President's Perspective

Providing pro bono service requires individual commitment, unique solutions

By Steven R. Sorenson

"There has to be a solution" rings in my head as I contemplate all the initiatives taking place throughout the United States and in Wisconsin to provide legal services to underrepresented people. The frustration is incredible since

I know the problem cannot be solved until we recognize there are no universal answers. But what is the solution?

Over the last several years, the State Bar of Wisconsin has tried to pave the way for a lasting solution to the legal services dilemma. The American Bar Association and most every state also, to some degree, have spent time and money trying to solve the problem. Still there is no universal answer on the horizon.

At the legislative level, efforts have yielded little or no support for increased funding despite the fact that many states' governments are enjoying surpluses. Even our federal government supposedly will have a surplus this coming year. However, the talk in Washington and in the state capitols is the same - no one wants to allocate their available funds to the Legal Services Corporation or similar agencies for legal services.

Campaigns abound nationwide to raise money to support the delivery of legal services. In Wisconsin, the Bar has committed several thousand dollars for fundraising to support legal service agencies. In July, the Equal Justice Coalition kicked off its three-year effort to raise $5 million to provide direct legal services to Wisconsin's poor. A recommendation of former State Bar President John Skilton's Delivery of Legal Services Commission led to the coalition's creation. The coalition's goal is to secure for legal services programs a diverse funding base from individual attorneys, law firms, corporations and foundations to restore federal funds that Congress cut.

Even if the Wisconsin fundraising drive and similar drives nationwide are successful, the real question becomes, "Can they be sustained annually to meet the needs?" I very much doubt it.

I believe we must face this situation as an individual problem. The leaders need to recognize that all lawyers live in different circumstances. The contribution that can be given to the delivery of legal services by a senior partner at a large corporate practice firm is very different than the contribution that can be given by a recent U.W. or Marquette law school graduate.

We need to recognize that pro bono service is part of our commitment to professionalism. We need to look at our own practices and decide how to contribute to a solution. We do not need to be told by others what we should do to meet the need for pro bono service. It should be up to each of us as professionals to evaluate what we can do and how we can best accomplish the universal goal of the effective delivery of legal services to the indigent.

Certainly it is very difficult for a senior partner in a major metropolitan law firm who practices in international banking law to provide direct representation to an indigent client. However, these individuals collectively can use their financial strengths to support pro bono activities within their firms or through cash donations to legal service agencies. Or perhaps they can fund internship programs for attorneys willing to work in the inner city, rural communities, on Indian reservations or other areas that need legal advocacy.

The new law school graduate who does not have the financial ability to support delivery programs can fulfill her or his commitment by donating time and expertise to the local child care improvement project, domestic abuse center, tenants association, legal hotline or other group. Mid-sized or small law firms that may lack the expertise, time or finances to provide direct legal services may provide space, secretarial support or other resources to lawyers who can provide the services to those in need. There should be no limit to methods if we can only think of ourselves as being part of a larger community and fulfill our professional responsibility to those in need.

Recently, an attorney told me that he hoped we never got to the point where every Wisconsin lawyer was required to provide up to 50 hours of pro bono service a year. I compared that comment to one from an attorney in northern Wisconsin who told me that the only people who fear reporting their pro bono time are those who consider it a chore. As he said, a lawyer who is truly a professional recognizes that it is simple common decency to help those in need. I understand what both individuals were saying, and I certainly do not want to see the State Bar immersed in the bureaucracy of validating the lawyer's dedication to common decency and professionalism; however, I do recognize the reality that not all lawyers are doing their part.

Still, there has to be a solution, and as president of this association, I have the responsibility to help find that solution. I have stated generally how I think we Wisconsin professionals can creatively and individually help solve the problem. Here is a specific suggestion for thought and debate:

If each of us were to commit 50 hours to pro bono, we could extrapolate that figure into a dollar amount. For example, if our annual billing rate averaged $150 per hour, we could satisfy this criteria by contributing $7,500 to legal services organizations. Because that contribution probably would be tax deductible, we could increase the amount in recognition of the tax advantage. Perhaps donating money is not the appropriate solution; if we were members of a large firm, of perhaps 300 lawyers, we would have 15,000 hours of pro bono service available to us as a firm. If the average attorney in our firm has 2,000 billable hours a year, we could hire 7.5 attorneys annually to provide pro bono service through our firm. Or, we could fund a charitable contribution, a legal services firm of 7.5 attorneys, and accomplish the same result. A 10-person firm would have only 500 pro bono hours, but perhaps could allow one associate to devote 25 percent of his or her time to represent clients from the local domestic violence center or other group.

Those of us who practice in very small firms in rural areas can accomplish the same pro bono goals as a large law firm through our local bar associations. For example, the 20 members of a rural Wisconsin county bar may decide they lack the expertise to adequately provide pro bono services to the indigent, but they could provide an office and secretarial support for an attorney willing to provide the services. Perhaps the local bar members could make charitable contributions to help supplement that attorney's income. Or if a pro bono legal services center was set up, they could give their own time or their staff's time to the effort to satisfy the local need.

If we establish a benchmark and we equate that benchmark to time or to dollars, we each can individually resolve to fulfill our pro bono commitment and gauge our success in the effort. We each need to do this so we can stand firm and say that we have no qualms about reporting to the supreme court or anyone else, the pro bono work that we have done. If we as Wisconsin lawyers can universally swear that we have met our ethical, moral and professional commitments then, in reality, no one will ever ask us to so report. Only when the majority of us are unable, in good conscience, to say that we have met our benchmark, will we face the bureaucratic nightmare of having to report pro bono service.

There is a solution and it is unique to each of us. No one can tell me that I have to give money to fulfill my obligation to pro bono service. Likewise, no one can tell securities and exchange attorneys that they have to represent tenants in landlord/tenant disputes to fulfill their pro bono commitments. When we set the benchmark and reach it, we will have answered the question for ourselves in our own unique and versatile way. There is a solution. The result will be far fewer underrepresented clients, and we will have helped to preserve democracy, freedom and justice.

Wisconsin Lawyer