Model Pro Bono Policy for Small Law Firms

Preface to
Model Pro Bono Policy for Colorado Law Firms

An extraordinary need exists in this country for the provision of legal services for those unable to pay for them.  Law firms possess the talent and resources to take the lead in changing the culture of pro bono in Colorado to better meet the legal needs of the poor.  While many law firms undertake pro bono matters, many still lack a formal, written pro bono policy. 

A law firm pro bono policy is critical to send a message that the firm truly supports pro bono and encourages every attorney to engage in pro bono service.  Implementation of a formal pro bono policy will also provide attorneys in the firm with assurance that pro bono work will not hurt their advancement at the firm.  Attached is a Model Pro Bono Policy, which can be modified to meet the needs of individual law firms.  At the very least, a pro bono policy should: 

(1) clearly set forth an aspirational goal for attorneys, as well as the number of hours for which billable credit will be awarded for firms that operate on a billable hour system.  The attached model policy uses the figure of at least 50 hours per attorney per year, which mirrors the aspirational goal set out in Rule 6.1 of the Colorado Rules of Professional Conduct. 
(2) demonstrate that pro bono service will be positively considered in evaluation and compensation decisions.
(3) include a description of the processes that will be used to match attorneys with projects and monitor pro bono service, including tracking pro bono hours spent by lawyers and others in the firm.

 
 The Colorado Supreme Court will soon begin recognizing Colorado law firms that voluntarily certify, on an annual basis, that their attorneys, on average, perform 50 hours of pro bono legal service (primarily for indigents) per year.  Implementation of a pro bono policy with the characteristics described above should assist firms to support their attorneys to meet the aspirational goal of Rule 6.1 and allow firms to be recognized by the Supreme Court for their contribution to meeting the legal needs of the poor. 
 This model policy was developed in order to assist firms in the accomplishment of this goal, and is the product of a two-step process of the Ad-Hoc Committee (“Committee”) of the Colorado Access to Justice Commission.  First, the Committee identified the critical elements of a law firm pro bono policy and integrated these elements into a draft model policy.  Second, the Committee shared the draft policy with several law firms who helped further shape and refine it.  There is no expectation that your firm will adopt this model policy as is, but rather the hope is that your law firm will be able to easily adapt this model policy to fit your unique needs, while incorporating the critical elements of a pro bono policy identified above.

MODEL PRO BONO POLICY

FOR

COLORADO LAW FIRMS

Working Draft
November 6, 2005

  ATTACHMENTS

A. Preamble to the Colorado Rules of Professional Conduct
B. Colorado Rule of Professional Conduct 6.1
C. Sample Pro Bono Engagement Letter
D. Colorado Supreme Court Rule 260.8
E. Colorado Supreme Court Rule 260.8, Form 8

I. INTRODUCTION
 The Firm recognizes that the legal community has a unique responsibility to ensure that all citizens have access to a fair and just legal system.  In recognizing this responsibility, the Firm encourages each of its attorneys to actively participate in some form of pro bono legal representation. 
This commitment mirrors the core principles enunciated in the Colorado Rules of Professional Conduct:
 A lawyer should be mindful of deficiencies in the administration of justice and of the fact that the poor, and sometimes persons who are not poor, cannot afford adequate legal assistance, and therefore devote professional time and civic influence in their behalf.  A lawyer should aid the legal profession in pursuing these objectives and should help the bar regulate itself in the public interest . . . A lawyer should strive to attain the highest level of skill, to improve the law and the legal profession and to exemplify the legal profession’s ideals of public service. (Attachment A)
 
 The Firm understands that there are various ways to provide pro bono legal services in our community.  In selecting among the various pro bono opportunities, the Firm encourages and expects that attorneys (both partners and associates or other designation) will devote a minimum of fifty (50) hours each year to pro bono legal services, or a proportional amount of pro bono hours by attorneys on alternative work schedules.  In fulfilling this responsibility, Firm attorneys should provide a substantial majority of the fifty (50) hours of pro bono legal services to 1) persons of limited means or 2) charitable, religious, civic, community, governmental and educational organizations in matters which are designed primarily to address the needs of persons of limited means. Colorado Rule of Professional Conduct 6.1 (Attachment B) The Firm strongly believes that this level of participation lets our attorneys make a meaningful contribution to our legal community, and provides important opportunities to further their professional development.

