Frequently Asked Questions
Q - What is the Eighth Judicial District Pro Bono Committee?
Q - I have taken pro bono cases from the Erie County Bar Association Volunteer Lawyers Project / Niagara County Legal Aid Society, etc. in the past. Does signing up with the Pro Bono Committee mean I am committing to take cases from yet another agency/organization?
Q - I do pro bono work already on my own. Why should I do pro bono through the Pro Bono Committee and its affiliated pro bono programs?
Q - Why is my help needed when there are so many legal services agencies dedicated to helping low-income individuals throughout the District?
Q - Where can I sign up to accept a pro bono referral?
Q - What types of cases can I be involved in?
Q - Where is my help most needed?
Q - How much time does the Pro Bono Committee ask that I commit to pro bono?
Q - Are there any short-term pro bono opportunities
available – for instance, opportunities that I can do in a day?
Q - I often meet with clients who I know are low income and cannot afford to pay me. How can I represent them on a pro bono basis through a pro bono program so that I can enjoy the benefits listed above?
Q - Can I limit the scope of my representation of a pro bono client? What if my client needs help in other areas beyond the scope of my representation?
Q - Will I be responsible for paying court fees or disbursements?
Q - Can I pursue attorney fees from the opposing party?
Q - If, after I have accepted the referral, I come to believe that the case is frivolous, or if my client is refusing reasonable settlement offers, do I have to pursue the case to the bitter end?
Q - Is malpractice insurance provided?
Q - What if my pro bono client’s financial circumstances improve during the course of my representation? Are they still eligible to receive my services on a pro bono basis?
Q - As management at a law firm, what kind of incentives can I provide our lawyers to do more pro bono work?
Q - I have more questions. Who can I talk to?
Q - What is the Eighth Judicial District Pro Bono Committee?
A - Please see About the Committee
Q - I have taken pro bono cases from the Erie County Bar Association Volunteer Lawyers Project / Niagara County Legal Aid Society, etc. in the past. Does signing up with the Pro Bono Committee mean I am committing to take cases from yet another agency/organization?
A - No. One of the main purposes of the Pro Bono Committee is to recruit attorneys to accept pro bono referrals from existing legal services agencies’ pro bono programs throughout the Eighth Judicial District. The legal services agencies that have pro bono programs in the Eighth Judicial District include:
Erie County Bar Association Volunteer Lawyers Project - primarily serving Erie County, but also providing additional limited services to other counties of the 8 th Judicial District.
Legal Aid of Chautauqua Region, Inc. - serving Chautauqua County.
Niagara County Legal Aid Society - serving Niagara County.
Oak Orchard Legal Services - serving Orleans, Genesee and Wyoming Counties.
Southern Tier Legal Services - serving Allegany, Cattaraugus and Chautauqua Counties.
When you register to do pro bono through the Pro Bono Committee, you are
asked to indicate in which geographical area(s) you prefer to handle cases
so that we can refer you to the right pro bono program. Thus, for example,
when the Pro Bono Committee recruits an attorney from Wyoming County to do
pro bono, that attorney is linked with Oak Orchard Legal Services who will
provide the pro bono referral.
Q - I do pro bono work already on my own. Why should I do pro bono through the Pro Bono Committee and its affiliated pro bono programs?
A - Please see The Benefits of Volunteering with the Pro Bono Committee
Q - Why is my help needed when there are so many legal services agencies dedicated to helping low-income individuals throughout the District?
A - While there is no question that the legal services agencies throughout our District make a significant impact in the lives of low-income people needing civil legal assistance each year, the unfortunate reality is that approximately 80-85% of the poor’s overall need for legal assistance is not being met. The volume of need is simply too high for legal services agencies to handle alone without the assistance of private attorneys who are willing to do pro bono.
Q - Where can I sign up to accept a pro bono referral?
A - Click here for a printable Registration Form.
Q - What types of cases can I be involved in?
A - Please see Pro Bono Opportunities.
Q - Where is my help most needed?
A - The Pro Bono Committee’s review of the unmet need for civil legal services throughout the Eighth Judicial District has revealed hat there is a particularly pressing need for pro bono divorce and eviction defense work. Thus, the Pro Bono Committee is especially grateful to any attorney willing to volunteer his or her time in those two areas of law. That said, the District’s local pro bono programs are in the best position to assess which areas of law present the greatest unmet need at any given time in the geographical areas they serve.
Q - How much time does the Pro Bono Committee ask that I commit to pro bono?
A - The New York Lawyer’s Code of Professional Responsibility Ethical Consideration 2-25 states that attorneys should aspire to provide at least 20 hours of pro bono services each year, and the New York State Bar Association has established an aspirational goal of 50 hours of pro bono work per year. NYSBA has created the Empire State Counsel program to give special recognition to members who provide at least 50 hours of pro bono services in
a calendar year. (More information, including application forms
for the award, is available on the NYSBA website at www.nysba.org/empirestatecounsel.)
The Committee understands that devoting several hours per year to pro bono can be a difficult aspiration to attain for many attorneys in our District. When you sign up to do pro bono through the Pro Bono Committee, you determine what time commitment is appropriate for you. Accepting one or two pro bono cases per year will, collectively, help diminish the extent of our District’s unmet legal need in a very tangible way. Certainly if your time and resources permit you to consider taking more than 2 cases per year, we are happy to refer you additional clients. A case will not be referred to a volunteer without checking his or her availability first, and our programs are more than happy to work around your schedule, referring cases at intervals that are convenient for you. Also, recognizing how valuable your time is, we will provide case screening and strive to provide you with appropriate support services to ensure that the time you spend on each case is devoted to tasks that truly require an attorney’s expertise.
