In-house lawyers who want to do pro bono work face several unique hurdles, including ethical challenges, malpractice insurance concerns and operating without support from the types of established pro bono programs commonly found at sizeable law firms. 

“At law firms they all have a program up and running. If you go in-house and don’t have a program, you sort of have to start from scratch,” said Simon Auerbach, director and senior counsel at Discover Financial Services Inc.