Massachusetts at fore of new network of pro bono construction lawyers.

Byline: Kris Olson

If a nonprofit organization has been successful enough to outgrow its physical space, the last thing it needs is the cost of a construction lawyer impeding its expansion plans.

Now there's an online network available to ensure that obstacle is removed.

Building for Good Inc., a national web-based platform linking nonprofits and charities with volunteer construction lawyers, launched this month in Massachusetts, Florida, New Jersey and Minnesota.

Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky & Popeo lawyer William M. Hill chairs the Building for Good board of directors.

The effort grew out of his tenure as chairman of the American Bar Association's construction law forum in 2016 and 2017. Many of the forum's 6,000 members nationwide were eager to connect with and offer their professional services to worthy organizations.

While attorneys with an expertise in, say, immigration law might have regular opportunities to engage in pro bono work that involves direct client service, construction lawyers lack such chances, Hill notes.

He and the other founders of Building for Good decided that helping the organizations that help others would be the "next best thing," especially as every dollar they saved on their legal bills could be reallocated to delivering their mission.

Among the initial projects Building for Good is touting on its website is the under-construction eventual new home of Boston's Elizabeth Stone House. For over 40 years the organization has helped women traumatized by domestic violence, mental illness and substance abuse "build confidence, learn skills and gain access to resources they need to live competently, independently and safely with their children."

While the organization is moving a mere two blocks, its new headquarters will open up a whole new world, says the chairwoman of its board, Maryann Civitello, a retired commercial real estate partner at Mintz.

The Elizabeth Stone House currently offers affordable housing, support services and therapeutic child care to 500 clients a year, but it will be able to quadruple that number in its new facility. Civitello is particularly excited that the new facility will have twice as many apartments as its old one 32 instead of 16 along with, for the first time, a gym and certified day care facility on its second floor.

Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh was among the guests of honor at a ceremonial groundbreaking at the site on Oct. 21...