Also known as: pro bono service · pro bono
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
Legal services rendered by a lawyer without fee or expectation of fee to persons of limited means. The services fulfill a professional responsibility that every lawyer should aspire to meet by devoting at least fifty hours each year to qualifying representations.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Priya Prasad, an attorney at a nonprofit legal services organization, represents an indigent client in ongoing wage litigation. After the client faces eviction, Priya pays the overdue rent and provides funds for groceries. The payments remain modest, occur after retention, and carry no repayment demand from the client or any affiliate.
Perry Pratt, a lawyer licensed in State B, seeks admission in State A without establishing residency. State A denies the application on the ground that nonresidents will not perform sufficient pro bono work. The denial rests solely on that speculative assumption rather than any evidence of actual unavailability or misconduct.
Piper Patel maintains a full caseload yet commits fifty hours each year to representing clients of limited means in housing and benefits matters. She records the time separately from paid work and accepts no fee or reimbursement for those representations.
The representation must be pro bono for an indigent client through a nonprofit legal services organization, public interest organization, or law school clinical program. The gifts must remain modest and cover only basic needs such as food, rent, or transportation. The lawyer may not promise the gifts before retention, use them as an inducement to continue the relationship, seek reimbursement, or advertise their availability.
Yes. The prohibition on financial assistance applies to any pending litigation unless the narrow exception for modest pro bono gifts is satisfied. A contingency-fee representation does not qualify for that exception, and payments for rent or other ordinary living costs fall outside the permitted categories of court costs and litigation expenses.
No. Residency requirements that exclude nonresidents from practicing law violate the Privileges and Immunities Clause when they rest on the speculative assumption that out-of-state lawyers will fail to keep current, behave ethically, remain available, or perform pro bono services.
Every lawyer should aspire to render at least fifty hours of pro bono publico legal services each year, with a substantial majority devoted to persons of limited means without fee or expectation of fee.