Encouraging attorneys to do pro bono work is a perennial subject at law firms and among the bar. I know firsthand because for the last dozen years before my retirement five years ago from a large international law firm, I chaired its pro bono committee and had the opportunity to work on a number of pro bono cases myself.
We constantly asked ourselves what we could do to get more attorneys in the firm to volunteer their time. Some of the things we found most effective involved giving credit within the firm for time spent on pro bono work comparable to that for work on billable matters up to a (high) cap on total pro bono time creditable in this way. We also sought to encourage attorneys to volunteer by other means including moral suasion and strong support for them in their pro bono work once undertaken. In fact, we often found that the first project, if carefully selected and well-guided by more senior attorneys in the firm, would hook younger attorneys on the satisfaction of doing pro bono work. Many times also, positive client interaction itself inspired our attorneys to continue doing pro bono work.
