If you are a community member seeking free legal assistance, please click HERE for information.
Each year, the Alaska Bar Association sponsors free legal clinics, where we need attorneys in a variety of practice areas to volunteer. Our clinics and other pro bono opportunities are listed below. If you would like to be added to a mailing list about volunteer opportunities, click here. Contact the Pro Bono Director at lmckenna@alaskabar.org with any questions or if you are interested in organizing a new clinic.
Pro Bono Information for Attorneys
Why Do Pro Bono?
Being a lawyer in Alaska comes with the profoundly important opportunity encouraged by ARPC 6.1 of performing 50 hours of pro bono service annually, primarily to Alaskans of limited means and the legal services providers who serve them.
Our volunteers report that they do pro bono work largely because they feel it is their professional duty, they want to help fellow Alaskans in need, and they want to reduce racial and social inequities.
If that’s not motivation enough, you can also earn one general CLE credit for every two hours of qualifying pro bono service. Read Alaska Bar Rule 65(e) for more details. You could also be recognized as a Pro Bono Champion if you do 50 or more hours of pro bono service for a qualified legal services provider or win a pro bono award. See below for details.
Cases can be co-counseled to share the load, virtual clinics can be done from anywhere at any time, in-person clinics, and monthly hotlines are just a few of the options. And most opportunities provide free malpractice insurance coverage.
The choices are many; the impact is great. And you don’t have to do it alone. There are mentors available at every step of the way for any of the opportunities. You just have to ask.
Get started today by reviewing current opportunities, below, and connecting with a legal services provider, or join the Alaska Bar Association’s pro bono mailing list by clicking here.
Pro Bono Opportunities
Volunteers Needed for Free Legal Clinics
Alaska Free Legal Answers: Offered in partnership with the American Bar Association, Alaska Free Legal Answers is a virtual legal advice clinic in which qualifying users post civil legal questions to be answered by attorneys licensed in Alaska for free. Available 24/7 and 365 days per year, this website allows low-income Alaskans to ask three non-criminal legal questions a year. Volunteer attorneys take, on average, 20 minutes to anonymously answer each question. Questions may be previewed before committing to answering and may be answered on your own schedule. Attorneys are needed in the areas of family law, housing, insurance, consumer/debt/small claims, public benefits, and employment law. Register here to volunteer. To request Alaska Free Legal Answers cards to hand out to potential clients, please email info@alaskabar.org. To watch a free one-hour ethics CLE on Alaska Free Legal Answers and the Ethics of Limited Scope Representation, search our CLE Video on Demand Library here.
Free Legal Answers (FEDERAL): Offered in partnership with the American Bar Association, Federal Free Legal Answers is a virtual legal advice clinic in which qualifying users ask civil legal questions related to basic immigration and veterans questions to be answered for free by licensed attorneys. Register here to volunteer.
MLK Day Free Legal Clinics: On the third Monday of each January (on Martin Luther King Jr. Day), the Alaska Bar Association, Alaska Court System, and Alaska Legal Services Corporation host MLK Day Free Legal Clinics throughout Alaska, including in Fairbanks, Juneau, Bethel, and Anchorage. For the latest information, view our MLK Day page. Sign up to be notified when volunteer registration opens for this and other free legal clinics by joining our pro bono mailing list here. We especially need attorneys in the areas of family law, housing, public benefits, probate, consumer/debt, employment, and other poverty law issues.
Elder Appreciation and Wills Clinic: A resource fair and estate planning drafting clinic for Elders will be held in mid-October 2026 at the Alaska Federation of Natives Convention in Anchorage. New and experienced volunteer estate planning attorneys will be paired to draft wills, powers of attorney, and/or advance health care directives. A 1.5 hour training on drafting these documents was provided on October 1, 2025, and is available by video on demand for Members here. Click here to be notified of volunteer opportunities at future estate planning clinics.
Elizabeth Peratrovich Legal Clinic: In mid-October 2026 volunteer attorneys will provide free 30-minute legal consultations during the Alaska Federation of Natives Convention in Anchorage. Walk-in consultations are provided on civil (non-criminal) legal issues, including questions relating to family law, housing, employment, public benefits, ICWA, and tribal justice. Click here to be notified when volunteer registration opens.
Spring Legal Clinic: Each spring, volunteer advice attorneys, intake volunteers, and Zoom-savvy client/volunteer managers from around the state are needed for a free Spring Free Legal Clinic, which is held by Zoom and phone. Volunteer attorneys are needed to provide free 20-30-minute consultations to clients on issues such as immigration, family law, housing, contracts/business, employment, probate, and more. Volunteers must have a strong internet connection, be comfortable with Zoom’s basic functions, and will be taught how to update a shared spreadsheet. To be notified of when volunteer registration opens, join the pro bono mailing list here. If you want to get legal help at this clinic, click here.
Disaster Legal Clinics: Help Alaskans navigate disaster-related legal challenges. Attorneys and legal professionals can sign up here to be notified when a clinic is held to assist disaster survivors, which often requires quick mobilization. A free recorded 2.5-credit ethics CLE—Disaster Rights, Resources, and Legal Ethics: How You Can Help Those Impacted—will be mandatory for all volunteers.
Qualified Legal Services Providers
Visit our Qualified Legal Services Providers page to learn about our qualified legal services providers and opportunities to volunteer with them.
Pro Bono Awards and Champions
Bryan P. Timbers Pro Bono Awards: These awards recognize the extraordinary pro bono efforts of individual attorneys and law firms toward closing the justice gap for Alaskans with civil legal needs.
Pro Bono Champions: Bar members who report doing at least 50 hours per year of pro bono service for a qualified legal services provider, and law firms in which at least 70% of their attorneys meet this threshold, are recognized as Pro Bono Champions. Pro bono service is essential to ensuring access to justice for Alaskans who cannot otherwise afford legal representation and plays a critical role in addressing unmet legal needs across the state. This recognition includes:
- An engraved travel mug with annual stickers denoting each year of recognition,
- A Pro Bono Champion digital email signature and website badge,
- Announcement of recipients at the Annual Alaska Bar Convention, and
- Display of recipients’ names at the Convention, in the Bar Rag, and on the Alaska Bar’s website.
Visit our Pro Bono Awards page for current and historical awards and Pro Bono Champions recipients.
Retired, Inactive, and Out-of-State Attorneys
Retired, inactive, and out-of-state attorneys may have their Alaska Bar Association dues fees waived in the year following the year they provide pro bono service to an Alaska qualified legal services provider. Learn more about the Emeritus Attorney Rule 43.2 (for inactive and retired members) here, and the Out-of-State Attorney Bar Rule 43.6 here. You may find the list of qualified legal services providers here, which are non-profit legal services providers who are approved by the Alaska Bar Association Board of Governors.
