While attorneys know they have an ethical responsibility to serve the public -- most notably, to help fellow citizens who can't afford a lawyer with critical legal problems -- the reality is that many don't perform their pro bono duty. People have lots of excuses -- and some are justified," said University of Maryland law professor Douglas L. Colbert, who has written extensively about the profession's ethical responsibilities.
Pro bono time took a hit in 2010 as law offices downsized and focused on billable hours, but it could have been much worse. Lawyers from 10 of the highest-grossing law firms based in Missouri reported they logged more than 100,000 hours of free legal aid in 2010, according to Missouri Lawyers Weekly first pro bono survey.
This year's Celebrate Pro Bono recognition reception on Oct. 19 is a twofer: In addition to the Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service honoring its top volunteers, the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law's Leadership in Public Service and Maryland Public Interest Law Project will spotlight law students who have helped low-income Marylanders. First up: The MVLS honor roll and its top awardee, attorney Mark Scurti, a partner with Hodes, Pessin & Katz in Towson. He will receive the Volunteer of the Year Award.
The Appellate Division, Fourth Department, was recognized Monday at a Law Day luncheon hosted in Albany by the New York State Bar Association. Presiding Justice Henry J. Scudder accepted the 2011 President's Pro Bono Service Award from President Stephen P. Younger on behalf of the 22-county Fourth Department.
As a founding member of an agency dedicated to providing free legal services to low-income residents, Dick Thornburgh says greater emphasis needs to be placed on attorneys doing volunteer work. Thornburgh, a former U.S. attorney general and Pennsylvania governor, believes pro bono work should be included among the continuing education requirements Pennsylvania lawyers complete every year.
Lawyers are in a unique position to level society's playing field and improve people's lives, yet there is often a wide economic gulf between demand and supply for our services. Rather than blindly accepting this inequity, the legal profession in Memphis has a long tradition of providing free or reduced-fee services on a volunteer (pro bono) basis. Attorneys often help a friend, a favorite waitress or even an unpopular brother-in-law without expecting payment for their time. The Access to Justice Committee of the extends this helping hand to the people who don't know an attorney able to assist with the problems that life presents, such as a landlord who expects rent for an uninhabitable home or a garnishment for hospital bills that wipes out an already meager paycheck.
They say you can't believe everything you read, but that's not true when it comes to the Pro Bono Spotlight Column. Just ask Robert "Bob" Hauser, Volunteer Legal Services Project's volunteer extraordinaire. Hauser, who retired from Xerox in 2007, approached VLSP last year to offer his considerable skills after reading a column describing the many ways in which non-attorneys can volunteer.
The legal community has a rich tradition of performing voluntary pro bono work representing the underprivileged and less fortunate. Evidence suggests that the amount of free legal representation nationwide has consistently trended upward in the last 25 years. Recent studies, however, also show that there has been an increase in the amount of voluntary legal services provided to not- for-profit organizations under the guise of pro bono work. A 2009 report conducted by the American Bar Association found that the percentage of U.S. lawyers providing free legal services to nonprofit organizations rose 3 percent from 2004 to 2008.
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