How's Your Pro Bono?

Over the past several years I have had a chance to talk to many of you about the pro bono work you do as a regular part of your law practices. I have seen and heard accounts of numerous instances of selfless service rendered by Virginia lawyers to individuals as well as charitable religious and civic organizations in need of legal assistance. I believe that we, as a profession, are enthusiastic about the tradition of rendering services pro bono publico. My informal research indicates that we in Virginia are overwhelmingly supportive of the concept of pro bono. But we are busy, and sometimes it is hard to find the time. We need encouragement.

This issue of the Virginia Lawyer is devoted to pro bono. We hope that it will inform you about programs and opportunities which currently exist and encourage you to participate in this noble aspect of our professional tradition. You will enjoy Professor John Jeffries' article about Justice Lewis F. Powell, who has been an inspiration to all of us and for whom the Virginia State Bar's annual pro bono award is named.

The proposed Supreme Court rule requiring establishment of pro bono committees in each judicial circuit had great potential to educate and encourage a broader spectrum of lawyers to get involved. At its October meeting, the Bar Council quite clearly expressed resistance to this proposal for a variety of reasons. Although I confess that I was disappointed to see this good idea laid on the table, I was gratified to hear Council clearly express broad support for the concept of pro bono. The hard working Committee on Access to Legal Services has gone back to the drawing board to draft a resolution (as opposed to a rule) supporting and encouraging local pro bono efforts. Our efforts have by no means abated.

As we consider the state of pro bono in Virginia, a persistent problem is trying to figure out how much or how little of it goes on. For obvious reasons, the amount of pro bono activity is hard to gauge. Legal Services programs provide almost the only mechanism extant for quantifying the amount of pro bono work done by Virginia lawyers for the poor. The statistics compiled by Legal Services cannot, for example, possibly reflect the prodigious amount of work contributed to the public by private practitioners and law firms, acting on their own. Likewise, there is no way even to estimate the vast quantity of legal services that attorneys in every community render gratis to charitable and civic organizations. As an aside, let me mention that the definition of pro bono is much broader than just poverty law; it includes not only the civic and charitable work you do, but also work done for greatly reduced fees, such as court appointed cases. The point is simply that it is virtually impossible to get even a rough estimate the amount of pro bono work which actually goes on.

Given the paucity of accurate statistical information about the good pro bono work that you all are doing, I believe we could move the ball quite some distance by collecting some anecdotal data. I need your help with this experiment! I would very much like to know more about the pro bono work that you do or that your firm does. Our law firm, for instance, keeps track of pro bono hours spent, but we seldom look at the year end totals. I should also point out that we, like many of you, serve many clients who can pay no fees and who find their way to our door without the help of any organized referral program. Your responses will help us begin to get a handle on the problem I mentioned before, and, with your permission, maybe your stories can be used to raise consciousness about pro bono and encourage others to follow your good example.

I was not willing to gamble on the fact that many of you would read this far down in my column; so there is a message on the opposite page in the magazine inviting you to "Tell Us Your Stories." Please respond by relating a success story about your representation of an indigent client on a pro bono basis, or your legal work for a local charity, or about your firm's pro bono efforts. Do not feel that your story must relate only to yourself; brag about someone else. Send pictures. If you keep track of your pro bono hours, would you be willing to tell us how many hours you amass in a year? Help us tell the story of some of the wonderful things that lawyers do year in and year out. Thank you in advance for your cards, letters, and emails.