The Allegheny County Bar Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, was established in 1980 by the Allegheny County Bar Association (ACBA) to conduct a broad range of educational and charitable activities related to the law. In the late 1980s, the foundation began to address the unmet legal needs of low-income residents in our community. The Center for Volunteer Legal Resources was established in 1990 to help facilitate the delivery of pro bono legal services in the community. In the early 1990s, the foundation also assumed the management of the Divorce Law Project and the Juvenile Court Project to provide direct pro bono legal services to qualified low-income clients.
Throughout the 1990s, the foundation has facilitated various public service initiatives, including Attorneys Against Hunger, the Minority Summer Internship Program, Living Letters, and Jury Appreciation Week.
In 1996, the foundation established the Fellows program as a formal means of recognizing and honoring attorneys who have demonstrated a commitment to excellence in charitable, community, professional, and public service activities. To date, over 600 attorneys have been inducted into the Fellows program. Using funds generated through the Fellows program, the foundation initiated a Grants program for the first time in 2000, and awarded grants, totaling $20,000, to four community organizations in support of their pro bono programs. Since 2000, the foundation has awarded $145,000 in grants to over 21 organizations.
In 2000, the foundation also established three named funds to further its charitable and educational mission, and the Louis Little Memorial Fund, which provides low-interest loans to law school students, was transferred from the ACBA to the foundation.
