MALS Corner
August, at the invitation of SEPDAA leader Joe Oelkers, executive director of Acadiana Legal Services in Lafayette, La., PBI President and CEO Esther F. Lardent presented the keynote address at the training event. Te Southeast (including Tennessee) has been particularly
Pro Bono Southeast: More than Clinics O
ne of the great traditions in the legal services community is the summer meeting of the Southeast Project Directors and Administrators (SEPDAA) in St. Pete Beach, Fla. In
hard-hit by the recession and the uneven recovery that followed. Poverty, especially among children, is highest in the region, and the social safety net is often limited and precarious. In addition to the deep cuts in Legal Services Corporation funding, the states in the Southeast are, for the most part, less likely to secure alternate and supplemental sources of funding such as state appropriations and foundation grants. In summary, this is a very difficult time for the legal services programs in the region and particularly for their clients. Lardent’s keynote focused on the growth and transformation
of pro bono as a reason for optimism in these hard times. She cited the cultural transformation of major law firms which last year contributed more than 4.3 million hours of pro bono service. Another bright spot is the phenomenal growth of interest and participation in pro bono among in-house legal departments. PBI, through Corporate Pro Bono, its joint global partnership with the Association of Corporate Counsel, has been a catalyst for this expansion. In 2000, only a handful of legal departments had formal pro
bono programs; those programs now number in the hundreds, and many of these legal departments have offices throughout the Southeast and are ready to be put to work. As further evidence of this trend, Lardent noted that nearly 350 general counsel signed a letter supporting pro bono, urging state chief justices to support rule changes that limit the ability of in-house counsel to do pro bono work. Finally, she highlighted the powerful trend of judicial involvement in and active support for legal services funding and pro bono. A growing number of chief justices including those in the Southeast have become increasingly visible and vocal in their advocacy. Lardent and Lisa Dewey, pro bono partner at DLA Piper, also conducted a plenary session on how legal services directors can take full advantage of pro bono resources. In the question and answer period that followed, one disturbing trend emerged: the growing emphasis in the region on
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brief advice clinics as the default pro bono approach. Advice-only service, whether through office visits, hotlines, or clinics, can be a valuable legal intervention in some instances and for some clients. Tese pro bono “tapas” opportunities, as PBI has christened them, keep lawyers engaged in pro bono at particularly busy times in their careers and offer guidance to clients who simply need information. However, pro bono is and should be far more than these
extremely time-limited efforts. Particularly in light of the steep cuts in legal services attorneys and staff, pro bono opportunities and work must include more extensive representation and more time-intensive projects and matters. Te presenters emphasized that the bar must understand that
more is expected of them, and the legal services programs must provide a wide range of opportunities including more in-depth pro bono work. Clinics, for example, can be (and in many cases are) far more than opportunities for brief advice. Full-service matters requiring litigation or administrative advocacy are the focus of a number of clinics. Other programs sponsor training clinics where recent graduates take a full case under the supervision of an experienced attorney. Whether the prevalence of brief service models is a function of the bar’s message about pro bono or the legal services program’s limited expectations of what they can expect from volunteers or both, it is the responsibility of everyone – the bar, the program, and the courts – to send a clear message about what is needed and what is possible in terms of pro bono service.
MALS provides a menu of pro bono opportunities, including clinics, corporate counsel initiatives, and in particular, the Pillars Law Firm Project. Under the Pillars project, law firms agree to accept referrals in one or more specific practice areas (e.g. housing, consumer, health, elder law) Because this project offers training in these areas of practice, it encourages lawyers to develop the comfort zone to accept extended representation cases that will most benefit our clients. For more information on how to become involved in any of our pro bono opportunities or to make a donation to MALS, please contact Linda Warren Seely, Director of Pro Bono Programs, at (901) 255-3417 or at
lseely@malsi.org.
Te Pro Bono Institute, established in 1996, provides research, consultative services, analysis and assessment, publications, and training to a large range of legal audiences. PBI President and CEO Esther F. Lardent is widely recognized as a leader and pioneer in the development and expansion of pro bono initiatives nationwide. Portions originally published in the Pro Bono Wire, a publication of the Pro Bono Institute and republished with its permission.
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