In the just-completed year-2001 survey by Volunteers of Legal Service (VOLS) of New York City law firms taking the VOLS Pro Bono Pledge, 35 of 36 firms reported that they had met, or exceeded, the VOLS annual goal of providing at least an average of 30 hours of qualifying pro bono work per attorney.
These 35 law firms contributed a total of 573,731 qualifying pro bono hours during 2001, or during their most recently completed fiscal year. The VOLS definition of qualifying pro bono work, with a few exceptions, is limited to providing free civil legal services to poor people, or to organizations serving poor people. For pro bono work undertaken in 2001, the VOLS definition was expanded to include pro bono assistance “to persons, or businesses, affected by the World Trade Center calamity.”