II. Pro Bono Services
The foremost objective of the Firm pro bono policy is to provide legal services to indigent or near-indigent members of the community and the nonprofit organizations that assist them, in accordance with Rule 6.1 of the Colorado Rules of Professional Conduct. The Firm recognizes there are a variety of ways in which the Firm’s attorneys and paralegals can provide pro bono legal services in the community.  The following, while not intended to be an exhaustive list, reflects the types of pro bono legal services the Firm supports:

A. Representation of Low Income Persons: Representation of individuals who cannot afford legal services in civil or criminal matters of importance to a client;

B. Civil Rights and Public Rights Law: Representation or advocacy on behalf of individuals or organizations seeking to vindicate rights with broad societal implications (class action suits or suits involving constitutional or civil rights) where it is inappropriate to charge legal fees; and

C. Representation of charitable organizations: Representation or counseling to charitable, religious, civic, governmental, educational, or similar organizations in matters where the payment of standard legal fees would significantly diminish the resources of the organization, with an emphasis on service to organizations designed primarily to meet the needs of persons of limited income or improve the administration of justice.

Other types of pro bono services may include the following:

D. Community Economic Development:  Representation of micro-entrepreneurs and businesses for community economic development purposes, recognizing that business development plays a critical role in low income community development and provides a vehicle to help low income individuals to escape poverty;

E. Administration of Justice in the Court System:  Judicial assignments, whether as pro bono counsel, or a neutral arbiter, or other such assignment, which attorneys receive from courts on a mandatory basis by virtue of their membership in a trial bar; and

F. Law-related education: Legal education activities designed to assist students who are low-income, at risk or vulnerable to particular legal concerns.

G. Mentoring of a Law Student On Pro Bono Matters: Colorado Supreme Court Rule 260.8 provides that an attorney who acts as a mentor may earn two (2) units of general credit per completed matter in which he/she mentors a law student.  An attorney who acts as a mentor may earn one (1) unit of general credit per completed matter in which he/she mentors another lawyer.  However, mentors shall not be members of the same firm or in association with the lawyer providing representation to the indigent client. 

Because the following activities, while meritorious, do not involve direct provision of legal services to the poor, the Firm will not count them towards fulfillment of any attorney’s, or the Firm’s, goal to provide pro bono legal services to indigent persons or to nonprofits that serve such persons’ needs: participation in a non-legal capacity in a community or volunteer organization; services to non-profit organizations with sufficient funds to pay for legal services as part of their normal expenses; client development work; non-legal service on the board of directors of a community or volunteer organization; bar association activities; and non-billable legal work for family members, friends,  or members or staff of the Firm who are not eligible to be pro bono clients under the above criteria.

III.  Administration of Pro Bono

 We have designated a Pro Bono Coordinator responsible for implementing and administering the Firm’s pro bono policies and procedures. The Pro Bono Coordinator is responsible for:

A.    Encouraging and supporting pro bono legal endeavors;
B. Reviewing, accepting and/or rejecting pro bono legal projects;
C. Coordinating and monitoring pro bono legal projects, ensuring, among other things, that appropriate assistance, supervision and resources are available;
D. Communicating pro bono options available to attorneys and paralegals in  the Firm; 
E. Providing periodic reports on the Firm’s pro bono activities; and
F. Creating and maintaining a pro bono tracking system.
 Attorneys are encouraged to seek out pro bono matters that are of interest to them.

IV. Firm Recognition of Pro Bono Service
 The Firm recognizes that the commitment to pro bono involves a personal expenditure of time.  In acknowledgment of this commitment and to support Firm goals, your pro bono service will be considered a positive factor in performance evaluations and compensation decisions and will be subject to the same criteria of performance review and evaluation as those applied to client-billable work.  As with all client work, there should be an emphasis on effective results for the client and the efficient and cost-effective use of firm resources. 

V. Pro Bono Procedures
All pro bono legal matters will be opened in accordance with regular firm procedures, including utilization of a conflicts check and a client engagement letter.  Pro bono matters should be supervised by a partner, as appropriate.   The Firm encourages its attorneys to seek and obtain attorney fees in pro bono legal matters where possible. 

VI. CLE Credit for Pro Bono Work

 Colorado Supreme Court Rule 260.8 provides that attorneys may be awarded up to nine (9) hours of CLE credit per three-year reporting period for: (1) performing uncompensated pro bono legal representation on behalf of indigent or near indigent clients in a civil legal matter or (2) mentoring another lawyer or law student providing such representation.  (See Rule 260.8, Attachment D)

A. Amount of CLE credit
Attorneys may earn one (1) CLE credit hour for every five (5) billable-equivalent hours of pro bono representation provided to the indigent client.  An attorney who acts as a mentor may earn one (1) unit of general credit per completed matter in which he/she mentors another lawyer.  Mentors shall not be members of the same firm or in association with the lawyer providing representation to the indigent client.  An attorney who acts as a mentor may earn two (2) units of general credit per completed matter in which he/she mentors a law student. 
B.    How to obtain CLE credit
 An attorney who seeks CLE credit under Rule 260.8 for work on an eligible matter must submit a completed Form 8 (Attachment E) to the assigning court, program or law school.  The assigning entity must then report to the Colorado Board of Continuing Legal and Judicial Education its recommendation as to the number of general CLE credits the reporting pro bono attorney should receive.