Also known as: pro bono practices · pro bono
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
The provision of legal services without fee or expectation of fee to persons of limited means. Every lawyer bears a professional responsibility to render such services, with an aspirational target of at least fifty hours per year, and narrow exceptions allow modest gifts for basic living expenses when the representation is pro bono for an indigent client through a nonprofit or law school program.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Perry Pratt, an indigent wage earner, retained a nonprofit legal services organization for a wage claim. After filing, Pratt told counsel he faced eviction. Counsel offered to pay the overdue rent directly to the landlord and a small sum for groceries. The offer arose only after retention, involved no pre-retention promise, and sought no reimbursement from Pratt or his family.
Pierce Patterson, a licensed attorney residing across the state line, applied for admission in State A. The board denied the application solely because Patterson was not a resident. The court held the residency rule invalid under the Privileges and Immunities Clause, rejecting the board's speculation that nonresidents would fail to perform pro bono work.
Paige Porter, a partner at a mid-size firm, reviewed her calendar and selected five matters for low-income clients through a local legal aid office. She tracked the time spent on intake, pleadings, and court appearances. By year end Porter had completed fifty-two hours of uncompensated work meeting the professional aspiration for pro bono service.
A lawyer may provide modest gifts for food, rent, transportation, medicine, and similar basic needs only when representing an indigent client pro bono through a nonprofit legal services organization, a public interest organization, or a law school clinical program. The gifts must not be promised or implied before retention, must not serve as an inducement to continue the relationship, and the lawyer must neither seek nor accept reimbursement from the client or anyone affiliated with the client.
Rule 6.1 states that every lawyer has a professional responsibility to provide legal services to those unable to pay and should aspire to render at least fifty hours of pro bono publico legal services per year. A substantial majority of those hours should go to persons of limited means or to organizations serving them. Time spent on matters that generate no fee or expectation of fee counts toward the target.
No. The Supreme Court has held that state residency requirements for bar admission violate the Privileges and Immunities Clause when they rest on the speculative assumption that nonresidents will not keep abreast of local rules, behave honestly, remain available, or perform pro bono work. Such assumptions lack substantial justification and cannot support exclusion from the common calling of law practice.
Court appointment in civil cases can satisfy the professional responsibility to provide legal services to those unable to pay when the lawyer receives no compensation. The representation still must comply with all other ethical rules, including the restrictions on financial assistance to clients.