Spotlight for Good
B4G’s Attorney Spotlight Series
Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.
- Arthur Ashe
Laura LoBue
Partner in Pillsbury’s Construction Counseling & Dispute Resolution Practice and
B4G Volunteer Lawyer for Wildflower Schools in San Francisco and Washington, D.C.
As lawyers, the exciting projects, big clients, and bustling workflow co-exist with the desire to connect with the community and give back. Volunteering well-honed legal expertise of a certain specialty is compelling but not always easy to do. Such was the case for Laura LoBue, Building for Good volunteer lawyer and Pillsbury Partner.
A former architect-turned-lawyer, Laura has significant experience in complex litigation and arbitration, focusing on the areas of construction, engineering, and energy-related disputes. While advising contractors and subcontractors, utilities, developers, and real estate owners on construction-related issues, she also sought out pro bono cases that were construction related. They were hard to find.
When Laura heard about B4G in the 2019 summer volume of the ABA Forum on Construction Law’s Under Construction, she signed up. B4G had not yet launched in D.C., where Laura practices, but that didn’t matter. Laura put B4G on the D.C. map through early fundraising efforts. She established Pillsbury’s future B4G partnership and readied the pro bono team for action. When the time came, she took on two B4G projects and led the firm’s pro bono response. But her involvement was just getting started.
Laura says “yes” before she has even heard the question.
She is also a member of B4G’s newly formed Development Committee and will be helping to grow B4G’s fundraising platform in the D.C. area. And she continues to be a resource for the Wildflower Schools pro bono projects as they go from conception, through construction, up to operation. She has also helped Wildflower solve non-construction-related legal issues and connected them with other volunteer lawyers in her firm. She leaves no stone unturned when it comes to supporting her pro bono clients
Thank you, Laura and Pillsbury, for your time, service, and commitment to B4G’s mission! We are grateful to have you in our network.
“The most rewarding part of this project for me was knowing that our clients looked to us as their trusted advisors to help them navigate the entire building process. ”
“Building for Good was–and is–the perfect way to dedicate my skills as a construction lawyer to charities and nonprofits in need of construction-related expertise.”
Q&A with Laura LoBue
Why did you choose to get involved with B4G?
I have a been a part of the building industry for years as an architect then as a construction lawyer. For the most part, my construction law practice involves doing work for paying clients, typically on fairly large projects. Of course, like most lawyers, I have also dedicated time to matters on a pro bono basis. I have always tried to seek out pro bono efforts that are at least somewhat construction related, but those projects are not always easy to find. Building for Good filled that void for me. I was thrilled to first read about Building for Good in the 2019 summer volume of the ABA’s Under Construction. At the time, Building for Good had not yet launched in DC, where I practice. I reached out to see what I could do to help expand the organization. Building for Good was – and is – the perfect way to dedicate my skills as a construction lawyer to charities and nonprofits in need of construction-related expertise.
What was the most rewarding part of the project for you?
The first project I worked on was for the Wildflower School, the Dahlia School. We worked with two women who spearheaded the effort to open this Montessori school in the Mission Bay community in San Francisco. Our client contacts knew nothing about the construction process, nor should they since their skills are as Montessori guides. We educated them on the process, helped them select designers and builders, and helped review and negotiate the required contracts for the buildout of the space that would become the Dahlia School. It was the full soup-to-nuts experience for all of us: the lawyers and the Montessori guides. As a lawyer, it is expected that you can advise clients on the law. It is quite another feat to be a trusted advisor to those clients. The most rewarding part of this project for me was knowing that our clients looked to us as their trusted advisors to help them navigate the entire building process.