Law Firm Pro Bono

If you are planning to interview and work for a private law firm, pro bono can be an important part of a firm’s recruitment efforts. Doing pro bono work while you are a law student helps you gain important legal skills (e.g. client interviewing, drafting motions, negotiating) that will better prepare you to begin your law firm career. In addition, pro bono work is a good way to enhance your resume. Becoming involved in pro bono while you are at a law firm allows you to enhance your legal skills, offers increased responsibility and helps you develop a network by providing an opportunity to work with attorneys throughout the firm. Finally, doing pro bono work increases options for later career moves either laterally within the private sector or to the public sector.

Evaluating a Law Firm’s Commitment to Pro Bono

If you seek a law firm with a serious commitment to pro bono and hope to work in a place where you are encouraged to do pro bono work, consider the questions below when assessing the firm’s pro bono program. You will learn the most by talking with attorneys at the firm -- both partners and associates -- and with the firm’s pro bono director. The firm’s recruitment coordinator can help you schedule these meetings. Review the firm’s materials/brochures to see if pro bono is merely mentioned or if it actually is highlighted on the firm’s Web site or in its annual report. If you are interested in a particular substantive area, such as asylum, find out if the firm does pro bono work in that area and ask for examples of the types of cases the firm has taken on. Some firms focus their pro bono efforts in one or two specific substantive areas (i.e. adoptions), while others are conflicted out of work in certain areas such as mortgage foreclosures.

If the ability to do pro bono work while at your firm is important to you, don’t be shy about asking questions. If you’re viewed negatively, this could be a sign that this is not the firm for you. If you don't feel comfortable asking about pro bono during your on-grounds interview, you can find out more about the firm’s program in its on-grounds hospitality suite or during your call-back interviews.

1. How is the pro bono program structured?

• Is there a full-time coordinator?
• Is that person an attorney?
• Is that person a partner or are partners involved in supervision?
• Who brings pro bono cases into the firm—who screens/assigns the cases?
• Are attorneys encouraged to bring their own ideas to the table?
• Do all departments participate in the pro bono program or just litigation?
• How many choices of pro bono practice areas are there at the firm (i.e., housing, family law, civil rights, nonprofits, etc.)?
• Do attorneys in all offices (even internationally, if applicable) participate?

• Do pro bono hours count toward the billable hour requirement?
• Is there a cap on the number of pro bono hours that count as billable?
• Are attorneys encouraged/required to do a minimum number of pro bono hours?
• Are pro bono hours considered as part of the bonus/promotion performance review?
• Are pro bono hours considered as part of the summer associate evaluation?
• What is the average number of pro bono hours per partner? Per associate?
• Do all departments participate in the pro bono program or just litigation?

• Is training provided?
• Must all pro bono cases be supervised by a senior attorney?
• Is support staff provided?

• Pro Bono Institute’s Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge (The challenge requires the firm to commit 3-5 percent of their total billable hours to pro bono.)

• American Lawyer