In honor of National Celebrate Pro Bono Week, Pro Bono Net has lined up a variety of guest bloggers from law firms, legal aid organizations and elsewhere to share their pro bono ideas and experiences. Check back each day between Oct. 22-26 for new posts, and visit the Celebrate Pro Bono site to learn how you can get involved in events near you.

Below, we are pleased to present a guest post from Hanh Vo, Senior Commercial Attorney at LinkedIn.

“We, in the legal field, are blessed to be a part of a unique community where we are able to use our talents to help others who need legal advice” – Hanh Vo, LinkedIn.

Compassion. This is the recipe for pro bono.

You hear it all the time in the corporate world these days. Compassionate leadership. Managing compassionately. Compassion management.

I think that we all have compassion inside of us. Compassion does not drive revenue, but it drives us to help others in need. It drives us to make the right choices and do what we can to make this world a better place.

When we see others in need, the compassion within us wants to help them. How many times have you opened up your pocket book to donate to telethons even though you were not directly affected by the situation? Well, that is compassion. You cannot empathize but you can sympathize.

We, in the legal field, are blessed to be a part of a unique community where we are able to use our talents to help others who need legal advice.

Earlier this year, LinkedIn joined Cooley, LLP and One Justice on the Justice Bus to work with Legal Aid of Napa Valley in Napa, California. Our mission was to complete Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) forms so that youth immigrants could have an opportunity to become legally employed in the United States. We met 28 applicants and completed every application, creating 28 opportunities for legal employment.

We did not know who they were. We did not know why they came to the United States illegally. All we knew was that they asked for help and we were willing and able to provide the legal guidance they needed.  The LinkedIn legal team served the underserved, gave back to the community, and paid it forward.

Twenty-three complete strangers opened up their hearts to 28 immigrants. At the end of the day, it was not only the immigrants who benefited from our volunteer service, it was us. Compassion for others is the recipe for pro bono.