Q - Are there any short-term pro bono opportunities
available – for instance, opportunities that I can do in a day?
A - Some of the District’s pro bono programs offer more short term pro bono opportunities in addition to traditional representation of individual clients. For example, in Allegany and Cattaraugus Counties, pro bono attorneys assist with pro se divorce clinics where they help low-income participants in need of an uncontested divorce. The pro bono program screens participants for eligibility and prepares the pleadings and other required forms, and then the pro bono attorney meets with the participant to help draft grounds and review the pleadings. The clinic participants receive instructions for serving and filing the pleadings on their own.
In Erie County, the Volunteer Lawyers Project coordinates the Attorney of the Morning Program which operates Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings in Buffalo City Court. Under this program, attorneys who have been trained in landlord/tenant law represent low income tenants who are facing the possibility of eviction. The attorneys are scheduled ahead of time and represent all low income tenants who show up in court without an attorney. Almost all cases finish in that one morning. There is no obligation to continue on cases that are adjourned. Volunteer Lawyers Project staff or other volunteers will appear on the adjourned dates.
Please contact the pro bono program in your area to learn more about opportunities for pro bono projects requiring a finite time commitment.
Q - I often meet with clients who I know are low income and cannot afford to pay me. How can I represent them on a pro bono basis through a pro bono program so that I can enjoy the benefits listed above?
A - If you are meeting with a potential client whose case you would like to take and who you suspect may be income eligible for pro bono representation, contact your local pro bono program and advise them of the situation. The potential client can then contact the pro bono program directly so that he or she can be screened for eligibility. If he or she is eligible, the pro bono program can complete all the necessary paperwork to refer the case to you, including the In Forma Pauperis Attorney’s Certification. You will then be able to enjoy all of the above benefits, and help the “big picture” just as if the client had initially contacted the pro bono program for assistance.
Q - Can I limit the scope of my representation of a pro bono client? What if my client needs help in other areas beyond the scope of my representation?
A - On a case referred to you by one of the District’s pro bono programs you may limit your representation of your client to the matter for which they were referred to you. For example, if you accept a pro bono referral for a client who needs a will prepared, and the client also determines he or she would also like a divorce, you need only prepare the will. You may have the client call the referring pro bono program regarding the divorce, and the program will screen them for that matter and, if appropriate, refer them to another volunteer attorney.
Q - Will I be responsible for paying court fees or disbursements?
A - The pro bono program referring your case will provide you with instructions and an In Forma Pauperis Attorney’s Certification which you may file to obtain In Forma Pauperis status for your client, allowing many court fees to be waived pursuant to Article 11 of the CPLR. The client is responsible for all out of pocket expenses which are not waived by having In Forma Pauperis status.
Q - Can I pursue attorney fees from the opposing party?
A - Although volunteer attorneys may not collect fees from clients referred by the Pro Bono Committee or any of its affiliate pro bono programs, fees awarded from opposing parties may be pursued and accepted by volunteer attorneys the same as would be permitted in any of your paid cases. However, fees payable out of retroactive benefits or which reduce a monetary award or recovery paid to a client are not permitted.
Some attorneys choose to donate some or all of the fees they recover to the pro bono program that referred them the case, but this is not required.
Q - If, after I have accepted the referral, I come to believe that the case is frivolous, or if my client is refusing reasonable settlement offers, do I have to pursue the case to the bitter end?
A - Every effort will be made to prescreen cases for merit. However, clients are told that a final legal determination on how to proceed, or if to proceed, is up to the attorney accepting their case. If your client is refusing reasonable settlement offers, you should handle the situation exactly as you would with your private paying clients. Your inability to agree on the course of representation may, or may not, give you reasonable grounds to withdraw. There is no difference between a pro bono client and a paying client in terms of your ethical responsibilities.
Q - Is malpractice insurance provided?
A - Yes. The pro bono program referring your case has a malpractice insurance policy which provides secondary coverage to pro bono attorneys who have their own malpractice insurance and primary coverage to pro bono attorneys who do not have their own malpractice insurance. Please contact your local pro bono program for further details.
Q - What if my pro bono client’s financial circumstances improve during the course of my representation? Are they still eligible to receive my services on a pro bono basis?
A - If, during the course of your representation your client's income situation
changes, please contact the pro bono program who referred the case to you so
that they can determine whether the client remains eligible for assistance
through that program. If a client's income increases during the course of
your representation resulting in their ineligibility according to the
referring program's income guidelines, there are two options:
a) Your client can retain you as his or her attorney for a mutually agreeable fee that will cover their representation from the point ineligibility is determined forward, without being required to compensate you for services rendered while they were eligible; or
b) Your client can obtain another attorney of their choice.
Q - As management at a law firm, what kind of incentives can I provide our lawyers to do more pro bono work?
A - In addition to promoting the self-satisfaction attorneys will feel from volunteering and the CLE credit they can earn in doing so, some ideas include allowing attorneys to input the time they have spent on pro bono matters and have that time count toward their total yearly billable hour requirements, distribute pro bono awards, make pro bono part of your evaluation process, recognize and praise those who do pro bono and make pro bono a line item in your lawyers’ business plans.
You can also arrange for attorneys from your local pro bono program to come speak to you and your attorneys about the opportunities available, arrange substantive trainings for your attorneys in certain areas of law and work out a protocol for referring cases to your firm.
Q - I have more questions. Who can I talk to?
A - If you have further questions you would like answered before committing to take a pro bono referral, please do not hesitate to contact Amanda Warner, Pro Bono Coordinator for the Eighth Judicial District at (716) 847-0662, ext. 318 or awarner@wnylc.com at any time.
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