Pro bono and government employees.

• Jurisdiction: United States
• Author: Richards-Rutberg, Anne E.
• Date: 01 April 1999

The opportunity to provide pro bono legal services to the poor has not traditionally been available to assistant state attorneys in the state of Florida. Mainly this is due to potential conflicts in handling outside civil cases and to policies long established by proper governmental protocol. The pro bono requirements of local bar associations were thus impossible to meet for government employees with such office policies. This served as a deterrent to many state employees in joining local bar associations. The alternative to the required pro bono services is a monetary payment, which did not help the dilemma for many state employees.

Recognizing the need for a solution, in early 1994, Norman Wolfinger, state attorney for the 18th Judicial Circuit comprising Brevard and Seminole counties, instituted a new pro bono policy for his staff. Noting that the mission, values, and vision of the office contemplated involvement by personnel of the office in community service and in participation in activities of The Florida Bar, pro bono legal services to the community became highly encouraged, although they remained entirely voluntary. They could not detract from the assistant state attorney's first obligation to the state. Thus, the assistant must avoid the establishment of an attorney-client relationship that could result in a prosecutor being disqualified from prosecuting any criminal or juvenile case; the service should not cause the prosecutor to become a party to communications which any other...