A year ago, John Frantz, vice president and associate general counsel at Verizon, never would have guessed he'd now be spearheading a pro bono program that involves nearly a third of the company's legal staff. But all it took was one question to set the ball in motion.

“I asked Randy [Milch, Verizon's GC], 'Would you like me to negotiate malpractice insurance for pro bono work?'” says Frantz, who wanted Verizon to be prepared should the legal department decide to do pro bono work. Inspired by the thought, Milch asked Frantz if he would develop a pro bono program for Verizon's domestic legal staff.

From that conversation sprung a program targeting three areas: legal support for veterans and victims of domestic violence, and education at low-income schools. The initiative kicked off in November 2009, and at press time, 100 legal staffers had participated in pro bono work, with another 100 having been trained.