Editor’s note: This is the first installment of a periodic question-and-answer column on legal ethics written by Stephen Gillers, the Emily Kempin professor of law at New York University, and Deborah Rhode, the Ernest W. McFarland professor of law at Stanford University. They invite readers to submit questions for future columns to [email protected] and [email protected].
Q: I’m a lawyer in a 700-lawyer firm. We took on a challenge to the city’s homeless services as a pro bono matter. Our client is a respected organization that works for the homeless. We’re not charging, of course, but we could get a fee from the court if we prevail. After two years of tough battles, the city offered to meet six of the eight service and accommodation demands contained in our complaint. If we go to trial, we have at best a one-in-three chance of winning on all eight demands. Even if we did, it could take easily another three years to work through appeals. We could also lose entirely. We advised our client to grab the settlement and even offered to donate any of that fee we recover to the client. Yesterday the client’s board voted 9 to 5 to continue fighting. I think that’s nuts. What can we do? Can the firm fire the client?
