CHARTER 5 Pro Bono Work

• Jurisdiction: United States

CHARTER 5 Pro Bono Work

As young, idealistic lawyers, we strive to preserve the highest ideals of our profession. We hope to use our licenses and considerable talents to help others and make our communities better places. Many firms recognize the importance of pro bono work and require that their associates perform a minimum number of hours. Unfortunately, in a small firm, your opportunities will be limited. Even if your supervisor has the best intentions, the reality is that you will be afforded little time to work on low-cost or free matters.

You might not know that aside from helping others who probably could not otherwise afford your services, pro bono work offers professional rewards, too. You will have the opportunity to gain knowledge and experience beyond what an ordinary young associate might gain, including, possibly, trial experience. You will have your own clients, you might interact with attorneys in the firm with whom you would not normally cross paths, including partners, and you can demonstrate your leadership and management skills.

A. Bankruptcy

There are myriad ways in a bankruptcy context in which you can fulfill your dream of serving the greater good while reaping substantial professional benefits. Countless bankruptcy petitions are routinely filed pro se by consumer debtors of extremely limited means. You might have had the opportunity to attend a 341(a) meeting of creditors and, while waiting for your case to be called, observed a trustee berating an unrepresented client who has no idea why his schedules are not satisfactory. It can be heart-wrenching. Take on the opportunity of representing this client at no fee and see how you can change a person's life.

You can also assist in prosecuting or defending adversary proceedings, which could involve more complex legal issues and a greater time commitment. For example, one of the authors represented a young man with permanently disabling physical injuries in an adversary proceeding seeking to discharge his student loan debt. The attorney had to spend a fair amount of time reviewing medical records and talking to his...