Learning from Success

每家公司都有自己的“文化”——一种特殊的经营方式, training lawyers, 并为客户提供法律服务. 那些将无偿法律服务纳入这种文化的公司, not surprisingly, 那些拥有最成功公益项目的律所. Several firms described to us their historically strong participation in pro bono legal work. These firms explained that talented lawyers who are interested in maintaining a pro bono practice are drawn to them. As one lawyer noted: “Our firm has a historic culture of public service, 所以志同道合的澳门赌场官网都想来这里工作.”

Firms that do not benefit from a long history of involvement in pro bono legal matters can take steps to change their pro bono culture. Several firms shared with us the steps they had taken to strengthen their pro bono programs to make pro bono work a core part of lawyers’ careers there. They emphasized that no single model of pro bono program is going to work at every firm. 公司治理结构等因素, attorney compensation structure, and substantive areas of practice must all be considered in designing or expanding a pro bono program. Some of the core characteristics of successful programs are outlined in this paper. With steady, long-term, and visible commitment to pro bono, 它可以成为任何公司文化不可或缺的一部分.

All the law firms we spoke with have an infrastructure to develop, assign, and manage pro bono work. The firms we spoke with ranged in size from 25 attorneys to over 250. 一些是单办公室公司，另一些是D.C. offices of national firms; several were headquarters offices. Each firm’s pro bono program was set up in a different way, but there were common, core aspects.

• 为公益项目建立明确的问责制.
  
  Lawyers carry out their assignments—it is part of the legal work ethic. As a result, it is not surprising that when someone is appointed to manage a firm’s pro bono program, the program thrives. All of the “40 at 50” firms have someone assigned to run their pro bono program. In some cases, it is a duty collateral to a lawyer’s other work; other firms have one or two people whose only assignment is the day-to-day management of the firm’s pro bono program. Even when pro bono program management is just part of a lawyer’s portfolio, we learned that firm leadership understands—and expects—that administration of the pro bono program will consume at least 25 percent, and sometimes more, of that lawyer’s time. In addition, firms have a pro bono committee, typically made up of partners and associates. The role of pro bono committees varies with the particular needs of the firm. A firm with offices in many cities may have a pro bono committee in each office focused on local concerns, or it may have a national pro bono committee that addresses broader, firm-wide policy issues. Similarly, a firm with only one office may use a pro bono committee to screen possible pro bono matters, or to fill a policy-making role.

• 在公益基础设施中加入资深澳门赌场官网.
  
  The size of a firm may drive the kind of infrastructure that is in place: one of the smaller firms we spoke with uses its management committee to address pro bono issues; another firm of the same size has a pro bono committee and a partner assigned to coordinate pro bono work. The common thread is the involvement of both mid-level and senior-level attorneys in committees that address pro bono issues. This ensures that a consistent message is sent about the importance of pro bono to the firm and to individual lawyers throughout their careers.

• 雇个优秀的人来管理你的公益项目.
  
  Firms are increasingly hiring staff, typically an attorney, to coordinate pro bono matters. 这取决于所涉及公司的规模, these positions are either these are either full- or part-time positions the key, as one firm described it, 是“雇佣一个有组织能力的人?, enthusiastic, and effective administrator, case supervisor, and cheerleader.” The best firms make sure that their pro bono counsel is visibly supported by a strong committee, senior management, or both. They also ensure that the pro bono counsel is focused not on just doing pro bono work, 而是让尽可能多的澳门赌场官网参与无偿服务. Pro bono counsel develop relationships with area legal services providers, 为新上任的澳门赌场官网提供培训, 帮助律所澳门赌场官网找到他们感兴趣的公益事务. In addition, some pro bono counsel supervise and train firm lawyers in the skills needed to handle particular pro bono cases, 同时也有自己的公益案件. Some of these pro bono counsel moved from a regular attorney position in the firm into the pro bono job; others were hired from the legal services community. One firm noted that until the firm dedicated an attorney position to the pro bono program, 律所的公益服务参与有限, in spite of written policies encouraging and setting targets for pro bono.

