US non-profit Pro Bono Net has rebranded as Scale Justice, reflecting its broadening role to expand access to justice and opportunity through digital innovation.
The firm said the name change marks a new chapter in its more-than-25-year mission to transform how people can find and access digital legal support.
Zach Zarnow, executive director of Scale Justice, said: “There is a lot of incredible work and success to build upon, and I am very optimistic about where we are headed and how we can continue to be an innovative leader at the intersection of technology and increasing access to justice.”
Scale Justice’s main support programmes will continue to drive the organisation’s work, while also fuelling fresh initiatives.
Those programmes include LawHelp, an online guide to help people access low-cost or free legal assistance for issues such as debt or evictions, and LawHelp Interactive, which helps users complete legal forms in a step-by-step guide.
Its third flagship programme – Citizenshipworks – helps immigrants to become US citizens, and also connects those in need to free legal advice when necessary.
Scale Justice said these programmes support more than eight million people annually, saving them around $97m in legal fees.
Zarnow added: “What has changed are the tools at our disposal. When you combine AI and the emerging possibilities around it with our decades of experience and co-design practice, what you get is a recipe for even greater impact.
“We can meet people where they are, we can ideate and experiment at much greater speeds, and we can continue to serve in partnership with the legal aid, courts and community organisations around the country who know they can count on us to help them take advantage of those possibilities while remaining true to their values.”
Pro Bono Net was founded in 1999 by Mark O’Brien and Michael Hertz, pioneering the use of technology to expand access to pro bono legal services. O’Brien was executive director for 19 years until taking on a senior adviser role in 2024. He is also currently a senior fellow of the Institute for Technology Law & Policy at Georgetown University Law Center.
Hertz was executive director for seven years, before he departed to become global director of knowledge and business development at Freshfields.
Last year Pro Bono Net launched Reclamo AI – a multilingual tool to assist with workplace issues such as payment discrepancies – through its nonprofit innovation incubator Justicia Lab. It was supported with $500,000 in seed funding from Google.
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