The state’s only law school plans to increase the amount of free legal services it provides to low-income Rhode Islanders and groups that advocate for the needy, after a well-known lawyer donated $250,000 to expand Roger Williams University’s School of Law Pro Bono Collaborative.

Providence attorney Mark Mandell, a personal injury lawyer who sits on the Rhode Island Supreme Court Ethics Advisory Panel and has represented several of the victims of the deadly 2003 Station fire, is a longtime supporter of the law school. Mandell teaches trial advocacy at RWU and sits on the law school’s board of directors.

Mandell’s gift includes a challenge to other members of the legal community to match his $250,000 donation, enabling the law school to further expand its innovative pro bono program that finds lawyers from prestigious law firms to work for free with law students and community organizations that serve the poor.

“The law school is a beacon for all judges, attorneys and citizens who are participants on our system of justice,” Mandell said in a statement. “I think that RWU Law is as important as any academic institution in the state of Rhode Island.”

Since the collaborative was established in 2006, lawyers, RWU law students and community organizations have assisted about 100 individuals through direct legal representation and advocacy, and helped hundreds more through developing proposed legislation and legal rights workshops, said Eliza Vorenberg, an attorney who serves as director of the collaborative.

About 50 lawyers from 10 of the biggest law firms in Rhode Island have donated about 500 hours of pro bono work to 28 community organizations and institutions over the past three years, working closely with 60 law students who have contributed about 1,900 hours of labor, said Vorenberg.

Meeting Street School, for example, has asked lawyers from Partridge Snow & Hahn and RWU law students to provide information workshops for parents of special-needs students, advising families about how to navigate special-education regulations.

Lawyers from Taylor Duane Barton & Gilman, aided by law students, have educated parents with children at Bradley Hospital’s Center for Autism and Developmental Disabilities about their rights when their children turn 18.

Lawyers from Hinckley, Allen and Snyder worked with law students to help victims of domestic violence at the Women’s Center of Rhode Island find housing.

“To my knowledge, the [Pro Bono Collaborative] is the only pro bono program in the country that provides legal service to low income people through this sort of three way collaboration between law firms, a law school and community organizations,” said David A. Logan, dean of RWU’s law school.

Mandell’s donation will help cover the costs of running the collaborative for the next five years, contributing to the salaries of two staff and defraying the cost of various training programs. Grants from the Rhode Island Foundation help to support the program, and RWU pays for about half of the program’s $150,000 annual budget, Vorenberg said.

RWU law students do not receive payment or academic credit for their pro bono work, but their labor does go toward a requirement that all students fulfill 50 hours of public service, Vorenberg said.

RWU Law School wants to foster a commitment to pro bono work, she said.

“Our students work under the supervision of these lawyers and they get to see what it is like to perform pro bono work in a big firm context,” Vorenberg said. “We want them to understand they can do this type of service in a big business environment.”

jjordan@projo.com