Proposed Rule Seeks to Measure Pro Bono Contribution
| Publication year | 2022 |
| Pages | 12 |
Access to Justice
by Ed Gassman, Jared McLuskey, Noah Patterson, and Daniel M. Taubman
To better meet the needs of Coloradans who cannot afford a lawyer, the Colorado Access to Justice Commission (Commission) and the CBA Executive Council have unanimously approved a proposed rule change that would require Colorado attorneys to report annually and confidentially their pro bono hours and donations to organizations that assist low-income Coloradans in civil cases. The data collected would be used in the aggregate primarily to (1) better understand the extent of Colorado lawyers' pro bono service and financial contribution, and (2) better assist the Colorado legal profession in encouraging pro bono service and financial contribution. The proposal parallels the reporting requirements in 10 other states and, importantly, does not mandate pro bono service or contribution.
A subcommittee of the Colorado Supreme Court's Advisory Committee on the Practice of Law is currently reviewing the proposal. That subcommittee will make a recommendation on the proposal to the Advisory Committee, which, in turn, will make a recommendation to the Supreme Court.[1]
Background
In early 2021, a working group appointed by the Commission's Delivery Committee recommended the adoption of a rule to require pro bono reporting in Colorado. The working group considered the arguments for and against mandatory and voluntary pro bono reporting rules set forth on the American Bar Association's website.[2] The arguments in favor of mandatory pro bono reporting are set forth in the working group's report (Commission Report), including that such rules increase access to justice and provide an effective mechanism for collecting reliable, accurate, and consistent data to evaluate the delivery of pro bono legal services.[3]The report also refutes the arguments against required pro bono reporting rules, including that requiring pro bono reporting inevitably leads to a mandatory pro bono service requirement and that such rules violate the constitutional right to privacy. Further, the report contains information on other states' pro bono reporting provisions,[4] analyzes Colorado's past efforts to amend its pro bono rule, and recommends that Colorado adopt its own required pro bono reporting rule.
The Delivery Committee—made up of Colorado lawyers, judges, and legal professionals—unanimously approved the working group's recommendation. The Commission and the CBA's Executive Council subsequently approved it unanimously.
The Proposed Pro Bono Reporting Rule
The Commission has since recommended that the Colorado Supreme Court adopt a rule to obtain an annual, aggregate, and confidential reporting of Colorado lawyers' pro bono service and their contributions to organizations that provide legal services to low-income Coloradans. Under the recommendation, (1) pro bono work would remain voluntary, and (2) the collection of information regarding Colorado lawyers' pro bono hours and financial contributions would only be made available in the aggregate to protect individuals' private information.
Lawyers would continue to be free to do as much or as little pro bono work as they wish and donate as much or as little to pro bono programs as they choose. But they would be required to report each. If zero is the number, then the lawyer would report zero and face no repercussions.
The pro bono reporting requirement would provide a baseline to measure Colorado lawyers' pro bono service and financial contributions to organizations providing legal services to low-income individuals. The baseline would then be used to assess the effectiveness of new or existing programs in increasing pro bono participation and contributions.
What Would Lawyers Be Required to Report?
The Commission Report specifically recommends that the Colorado Supreme Court require the reporting of voluntary "pro bono work," as defined in Rule 6.1 of the Colorado Rules of Professional Conduct, in the annual attorney registration statement. Colorado Rule of Civil Procedure 227(A)(2)(a) sets forth the current contents of the statement. It provides that attorneys and attorney judges must provide information regarding child support, their Colorado Lawyer Trust Account Foundation (COLTAF) account (if applicable), and professional liability insurance. If the Supreme Court adopts the proposed pro bono reporting requirement, this rule would also require attorneys to report annually the number of pro bono hours they performed and the financial contributions they made to pro bono providers during the preceding year. The Colorado Supreme Court would appoint its Advisory Committee or create a new committee to review the aggregate data gathered after three years of the effective date of the new requirement. That committee would analyze the aggregate information to determine
Coloradans of limited means face more challenges in obtaining legal assistance than ever before. A recent study by the Colorado Center on Law and Policy discovered that Colorado has fewer than one legal services lawyer for every 30,000 people living in poverty.
whether the rule should be further modified, remain as is, or revert to its pre-amendment version.
As discussed further...
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