The Pro Bono Revolution: Fundamental Change in Pro Bono Culture

by Joanna Plichta Boisen

Revolutionizing the legal profession for the better is no easy task; being recognized as a catalyst for change that leads to the constructive enhancement of the way lawyers practice is even harder to accomplish. Except, of course, for law schools and law firms that believe in the importance of pro bono. Over the past decade, the Seattle legal community has experienced an exciting and fundamental change in the way law firms view, value, and promote pro bono. Many of today’s law firms maintain established pro bono programs, provide a broader range of opportunities for transactional attorneys and litigators alike, and exhibit strong support for corporate social responsibility initiatives. Once viewed as a professional obligation left to the discretion of the individual attorney, law firms now promote pro bono on a holistic level by hiring pro bono counsel to manage its pro bono programs, collaborating with corporate clients on pro bono initiatives, partnering with local law schools on pro bono projects, and supporting nonprofit organizations by providing direct legal advocacy. This progressive shift in law firm culture fosters the emergence of pro bono as a cornerstone to a well-rounded law firm and to the attorney as a frontrunner for access to justice on a larger scale.

Law firms have a stronger presence in the pro bono community today due, in part, to established pro bono programs with clear leadership. In addition to maintaining an active pro bono committee, almost every major law firm now has appointed a pro bono counsel or coordinator to head its pro bono program. In addition to working on cases, the pro bono counsel helps attorneys find qualifying opportunities that align with their skills and interests, which not only provides for meaningful work for the attorney and helps the nonprofit place meritorious cases, but also minimizes malpractice liability for the firm. Even some small and mid-size firms have or are considering the pro bono position, and the Pro Bono and Legal Aid Committee is discussing how to help corporate legal departments and law firms, regardless of size, institute the role.

In addition to institutionalizing pro bono by hiring pro bono counsel, several new cutting-edge pro bono opportunities have emerged as well. Back in 1992, when Jake Larson, Foster Pepper’s pro bono chair and a partner in the litigation practice group, started his legal career, pro bono was an important part of an attorney’s responsibility, but it had a more circumscribed scope. “Pro bono was an adjunct of an attorney’s privilege to represent others in our courts, but back then, it meant representing an indigent individual in some legal scrape, or if it was an organized program, it meant working with a defender program, or a guardian ad litem program, doing death-penalty appeals, or something of that sort.” Now, according to Larson, law firms are thinking outside of the box and providing unique and exciting pro bono opportunities. “Especially the Appleseed of Washington-type programs that involve attorneys in non-litigation related pro bono projects and provide systemic change,” he said. This is not to say that it is any more or less valuable than individually-focused pro bono, “it just provides a different range of solutions for a wide range of problems,” said Larson.

As new opportunities increase, so too does the need for volunteers. The nonprofit community has become more comfortable asking attorneys in private practice to take cases and communicating its needs. According to Andy Guy, Stoel Rives’s pro bono coordinator and a member of the WSBA Pro Bono and Legal Aid Committee, this is because “there has been an increased communication generally of the plight of indigent clients in various areas of the law, such as immigration, housing, and domestic violence.” Information regarding emerging needs is (for example, and without limitation) documented in the 2003 Civil Legal Needs Study and is disseminated through a Seattle-area pro bono list-serve system, which facilitates referrals and educates lawyers as to the number, variety, and poignancy of pro bono matters with which indigent clients need legal assistance.

The increase in pro bono visibility has much to do with firms creating new positions, engaging in new projects, and being open to new possibilities. Today’s firms realize that supporting pro bono makes business sense. It is an important tool for collaborating with corporate clients on pro bono projects, reaching out to a diverse constituency of indigent persons, and marketing attorneys’ good work in the community.

It is also crucial for purposes of retention and recruitment. According to the Pro Bono Institute and the ABA’s Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service, today’s generation of law-school graduates care about pro bono — and want to maintain it in their scholastic and professional lives. Based on the way firms view pro bono, law students expect that someday they will have the opportunity to engage in public-interest work in a corporate setting. Consequently, law schools across the nation have increased their social-justice efforts. “I believe that both law schools and many of the firms located in Seattle have heightened their pro bono-related efforts over the 28 years during which I’ve been practicing law,” said Guy.  “Both U.W. and S.U. have developed clinical and other programs related to pro bono activities and have hired experienced public-service lawyers to head up access to justice programs,” he said. According to Guy, the priorities of several individual faculty members and administrators have been instrumental in increasing the focus on pro bono and public service programs.

One such notable faculty member is Seattle University School of Law’s Dean Kellye Testy, a social-justice pioneer. Some of her innovative programs have changed the way law schools manage pro bono, putting Seattle University School of Law on the map as an access-to-justice leader. According to Testy, there has been a positive shift towards promoting pro bono in the law-school setting. “When I founded our Access to Justice Institute in 2000, it was the first of its kind in the country,” she said. “Since then, many law schools, including others in this state, have followed suit.” Now, all three law schools in Washington, at the minimum, offer opportunities to get involved in pro bono work.

Diana Singleton, director of the Access to Justice Institute at Seattle University School of Law, believes that students were (and continue to be) an important driving force in promoting positive change in how pro bono is regarded at law firms and in the legal community. “While I was in law school, it seemed that students who were headed toward a public-interest career were the minority, and the term, ‘pro bono’ was not a part of one’s everyday vocabulary,” she said. “Now, social-justice-minded students are the majority, and ‘pro bono’ is as common as the word ‘latte,’” she said. Today, law students no longer ask, “Why should I do pro bono?” but instead, “How can I do pro bono?”

This important question is readily answered by law firms that embrace pro bono and law schools that emphasize its importance: There are many ways. Volunteer for nonprofits; get involved with your local bar association’s pro bono programs; or assist with law-firm pro bono initiatives. There is no better way to join the pro bono movement and become a catalyst for advancing social justice. 

Joanna Plichta Boisen is pro bono counsel at Foster Pepper PLLC. She maintains a litigation and transactional practice providing pro bono legal representation to persons of indigent means, immigrants, women with low income, and 501(c)(3) nonprofit entities. She directs and manages the firm’s wide-ranging pro bono cases and projects, advises the firm on pro bono policy, chairs the Pro Bono Coordinators and Counsels in Seattle, and serves as a liaison to local public-interest organizations.