Pro Bono Work by Lawyers: For The Public Good

Poverty is stalking the land and has as its partial antidote pro bono publico, “for the public good” (translated from Latin) and descriptive of the free or reduced fee work that all lawyers – and many more than you might think – do for their communities. The American Bar Association’s Model Rule 6.1 encourages all attorneys to provide hours of legal services to persons of limited means or to charitable, religious, civic, community, governmental and educational organizations in matters which are designed primarily to address the needs of persons of limited means and I can think of no time where this is more important.

            The spectre of poverty seemingly appears everywhere: microeconomic bubbles grow and burst; businesses small and large find it nearly impossible to obtain credit; working people with real talent and commitment can’t find gainful employment at remuneration that makes fundamental economic sense…all of which is directly proportional to the number of For Lease signs along the streets in our community today.

            Pro bono work is something that more attorneys do every day than most folks imagine. Yes, there are the legal aid clinics scattered throughout the San Fernando Valley that service not only Sherman Oaks, but also all of the other parts of our greater community. From housing issues to the wronged small business owner, the attorneys and other legal professionals working in these institutions do make a difference. Practitioners like myself provide much of our time to those that need – and can profit from – real legal services. Why do I do it? Well, despite the perception that lawyers surrender their hearts the day they are called to the Bar, I know that today’s helping hand can mean the difference between somebody being unable to consummate a deal – or simply stuck in a rut neither of their own making nor their own choosing – and somebody moving to conclude a contract that means gainful work or employment both for my client and the party on the other side of the deal…and the community in which both are working.

            Pro bono work is something that also exists in most every thriving community and I see it everyday in Sherman Oaks. I do free legal work for a non-profit in the area and have watched them grow from idea to small business to medium-sized business to a positive and peer recognized force for change. Obviously, this is eminently gratifying. It is also the genesis for more future success, not only for myself and my clients, but my community. The business about to “go under” may need nothing more than a few hours of my time to review, analyze and renegotiate a lease…so that my pro bono client can obtain some breathing space and continue operations for another business quarter or two…so that they can conclude some sales and/or contracts to obtain some revenue to pay not only the rent, but also themselves…so that the landlord can also be paid and have some income producing property…which, in turn, makes the locale more desirable for other businesses…which makes my client, as well as those other businesses more successful…which provides economic stability to my town, Sherman Oaks.

            Pro bono – and all that it implies – is one of reasons I teach law at a local college: it is a way of sharing knowledge for the current and future economic benefit of my students.

            Pro bono work is something I see every day in Sherman Oaks. It seems that if every business is doing something; some are providing real discounts on needed goods and services, other are collecting food for the needy, still others have (literally) opened their doors for community meetings so that residents of our town can get together, germinate good ideas and then implement them. I stand not only in awe but also by their side in my daily work – I do give sometimes give steeply reduced rates on my legal work to those who require it. “Give a man to fish and you feed him for the day, teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime” is not only a motto but – properly animated – is a mechanism for individual and collective success. Giving today sets the stage for economic stabilization tomorrow. And, in a doff of my literary cap to Han Christian Anderson, I’ll be dammed if through inaction I’m going to watch this wonderful town of Sherman Oaks in which we live turn into an environment that by default manufactures little match girls!

            Yes, these are touch economic times; yes, many of us have made and are making changes in not only our previously held economic expectations but also our plans for the future; yes, the bankrupt mythology of the self-made success story is being properly subsumed by the reality that individual success involves both the individual and the community; yes, we will likely get through all of this with a little help from our friends; yes, this help can and must be practical; yes, at the end of the day, giving is really delayed receiving; yes, pro bono publico – for the public good; yes, yes, yes.