Law Firms
A recent report by the Legal Services Corporation confirmed that there is a "major gap between the legal needs of low-income people and the legal help that they receive." Forty-three million Americans currently qualify for civil legal assistance provided by LSC-funded programs. Yet legal services lawyers cannot begin to handle this case load. At best, they can provide assistance to less than one in five poor Americans and to fewer than half of those clients who find their way to a legal services office.
Every day across America, lawyers are providing pro bono representation -- to criminal defendants, victims of domestic violence, immigrant children, elderly residents in need of affordable housing and medical treatment, and small business owners struggling with legal problems. In countless ways, lawyers are making a difference in the lives of those in need and finding greater fulfillment in their own lives as well.
Yet the pace and pressures of modern legal practice are making it harder and harder for lawyers to continue to perform these vital roles in their communities. Too many young lawyers enter the profession eager to make a difference, only to become frustrated as their practice leaves them little opportunity to do so. If this situation is to change, lawyers must be able to strike a better balance in their lives and law practices.
The key to that balance is persuading the decision makers in America's law offices to develop pro bono policies and programs and to free up time to enable lawyers to volunteer their skills to those in need, to help improve their communities, and in the process to find greater satisfaction in their legal careers.
The Center for Pro Bono provides advice and assistance to encourage law firms to develop pro bono policies and projects. To find a pro bono opportunity suitable for you and your law firm, click here.
The ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct, Model Rule 6.1 calls on every lawyer to provide a minimum of 50 hours of pro bono legal services annually to persons of limited means and to the organizations that serve them. More recently the ABA House of Delegates Report No. 121A - Supporting and Promoting Pro Bono in Law Practice Settings urges solo and small firm attorneys, larger law firms, corporate law departments and government and military law offices to encourage their lawyers, partners as well as associates, to service their communities through pro bono and public service activities consistent with applicable rules of professional conduct and adopts Pro Bono Policies and Procedures, dated August 2006, to provide their lawyers with opportunities to do pro bono work and to adopt specific internal policies and procedures to support such work.
The vast majority of attorneys in America practice as solos or in firms of 50 or fewer. According to ABA membership data, for example, over 83% of attorneys practice in such settings. While many of these lawyers actively participate in pro bono work, recent studies have identified special challenges that prevent many solo and small firm practitioners from doing so. For more information, see After the JD: First Results of a National Study of Legal Careers
Some of the factors that inhibit small firm and solo practitioners from committing to pro bono work include: limited time, inadequate resources, reluctance to tackle unfamiliar areas of law, and difficulty in locating the right opportunity. In the latter instance, the problem is not an unwillingness to volunteer so much as a lack of information about how to do so.
Recently, the ABA Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service released the results of the first national survey on pro bono activity, Supporting Justice: A Report on the Pro Bono Work of America's Lawyers . The survey suggests the need for more effective strategies to overcome obstacles to lawyer participation in pro bono. Some of the obstacles identified in the survey-lack of time, billable hours expectations, lack of specialized expertise-affect attorneys in various practice settings.
Does your law firm need a pro bono policy? Examples of law firm pro bono policies can be found here.
- Pro Bono Policies for Selected Federal Agencies
- Model State Law Firm Pro Bono Policies
- Model Firm Pro Bono Policy from the Louisiana State Bar Association Access to Justice Committee
- Law Firm Pro Bono Policy from the State Bar of Michigan
- Proposed Model Pro Bono Policy for Montana Law Firms from the State Bar of Montana
- Model Pro Bono Policy for Law Firms from the Tennessee Bar Association
- Proposed Model Pro Bono Policy for Law Firms from the Washington State Bar Association
- ABA Section of Labor and Employment Law Model Law Firm Pro Bono Policy
- Renaissance of Idealism in the Legal Profession: Pro Bono & Public Service Best Practices Resource Guide
- Pro Bono Delivery and Support: A Directory of Statewide Models
- Center for Pro Bono Clearinghouse Library
- The ABCs of Creating a Pro Bono Policy for Your Law Firm (The Canadian Bar Association)
- Managing a Pro Bono Program (Chicago Council of Lawyers)
- Law Firms
A key to increasing the pro bono participation of small firm lawyers is to develop partnerships with bar associations and legal services providers that can provide them with the resources and support they lack, from pro bono referrals to client screening, training, mentoring, malpractice insurance, forms and materials and other kinds of assistance.
