Pro Bono and Legal Aid Committee

Welcome

The Pro Bono and Legal Aid Committee deals with questions in the fields of pro bono and legal aid, with respect to:

1. supporting activities that assist volunteer attorney legal services programs and organizations, and encouraging pro bono participation,
2. addressing the administration of justice as it affects indigent persons throughout the state, and
3. cooperating with other agencies, both public and private, interested in these objectives.

The Committee meets monthly at the WSBA Office. 

The major focus of the Pro Bono and Legal Aid Committee has been the implementation of the Volunteer Attorney Legal Services (VALS) Action Plan, adopted by the Washington State Bar Association Board of Governors in 1994 to enhance the delivery of pro bono services in Washington State. In 1999 the Committee wrote a Five-Year Progress Report analyzing the implementation of the VALS Action Plan. The report notes that its implementation is inextricably tied to significant initiatives in Washington State that have been under development since the Plan was adopted in 1994 (e.g., Plan for the Delivery of Civil Legal Aid to Low Income People in Washington State, Access to Justice Conference Recommendations). The report concludes that the VALS Action Plan is a work in progress, as well as a flexible document that continues to change with the needs of this community. 

Significant accomplishments under the VALS Action Plan include the following:

• Amendment to MCLE Reg. 103(g) to award CLE credits for pro bono representation of low income clients and mentoring of pro bono attorneys
• Emeritus Attorney Program
• Model Law Firm Pro Bono Policy
• Report and Recommendations to the Washington State Bar Association Board of Governors on Civil Equal Justice Funding Options (1998)
• Resolution 23 Leadership to Promote Equal Justice by the National Conference of Chief Justices on Providing and Institutionalizing Leadership on Equal Justice
• Amendment to Rule 6.1 Pro Bono Publico Service.  The amendment encourages lawyers to render at least thirty (30) hours of pro bono publico legal services per year, to voluntarily contribute financial support to organizations that provide legal services to persons of limited means and to voluntarily report pro bono services on the annual WSBA licensing fee statement.  Lawyers rendering a minimum of fifty (50) hours of pro bono service shall receive a recognition award for such service from the WSBA.

Current initiatives under the VALS Action Plan include the following:

• Corporate Counsel & Government Attorney Pro Bono Activities
  To encourage the development of a culture of pro bono within corporate law departments and the government law sectors.
• In Forma Pauperis
  To develop a proposed In Forma Pauperis rule, which will provide uniformity throughout the state and which will revolve much of the subjectivity now surrounding decisions to grant a waiver of fees. This proposed rule (GR 34) will be sent to the Washington State Supreme Court for consideration in October 2007.
• Supreme Court Involvement
  To promote increased involvement of the Washington State Supreme Court in taking a leadership role in encouraging WSBA members to provide pro bono services.
• Local Rules
  To propose court rules and/or policies to facilitate the appearance of pro bono counsel, to facilitate the filing of documents, and to otherwise remove procedural and administrative barriers that impede volunteerism.

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