By JODI SOKOLOWSKI
Buffalo Law Journal

A three-day conference this month hopes to bridge the gap between the idealistic benefits of pro bono work and the realities of doing it.

The conference, "Private Lawyers and the Public Interest: The Evolving Role of Pro Bono in the Legal Profession," will be held April 24-26 in downtown Buffalo and at the University at Buffalo Law School.

Called the first of its kind by conference organizers, the gathering of national and local experts will bring together scholars and practitioners to examine the opportunities and limitations of pro bono work, addressing both legal education and practice, exploring new approaches to providing legal help to those who can't afford it.

The conference has two "parallel and complimentary goals," said organizer Lynn Mather, UB Baldy Center for Law & Social Policy director and UB Law professor.

"One is to engage scholars who have tried to examine why, when and where private lawyers are willing to devote their time to pro bono work, and (the second is) to hear from practitioners about the problems they face and the benefits they receive and give by providing pro bono," she said.

Attorneys' perceptions can bring them either willingly or reluctantly to pro bono work. Much of that depends on whether those lawyers received pro bono education in law school, whether opportunities were made available to them and how they responded to the experience, said Robert Granfield, UB sociology department chair and a conference organizer.

While law students have said pro bono education is valuable training and sensitizes them to indigents' legal needs, pro bono work may not be as valued when graduates begin practicing law, he said.

"So when they walk out that door, they may want to do pro bono work for training or skill-building rather than (to make) a greater impact," Granfield said. "I don't think it's enough that you tell students, ‘You have to do this many hours with the underserved population,' and leave it at that."

Pro bono work - from the Latin "pro bono publico," meaning for the good of the public - needs to be discussed in a larger context of how law firms can contribute to the greater good, Granfield explained.

"Law firms have to think beyond the bottom line. It's a good in and of itself to provide services to help improve conditions that people live in," Granfield said.

Growing demand

The areas of greatest need for legal volunteers are family law, consumer law and homelessness issues, according to Mark Schickman, chair of the American Bar Association Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service. He said 80 percent of indigents' legal needs are not met today, and that statistic that has not changed over the last 30 years.

Lawyers are taking on more pro bono work than ever before. Many law firms are dedicating partners solely to pro bono practice, and legal-aid nonprofits are expanding their programs.

Still, "the need keeps outstripping our growth" in servicing indigents, said Schickman, a partner at San Francisco law firm Freeland Cooper & Foreman LLP.

"We're making huge strides, but the needs of the poor keep growing faster than our ability to deal with it," he said. "Public-interest groups provide a social safety net, but that net doesn't work unless you have lawyers who guide the people who need it."

While initiatives such as the Georgetown University Pro Bono Institute's Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge encourage firms to allow lawyers to bill 3 to 5 percent of their time as pro bono work, lawyers report that they spend just 39 hours a year on pro bono, according to Schickman.

"We have an aspiration that every lawyer ought to provide 50 hours a year," he said.

The ABA will soon roll out plans for a National Pro Bono Celebration Week next year to raise awareness, primarly outside the legal community, for pro bono needs.

"It's a societal problem that needs to be addressed," he said.

Event details

The conference is co-sponsored by UB Law, the Baldy Center and the UB sociology department as well as the 8th Judicial District's Pro Bono Committee and the Bar Association of Erie County's Volunteer Lawyers Project.

The continuing legal education conference begins at 5 p.m. Thursday, April 24, at the Main-Seneca Building, 237 Main St., Buffalo, with a keynote address "Where is the Public in Lawyers' Public Service? Pro Bono and the Bottom Line" to be delivered by Deborah Rhode of Stanford University Law School at 6 p.m.

It will continue April 25, at UB Law, with eight panel presentations by national scholars and a second keynote address, "A Second Season of Service," by ABA immediate past president Karen Mathis at 1 p.m.

The conference concludes April 26 with a training session - free for those who commit to handle a pro bono divorce case within one year - on how to efficiently handle a divorce case.

Registrations are due tomorrow. See http://law.buffalo.edu/baldycenter/probono.htm.