- Directory of Local and State Bar Associations
- Your local legal aid/legal services office
- National Pro Bono Opportunities Guide
In an effort to meet or exceed that target, major law firms have increasingly shifted from largely ad hoc and informal pro bono programs to structured, proactive efforts supported by top firm leadership, overseen by active and respected pro bono committees, and focused on maximizing pro bono participation by lawyers across practice areas, offices and seniority. Are you designing a pro bono program for your law firm? You will find the BLUEPRINT for Constructing a Pro Bono Project in a Mid-Size Law Firm helpful. Also please view How to Create an Effective Law Firm Pro Bono Program (NALP Bulletin, February 2007).
Many large law firms participate in the Pro Bono Institute's Law Firm Pro Bono ChallengeSM, first instituted in 1993, which has played a leading role in encouraging law firms to commit to a series of policies and practices closely related to those recommended here. See www.probonoinst.org for more information about the Pro Bono Challenge, including a list of participating firms. Signatories to the challenge commit substantial resources - either three or five percent of the firm's total billable hours or 60 or 100 hours per lawyer - to providing free legal services to those of limited means.
The Association of Pro Bono Counsel (APBPCo) is an organization dedicated to the support and professional development of full time pro bono counsel at large law firms. A full description of the Association may be found at their website, www.probonocounsel.com.
Are the business lawyers in your law firm involved in pro bono? They may be interested in the Business Law Pro Bono Project and The ABC Manual: Starting and Operating a Business Law Pro Bono Project
There are many different methods and models that firms have used to successfully implement a culture of pro bono. See the Renaissance Best Practices and Clearinghouse . Based on its examination of these successful approaches, the American Bar Association recommends that firms adopt written policies and practices that support and reward pro bono work, including policies and practices that:
- Count pro bono hours as billable hours. It is essential that pro bono hours be counted as billable hours and that they also count, like hours spent on client work, toward annual billable hours targets, requirements or expectations. The failure to treat pro bono hours as billable hours sends a signal that the firm does not truly value and support this work,
- Consider attorneys' commitment to pro bono activity as a favorable factor in advancement and compensation decisions. If a pro bono culture is to flourish, the attorneys who engage in pro bono work need to know that their efforts will be viewed favorably by the firm when the time comes to make advancement and compensation decisions.
- Set annual goals regarding the number of hours contributed through firm pro bono programs and the number of attorneys who participate. By setting goals, firms can continually monitor participation while demonstrating their commitment to pro bono and public service to their lawyers, clients and prospective recruits.
- Establish and maintain systems that ensure that firm pro bono programs are managed effectively, that participating attorneys receive training and guidance, and that the highest levels of firm management oversee and participate in their programs. Law firms need a structured program, supported by the highest levels of firm management, which not only demonstrates the level of the firm's pro bono commitment but ensures an organized and cohesive approach to maximize the program's success.
- Support the pro bono commitment and involvement of senior and retired lawyers. As lawyers near the age when they are ready to retire or wind down the practice of law, having the support of the law firm to do pro bono work provides added incentive for them to stay engaged. In addition, these lawyers can serve as mentors for younger lawyers in the firm who take on pro bono assignments.
- Report to law school placement offices specific information regarding their pro bono policies, practices and activities. More and more law students want to know what pro bono opportunities they will have with a prospective employer. Full disclosure of a wide range of information about a law firm's pro bono activities will provide incentives for law firms to meet their goals in order to favorably compare with firms competing for the best and the brightest law school graduates.
