You can be the one: one client. One attorney. One promise.

• Author: Diner, Jesse H.
• Position: Florida - President's page

Think back to when you were a student in law school, gazing out the window, daydreaming about the nobleness of your chosen career.

Recall the thrill of taking the oath of admission to The Florida Bar, when you raised your right hand and spoke aloud this promise: "I will never reject, from any consideration personal to myself, the cause of the defenseless or oppressed, or delay anyone's cause for lucre or malice."

Somewhere in between then and now you got so busy practicing law that you couldn't find the time for pro bono work.

You, my friend, are the targeted audience of the "One" campaign launched by the Bar's Pro Bono Legal Services Committee.

The premise is simple: Why not try one case?

One client. One attorney. One promise. "We're talking about one case. We think we don't have the time. Some people think a case will completely monopolize their time. But it's much more doable than you think," promises Cori Lopez-Castro, vice chair of the Pro Bono Legal Services Committee, a Miami bankruptcy lawyer, and mother of three, who, yes, has found the time to do pro bono.

Here are the worrisome facts, detailed in a Bar Foundation-funded study by Kelly Carmody & Associates: While Bar membership grows by about 2,500 lawyers a year, and the number of poor people who need free legal help continues to climb, Florida's pro bono work has been stagnant for a decade. Although about half of Florida's lawyers gladly perform pro bono work, 64 percent who have not done pro bono work cite lack of time as a reason not to get involved.

The Foundation hired a marketing firm to study that report and come up with a campaign to boost pro bono. The numbers screamed out something obvious: Half of Florida lawyers who already do pro bono don't need more preaching to the choir. They already know that doing pro bono work makes them better lawyers for their paying clients.

Another quarter of Florida's lawyers don't want to do pro bono work and don't consider it their duty to offer their services for free. They find guilt trips about their obligation offensive, and...