirih Justice Center: National nonprofit providing direct legal services and advocacy for immigrant survivors of gender-based violence; a documented PBRC partner through MILAP training programs. Comparable in legal-services delivery to immigrant populations but with multi-state regional offices rather than statewide hub-coordination.
• Casa de Maryland: Maryland-based immigrant services and advocacy organization that operates in overlapping geographies with PBRC's MILAP program and is documented as a referral partner. Comparable in regional focus but with a broader social-services mission beyond purely legal aid.

Direct peers

• Maryland Legal Aid: Maryland's primary statewide civil legal aid organization, providing direct legal representation to low-income residents across the same priority practice areas (housing, family, public benefits, consumer) targeted by PBRC. Operates as a Core strategic partner of PBRC, making it the most direct peer for client overlap and mission, although it uses a staff-attorney model rather than a volunteer-hub model.
• Volunteer Lawyers for Justice: New Jersey-based nonprofit that recruits, trains, and places volunteer attorneys to deliver free civil legal services to low-income residents — the closest functional peer to PBRC's volunteer-hub operating model, with similar clinic-based and pro bono referral infrastructure.
• Pro Bono Institute: National nonprofit that develops and supports pro bono programs across law firms, corporations, and public interest organizations. Closely aligned with PBRC's mission as a training, support, and innovation center for pro bono legal services, operating at the national level instead of within one state.
• OneJustice: California-based nonprofit infrastructure organization that builds, supports, and advocates for pro bono legal services statewide — a near structural analog to PBRC's role as Maryland's pro bono hub, focusing on training, placement, and innovation around volunteer legal services.

Broad incumbents

• Atlanta Legal Aid Society: Georgia's largest nonprofit civil legal aid provider serving low-income residents across metro Atlanta and statewide. Shares PBRC's civil-justice mission and statewide scope but is a traditional staff-attorney legal aid organization rather than a volunteer-hub coordinator.
• Legal Aid Society of NYC: One of the largest and oldest civil legal aid organizations in the United States, delivering a broad portfolio of direct legal services to low-income New Yorkers. Operates in the same mission space as PBRC but at far greater scale and with a primarily staff-attorney model.

Others

• Maryland Access to Justice Commission: State-level commission dedicated to expanding access to justice in Maryland, with which PBRC's MSBA-affiliated mission closely intersects. Functions as a coordinating body in the same ecosystem rather than a direct service-delivery competitor.
• Kids in Need of Defense (KIND): National nonprofit delivering pro bono legal representation to unaccompanied immigrant children. A documented PBRC MILAP co-sponsor providing training resources and case referrals; comparable as an immigration legal services partner operating in the same ecosystem.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/pbrcmd

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Pro Bono Resource Center of Maryland