ABA Journal - Law News Now

Legal Aid

Philly Bar Chief Wants Law Firms to Hike Legal Aid Donations

Posted Dec 4, 2007, 11:46 am CDT
By Debra Cassens Weiss

The incoming chancellor of the Philadelphia Bar Association is trying to help law firms’ bottom lines at the same time he is urging them to pony up more money for legal aid.

A. Michael Pratt says he wants the city to repeal a professional services tax that subjects law firms to higher tax rates than other businesses and discourages growth, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. The tax has encouraged law firm growth outside the city, where tax rates are lower, he says.

But Pratt wants law firms to do more to help fund legal aid. He is challenging them to increase legal aid donations by 10 percent a year for three years.

Pratt, a partner at the Pepper Hamilton, also wants to appoint a full-time diversity director at the bar association to help law firms recruit and retain minority lawyers. He is the third African-American to lead the Philadelphia bar.

Pepper Hamilton has already agreed to increase its legal aid funding by 15 percent. Firms that have agreed to the 10 percent goal are Montgomery, McCracken, Walker & Rhoads and Feldman, Shepherd, Wohlgelernter, Tanner & Weinstock. Currently, all lawyers in the city contribute about $1.4 million to legal aid.

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