A written policy that makes it clear pro bono legal work by lawyers is both supported and expected is, as one firm said, "这是律所无偿服务的基石.“再说一次，这在很大程度上是由公司文化驱动的. Firms with fewer written policies may have fewer written policies on pro bono, while those that have more written policies tended to have more that addressed pro bono. The message we heard from the firms we interviewed was again fairly simple at its core: if a firm has a written policy concerning the level and kind of work its lawyers should do, 对公益工作应当作出具体规定. Some examples of policies in place in the various firms with which we spoke include:

• Allowing pro bono hours to count towards billable minimums, with or without a “cap.”
• 允许无偿服务时间计入奖金.
• 包括在澳门赌场官网评估中对公益案件的表现.
• Setting a minimum number of pro bono hours lawyers should perform each year.
• Including pro bono hours in monthly and other regular reports of attorney hours.
• Assessing compliance with the pro bono minimum in associate annual evaluations.

Overall, the goal of firms’ policies on pro bono is to send an unambiguous message that pro bono work matters to decision-makers at the firm, 它被视为与付费客户的工作一样, and that doing pro bono work and doing it well is important to a lawyer’s career at the firm.

Successful pro bono programs are tailored to the needs and interests of the lawyers in the particular firm. At least three different, but complementary, ways to achieve this goal emerged from our conversations with firms.

• 发展与法律服务提供商的关系.
  Several firms have developed relationships with area legal services providers, 他们的大部分无偿服务案件都来自这些服务提供者. This allows the firms to build up in-house expertise on the kinds of cases typically handled by the legal services provider, making it easier to place cases and find partners to supervise matters. The legal services providers, in turn, often reach out to these firms first when there is a large or particularly attractive case needing pro bono counsel.

• 识别并满足澳门赌场官网事务所的业务需求.
  Firms with full-time pro bono counsel indicated that they seek to identify needs and interests among lawyers within the firm, 然后找到满足这些需求的无偿服务机会. Several firms felt strongly that the key reason they were able to involve many different lawyers in pro bono work was because they had pro bono matters that appealed to many different kinds of lawyers. For example, several firms reported that their associates both needed and wanted hands-on courtroom experience. They responded by identifying pro bono opportunities that would reliably provide this kind of experience. Similarly, one firm reported that it has developed a range of non-litigation pro bono opportunities in order to provide lawyers with no interest or experience in litigation the chance to do pro bono work. Examples of such opportunities include nonprofit incorporation and community development matters. One pro bono counsel has had success in recruiting lawyers with a transactional/mergers and acquisition focus to handle adoptions. He explained that once he recast the legal work involved in adoptions as “the transfer of an asset (the child) from one entity (foster services) to another (the adoptive parent)” it seemed more familiar, and more attractive, to transactional lawyers. The key seems to be flexibility and creativity in finding pro bono opportunities and matching them with existing interests and needs.

• 使用技术来帮助放置案例.
  One of the most time-consuming parts of managing a pro bono program can be learning of lawyers’ interests and then matching available lawyers with available opportunities. Several firms rely on an intranet system to help with this process, posting opportunities on a pro bono page that is directly linked to the screen that first comes up when a lawyer logs on to a computer. 另一家公司拥有一个澳门赌场官网利益数据库, so the pro bono coordinator can easily contact a small group of interested lawyers when specific pro bono matters arise. Most of the firms with which we spoke use email to communicate available opportunities.

All of the firms we spoke with take significant steps to keep pro bono a visible, 这是澳门赌场官网在律所生活中有意义的一部分. We learned that there are some common steps taken that successfully send the message to lawyers at the firm that pro bono legal work is part of the firm’s practice.

• 合伙人明显且深入地参与了无偿服务.
  Firms with the most successful pro bono programs reported that their partners—from the most senior through the most junior—are actively and visibly engaged in pro bono matters. Nothing sends a stronger message about the viability of a firm’s pro bono program than having its partners handling, supervising, and talking about pro bono legal work.

• Pro bono is part of the new associate and lateral hires’ orientation.
  There was broad consensus that when new lawyers’ introduction to the firm includes discussion of the firm’s pro bono program, articulation of pro bono expectations, and direct contact with the person who can help them get pro bono cases, 它极大地增加了无偿服务的参与率. Some firms therefore include pro bono as part of a broader orientation meeting. Other firms have the pro bono counsel meet individually with new associates and lateral hires shortly after they start at the firm.

