Appellate Practice Reminders

• Jurisdiction: Kansas,United States
• Citation: Vol. 88 No. 10 Pg. 96
• Pages: 96
• Publication year: 2019

Appellate Practice Reminders No. 88 J. Kan. Bar Assn 10, 96 (2019) Kansas Bar Journal December, 2019

November, 2019

Appellate Practice Reminders

From the Appellate Court Clerk's Office

To Pro Bono or Not to Pro Bono? (and changes to the Pro Bono provider rules)

Douglas T. Shima

There is really no issue that Pro Bono is the answer! How are you doing on that? The Kansas Rules of Professional Conduct specifically provide that "A lawyer should render public interest legal service." That's pretty straight forward. The comments to KRPC 6.1 make it crystal clear that there is a "basic responsibility of each lawyer engaged in the practice of law to provide public interest legal services" without fee or at a substantially reduced fee. Again, how are you doing on that?

On October 15, 2019, the Kansas Supreme Court adopted major changes to the pro bono provider rules for retired, inactive and single-employer attorneys. In new Rule 712B, the Supreme Court altered and clarified pro bono services and providers. The court also approved collateral changes to Supreme Court Rules 122, 201, 208, and 712 regarding pro bono services.

Supreme Court Rule 712B establishes a process to approve non-profit providers of legal...