The Young Lawyer
| Jurisdiction | Utah,United States |
| Citation | Vol. 11 No. 4 Pg. 34 |
| Pages | 34 |
| Publication year | 1998 |
Mandatory Pro Bono Reporting: A Step in the Right Direction
Jensie L. Anderson, J.
The February 1998 Utah Bar Journal published an article entitled "Dear Access to Justice Task Force" addressing the Access to Justice Task Force's mandatory pro bono reporting recommendation. The article, written by Gary G. Sackett and endorsed by sixteen other members of the Questar Legal Department, served as "a representative of the many individuals and firms that are opposed to mandatory pro bono reporting." I read the article with interest, and quite frankly, surprise, as many of its ideas were outside my realm of thinking. Of particular interest were the concepts that the need for pro bono services might not really exist, and that only certain types of lawyers are competent to provide pro bono services. When asked to respond to the article, I found myself at a loss at how to best address Mr. Sackett's concerns without offending those opposed to the recommendation. What follows is my attempt to do so.
At first glance, I, too, was thoroughly unimpressed by the Task Force's recommendation that attorneys be required to report their pro bono hours, although my reasons for disdain were quite different than Mr. Sackett's and other attorneys who oppose the proposal. I did not see it as an "artificial, coercive device designed to pressure lawyers to provide pro bono services beyond their inclination otherwise to do so." Rather, I saw it as a insignificant attempt to solve a formidable and far-reaching problem. I saw it as a silly compromise designed to pacify those of us who believe that pro bono service should be mandatory and to create a sense of responsibility in those who believe that pro bono is an unnecessary waste of time, or a job better left to legal service attorneys. I did not believe that it would create a conscience in individual lawyers where no conscience existed already. I did not believe that a mandatory reporting of pro bono hours would have any effect whatsoever when those reporting "zero" would face absolutely no consequence.
However, after much thought, and after putting aside my rather strident views of the issue, I realized that the Task Force's recommendation was a solid one. While it is certainly not a solution to the problem, it is a significant step in the right direction. The Utah Rules of Professional Conduct[1] provide a suggestion that pro bono service is a...
To continue reading
Request your trial