Give as good as you get: call it payback: Here's what some of the state's best lawyers are doing to make their communities a better place to live.

• Author: McKenzie, Ana
• Position: LEGAL ELITE

In one way, the lawyer's lot is a hard one. It's among the least loved of professions by those not in dire need of one. Maybe that's why many of its members want so badly to do some good outside the confines of the law office and courtroom. To see how some of the state's top legal talent does that, we asked the top vote-getters in this year's Business North Carolina Legal Elite to briefly describe how they give back to their communities. The photographs that appear on the pages that follow provide a glimpse.

Doing good is more than just a personal preference. "We certainly promote volunteer work and encourage it," says Martin Brinkley, president of the North Carolina Bar Association. Founded in 1899, the affiliate of the governing N.C. State Bar counts more than 17,000 of the approximately 23,000 licensed lawyers in North Carolina as members--the largest voluntary legal association in the country. He's quick to point out that while volunteerism is encouraged, it's equally important for lawyers to use their state-given right to help those who can't afford their services--otherwise known as pro bono work.

"Lawyers and other members of learned professions are given a special monopoly on a mode of activity that enables them to make money," says Brinkley, a partner with Smith, Anderson, Blount Dorsett, Mitchell & Jernigan LLP in Raleigh. "We make our money and livelihood in a way other members of the public can't, so that gives us a special responsibility to provide services to those who cannot afford to pay us." But not all lawyers agree on pro bono's definition, he adds.

That's why the State Bar adopted a rule in 2010 that defines it as a responsibility to provide legal services to those unable to pay, or, in other words, the indigent. "The rules are adopted by lawyers to govern the conduct of lawyers," says Alice Mine, assistant executive director of the State Bar. It suggests--but does not require--they render at least 50 hours of pro bono legal service a year. That could also mean counseling a church or nonprofit free of charge.

"Lawyers will say, 'I volunteer for a clothing drive, so I'm fulfilling my professional obligation to provide pro bono services,'" Mine says. "That's not...