The Benefits of Volunteering with the Pro Bono Committee
In order to diminish the extent of the unmet need for civil legal services to the poor in our communities, the Committee is asking attorneys of the 8th Judicial District to represent one to three income-eligible clients per year at no fee.
Many attorneys in our District are already doing at least that much pro bono work on their own. We certainly encourage those attorneys to continue their good work, and encourage others to join them in the effort. The Committee can offer significant advantages to attorneys interested in continuing their current pro bono activities, attorneys seeking additional pro bono opportunities, and attorneys either returning to pro bono after an absence or just starting out.
Attorneys who do their pro bono work through the Committee’s Project will enjoy the following practical benefits:
- Pre-screened cases – By accepting cases referred by the pro bono program in your area, you can be certain that your client is a resident of your community and truly cannot afford to hire an attorney. Staff members screen requests for legal assistance to ensure that clients are financially eligible for free legal assistance. The basic eligibility guideline used for most programs is 125% to 200% of the federal poverty index which, in 2008, translates to $13,000.05 to $20,800.08 gross annual income for a single person and $26,500.05 to $42,400.08 gross annual income for a family of four. Staff members also screen a potential client’s request for legal assistance to ensure that the client has a legitimate legal problem. You will not be asked to spend your time resolving non-legal problems of the client or working on claims that have no legal merit. Many programs also conduct factual investigation in cases prior to referral and will send you a case file with at least some of the “legwork” completed.
- Receive CLE Credit for pro bono work – By doing your pro bono work in partnership with the Committee, you can earn CLE credit at a rate of one CLE credit for every six hours of pro bono work up to a maximum of six CLE credits per biannual reporting cycle. These credits may be used to cover CLE requirements in any category other than Ethics. See handout on New York State CLE Board Regulations and Guidelines Section 3(D)(11).
- Greater efficiency in scheduling court appearances – The Committee is working with Court clerks to expedite and streamline the
scheduling of cases for pro bono attorneys with cases referred through pro
bono programs in order to make most efficient use of volunteer lawyers'
time.
- Receive support – Including but not limited to: providing you a space to meet with your client if necessary, free training materials and video/DVDs on a wide variety of topics, consultant panel of attorneys who share their expertise with volunteers, additional backup support and advice when needed, sample pleadings and forms, assistance with receiving payment at assigned counsel rates for handling custody and visitation aspects of pro bono divorce cases. In addition, we will soon be able to provide our volunteers with access to ProBono.Net, an online pro bono resource center that provides materials and forms for the various areas of law in which our volunteers practice, a guide to pro bono opportunities, and notices of events of interest to attorneys in our District.
- Helping the “big picture” – By doing your pro bono work through the Committee and its affiliated pro
bono programs, you not only help us document the commitment of the
District's attorneys to improving access to justice for the poor, you also
help us document the legal needs of poor persons that cannot be met.
Ultimately, such information will be helpful in supporting efforts to
increase funding for currently under-funded legal services agencies, as well
as providing feedback and guidance in further developing pro bono practice.
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