Pro Bono Pros and Cons

Pete Wanger
Oct 23, 2008 11:41 AM CST

That part of Jacobs’ rant, “litigation that improperly expands the reach of the courts,” always gets me. Yes, if there were only a court in which the bench did exactly what one of the lawyers told it to do every time, I would have been a litigator and not a transactional lawyer. Judges have the inherent right to control their dockets including dismissing cases outside the jurisdiction of the courts. I think Jacobs’ real problem is the representation of people he would like to see unrepresented.

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Richard J. Brickwedde
Oct 24, 2008 7:19 AM CST

80% of my legal work is administrative law, almost exclusively environmental.  After a runin with cancer I left my old firm where pro bono work was primarily serving on not for profit boards and rarely litigation orientated.  Two years ago, Franciscan legal referral clinic sent me a case involving a challenge to a day care providers license revocation by the NYS Office of Children and Family Services.  This pro bono case resulted in a 5 zip reversal from our Appellate Court.  I discovered in the process that OCFS isn’t aware that the State Administrative Procedures Act applies to them.  that 1st case led to a 2nd and now a third.  I used to joke with one of my commissioners when I was a State Administrative lawyer that it was sometimes difficult to run the dept. from a Regional Office.  It is even more difficult to run a dept. case by case as an outsider. Yesterday our local state supreme court ruled that OCFS is subject to judicial subpoenas.  Through all this OCFS refuses to sit down and meet to discuss issues, but eventually these cases will add up and we will make a difference, not just one case at a time, but cumulatively for the good of OCFS which doesn’t want the help.

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Emily E. Arnold-Fernandez
Oct 24, 2008 10:52 AM CST

My organization, Asylum Access, depends on pro bono work by lawyers here in the US and lawyers who are willing to volunteer their time to work abroad, representing refugees to obtain asylum in their first countries of refuge (since less than half of one percent will have the chance to resettle in the US). 

These lawyers volunteer their time and, for those that go abroad, pay their own travel and living expenses in Ecuador, Thailand or Tanzania to tackle cases that are incredibly emotionally demanding.  They do this because they believe that a person who flees torture, rape or murder by his or her government should not subsequently be persecuted, imprisoned, confined to a camp, denied the rights to work and to enroll children in school, or denied basic healthcare and social services in the country where he or she has sought refuge—particularly where that country has agreed, by signing the 1951 Convention, to grant refugees those rights. 

Maybe our pro bono lawyers also represent refugees for “self-serving” reasons—it gives their firm good PR, it makes them feel important or useful, it enhances their resume.  That’s okay.  In fact, that’s what’s called a win-win situation: Refugees get legal counsel to assert their rights, and lawyers get all the benefits that come from giving to others.  As lawyers who too often have to play a zero-sum game, we should encourage win-win opportunities where we can.

But more broadly, and more to Jacobs’ points, ensuring that refugees can petition judiciaries around the world for their rights is also a win for society at large.  Like any legal representation that helps poor people assert their rights, it’s an important check on the legislative and executive branches of national governments.  Far from “expanding” the reach of the courts, pro bono assistance ensures that the courts serve the function for which they were created: holding legislators and executives accountable for the laws they make and the treaties they sign. 

Without pro bono assistance, only the affluent would be able to insist that laws on paper be respected in practice—creating a “might makes right” system.  As a refugee advocate, I hear firsthand the testimonies of what can happen when a government discards rule of law for “might makes right”.  Lawyers—often working pro bono—are the bulwark against this.  Regardless of Jacobs’ comments, we must stand firm.

Emily E. Arnold-Fernandez, Esq
Executive Director
Asylum Access: Realizing Refugee Rights in Africa, Asia and Latin America
emily@asylumaccess.org

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Matthew R. Plain, Esq.
Oct 24, 2008 1:03 PM CST

I am an associate at Taylor Duane Barton & Gilman, LLP, a Providence, Rhode Island law firm that and a 2005 graduate of Roger Williams University School of Law.  Last summer our firm joined The Pro Bono Collaborative (PBC) at Roger Williams University School of Law (RWU), an innovative model that connects Rhode Island law firms with community-based organizations (CBOs) and law students to provide legal assistance within the community.  The firm joined the PBC to allow our attorneys to fulfill their pro bono responsibilities, give back to the community, and gain experience in new venues and with different types of clients.  The firm’s expertise with medical issues and children with disabilities, as well as the significant courtroom experience of our attorneys, led us to choose the PBC Guardianship Project.  We represent low-income parents seeking to obtain or maintain guardianship of their severely and profoundly disabled children through the probate court process. Referrals and client social service support come from the project’s CBO partners, Rhode Island Medical-Legal Partnership for Children and the Rhode Island Parent Information Network (RIPIN).  RWU law students help with legal research, drafting pleadings, and conducting any other necessary investigation.  PBC staff launched the project and play an ongoing facilitative role.

Just yesterday, I attended my first guardianship hearing as part of this project.  After the hearing, I felt I had made an important difference for this family, who would not have had legal assistance without the PBC and my firm’s involvement.  The experience left me energized and eager to find time in my practice to use my legal skills to help the low-income, disenfranchised citizens of our state.

Our experience with pro bono matters, and in particular this project, has been invaluable.  The referrals involve children that are unable to communicate, unable to make decisions for themselves, or are otherwise not competent.  Their parents typically fail to obtain guardianship after their children turn eighteen because the process can be both daunting and costly. Through our involvement, the parents can navigate this process and ultimately serve as their child’s voice for important, and often life-altering, decisions.  Because of the PBC’s support, the firm was able to find and embark on a pro bono project that fits nicely into our practice, makes doing pro bono efficient and gratifying for our attorneys and helps us fulfill our ethical responsibility to use our professional skills to help those unable to afford legal assistance.

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Ellen Barshevsky
Oct 26, 2008 6:52 AM CST

I enjoy doing pro bono.  It gives less fortunete people free legal service from me.  It also gives me the chance to help THEM.

The managing partner let’s me do alot of the pro bono work for the firm.  He is VERY supportive.  I do NOT think every firm is this dedicated to pro bono.

My boyfriend, who is NOT a lawyer, also does probono.  Every year, he fills out tax returns for SENIOR CIITIZEN people thru the AAARP. 

My Dad is a member, and he is not even on Social Security yet.  He said my Boyfriend should fill out HIS tax return because my boyfriend has taken his DEDUCTION away from him.

I am the DEDUCTION.  DAD is VERY funny and he also wants me to be MARRIED.  But we will be VERY soon.

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