December 2002
BOG Proposes New Amendments to RPC 6.1, and Voluntary Reporting of Pro Bono Hours
by Gail Smith
WSBA Pro Bono and Legal Aid Committee Chair
After months of discussion and debate, the Board of Governors (BOG) has proposed to the Supreme Court the adoption of revisions to Rule of Professional Conduct (RPC) 6.1, which addresses lawyers' public-service responsibilities. The proposed revisions, printed below, define what is meant by pro bono public service; recommend at least a 30-hour annual pro bono contribution; and provide for voluntary reporting of pro bono hours. The proposed amendments are now before the Supreme Court for review.
The BOG is very appreciative of all members who provided comments on this proposal in response to a September 2002 Bar News article. Those comments and the debate at the October 18 BOG meeting were instructive, and helped shape the final proposal. Issues worth noting are:
• The proposed rule is not mandatory, nor is it the first step toward mandatory pro bono service or mandatory reporting of pro bono hours. Neither the Access to Justice Board nor the WSBA Pro Bono and Legal Aid Committee supports the concept of mandating attorney participation in public-service work. Washington attorneys take an oath to "never reject, for any consideration personal to myself, the cause of the defenseless or oppressed.…" RPC 6.1 simply provides suggested guidelines for honoring that oath.
• Attorneys can discharge their responsibilities under RPC 6.1 in any number of ways. There were concerns raised by government attorneys, for example, about institutional limitations to providing direct representation to low-income clients. The rule provides for "participation in activities for improving the law, the legal system or the legal profession," which could include mentoring or serving on a pro bono program board. The BOG rejected language that would have prioritized direct representation (subsection (a)) over alternative ways to contribute (subsection (b)).
• The data collected from the annual voluntary reporting of pro bono hours will prove extremely useful in demonstrating Bar support for requests to increase financial support for our state's civil legal-services delivery system. The Legal Foundation of Washington tracks the level of pro bono participation by private attorneys through the LFW-funded pro bono programs in the state. While there is anecdotal
information that many attorneys provide pro bono legal services to low-income clients and organizations that serve low-income people outside these formal structures, there is at present no mechanism to track those contributions.
• The proposed amendments constitute a message from the WSBA Board of Governors that there is a need for more attorneys to provide pro bono public service. Participation on formal pro bono panels in our state is stagnant — and has been for a number of years — despite an annual increase in the number of new lawyers. Our state's civil legal-services delivery system continues to lose capacity because of funding reductions — $2.1 million this year. While pro bono participation is not a panacea for addressing a problem of this magnitude, every low-income client who is assisted by the private bar is a testament to our professionalism.
RPC 6.1
Pro Bono Publico Service (current)
A lawyer should render public interest legal service. A lawyer may discharge this responsibility by providing professional services at no fee or a reduced fee to persons of limited means or to public service or charitable groups or organizations, by service in activities for improving the law, the legal system or the legal profession, and by financial support for organizations that provide legal services to persons of limited means.
Proposed RPC 6.1
Pro Bono Publico Service (as approved by the BOG, October 18, 2002)
The legal profession has a professional responsibility to provide legal services to those unable to pay. A lawyer should aspire to render at least thirty (30) hours of pro bono publico legal services per year. In fulfilling this responsibility, the lawyers should:
(a) provide legal services without fee or expectation of fee to:
(1) persons of limited means or
(2) charitable, religious, civil, community, governmental and educational organizations in matters which are designed primarily to address the needs of persons of limited means; and
(b) provide pro bono public legal services through:
(1) delivery of legal services at no fee or substantially reduced fee to individuals, groups or organizations seeking to secure or protect civil rights, civil liberties or public rights, or charitable, religious, civil, community, governmental and educational organizations in matters in furtherance of their organizational purposes, where the payment of standard legal fees would significantly deplete the organization's economic resources or would be otherwise inappropriate;
(2) delivery of legal services at a substantially reduced fee to persons of limited means; or (3) participation in activities for improving the law, the legal system or the legal profession.
In addition, a lawyer should voluntarily contribute financial support to organizations that provide legal services to persons of limited means. Pro bono services may be reported on the annual fee statement furnished to the WSBA. Lawyers rendering a minimum of 50 hours of pro bono service shall receive a recognition award for such service from the WSBA.
