pro bono
adjective
Did you know?
In Latin, pro bono publico means "for the public good;" in English we generally shorten the phrase to pro bono. Donating free legal help to those who need it has long been a practice of American law firms; the American Bar Association actually recommends that all lawyers donate 50 hours a year. Pro bono work is sometimes donated by nonlegal firms as well. For example, an advertising firm might produce a 60-second video for an environmental or educational organization, or a strategic-planning firm might prepare a start-up plan for a charity that funds shelters for battered women.
Examples of pro bono in a Sentence
Stepheny Price, FOXNews.com, 31 Mar. 2026
Having hit a dead end, the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office decided to bring the case to the DNA Doe Project, a nonprofit organization founded in 2017 that uses investigative genetic genealogy experts, who work pro bono, to identify unknown deceased persons.
—Jack Beresford, MSNBC Newsweek, 30 Mar. 2026
Kory DeClark, a pro bono attorney who is representing Raju, argued against sanctions imposed on the office and stressed that doing so would exacerbate issues the agency already faces related to funding.
—Annie Vainshtein, San Francisco Chronicle, 24 Mar. 2026
An architecture firm will offer $20,000 in pro bono services for a nonprofit in Texas.
—Peter Warren, Houston Chronicle, 18 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for pro bono
Cite this Entry
“Pro bono.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pro%20bono. Accessed 3 Apr. 2026.
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