About me
Sharon E. Goldsmith is the founding director of the Pro Bono Resource Center of Maryland, Inc., the statewide pro bono support center and coordinator of volunteer civil legal services established in 1990. Under her leadership, the Center has recruited, trained and referred thousands of volunteer attorneys to legal services programs throughout Maryland and developed successful direct service pro bono projects within the state focused primarily on preservation of housing and financial stability. Today, PBRC directly serves over 6,400 clients per year, administers a Professional Skills Academy for newer lawyers interested in pro bono service, hosts a regional Partners for Justice Conference, and offers technical assistance to a number of legal services partner agencies. A graduate of the National Law Center of George Washington University, Ms. Goldsmith worked as a judicial clerk and spent two years as a civil litigator before taking the helm at PBRC. Ms. Goldsmith also co-founded a community-based pro bono legal services clinic in Baltimore City outside of her PBRC work, has presented at ABA/NLADA Equal Justice Conferences and state pro bono conferences, served as an Executive Committee member and then President of the National Association of Pro Bono Professionals (NAPBPro), and is a member of the Supreme Court’s Standing Committee on Pro Bono Legal Services and the Maryland Access to Justice Commission. She is also the recipient of numerous access to justice and pro bono awards, as well as the ABA Presidential Award and the Daily Record’s Leadership in Law Award and Most Admired CEO award.