• 无偿服务是律所定期会议的议程之一.
  A number of the firms we spoke with indicated that whenever there are regular firm-wide meetings, the pro bono program is on the agenda. 将公益服务作为律所业务的一个组成部分, 而不是一个辅助或课外活动, was seen as an important step in making pro bono a meaningful part of lawyers’ careers at the firm.

• Pro bono cases are included in reports about firm accomplishments.
  A number of the firms we spoke with had newsletters that highlight aspects of the firm’s pro bono programs. 有些公司以硬拷贝的形式分发这些材料, and find them to be attractive for marketing to clients and presenting the firm to potential recruits; others use a firm-specific intranet, 或者网站来宣传自己的成就. Firms tended to use the same kind of platform used by the firm to advertise or publicize its other work.

Several of the firms we spoke with took additional steps to ensure that lawyers were aware of the firm’s pro bono program. One firm includes an element in associate evaluations addressing whether the associate met the minimum number of hours of pro bono legal work set out in the firm policy. Associates that have not met this target are asked to meet with the firm’s pro bono counsel to develop a plan to meet it in the coming year. Another firm has an annual orientation on pro bono for new attorneys—attendance is also required for any lawyer who has not met the pro bono target that year. Another firm expects its new lawyers to take on at least one case beginning six months after arriving at the firm.

Performing pro bono legal work is good for the community—and some would say it is good for the soul. 我们了解到，这对商业也很有好处.

• 无偿服务有利于客户关系.
  Several firms told us that corporate clients had been impressed by the firm’s pro bono work. When there is competition among high-quality law firms for business, having an active pro bono program can tip the scales in a firm’s favor. One firm reported that when a large, nationwide corporation learned that the firm was working with the same national nonprofit as the corporation, 公司开始把更多的工作交给公司.

• 一个强大的公益项目是一个强有力的招聘工具.
  A number of top-flight firms told us that their pro bono program makes them very attractive to new lawyers, 包括那些有声望的职员. Law firms explained that bright, talented new lawyers are very interested in working on cutting-edge legal issues, or in having the chance to work directly with clients and appear in court early in their careers.

• A diverse pro bono program is a fertile training and skill-building ground.
  We spoke with firms ranging in size from 25 lawyers to those with over 250 attorneys. All of them echoed that pro bono cases can help develop critical lawyering skills in newer attorneys. Several reported that their partners were actively involved in pro bono legal work in part to maintain their courtroom skills, as the larger civil matters they handled for paying clients brought them into court with far less frequency.

Firms that are interested in learning more are encouraged to access the many resources available in the Washington, D.C. legal community. A good starting place may simply be a law firm with a healthy pro bono program. Pro bono partners and pro bono counsel or coordinators at area law firms are often the best resource for programmatic and substantive information, 并且非常愿意帮助和向他人学习.

寻求帮助来加强你的公益项目.

D.C. Bar PART Program: Join over 100 law firms with organized pro bono programs at regular meetings, at which participants learn of emerging and critical pro bono needs, as well as exchange ideas for enhancing their own pro bono programs. PART项目很快将有一个关于probono的实践区.net/dc that will allow members to share firm policies, practices, and other information. Contact: D.C. 酒吧公益中心，202-737-4700，分机. 293, or [email protected].

D.C. Bar Pro Bono Initiative: Participating firms annually report pro bono performance to the DC Bar on a confidential basis, and receive information in return that allows them to assess their pro bono performance with comparable firms in D.C. 联系:华盛顿澳门赌场官网协会公益项目，202-737-4700，分机. 293 or [email protected].

Pro Bono Institute at Georgetown University Law Center: PBI’s Law Firm Pro Bono Project offers to law firms with at least 50 lawyers information, materials, 以及为公益项目提供咨询服务. More information is available at: probonoinst.org.

找到适合你公司的公益案件.

Probono.net/dc这个网站包括一个培训资料库, model pleadings and other materials, postings of volunteer opportunities, 以及本区法律服务机构的说明. Current substantive areas are: Asylum, Employment, Civil Rights, Family Law, Community Development, Housing, Death Penalty, and Public Benefits.

DCbar.org/pro-bono: The D.C. Bar公益中心提供了一个目录, searchable by subject area, 提供无偿服务的地区法律服务提供商. Or contact staff of the D.C. 酒吧公益中心电话:202-737-4700，分机293，或 [email protected] for advice and assistance finding pro bono projects and partner organizations.