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Law and the Legal Profession > Module 7 – Pro Bono and Public Service > Flashcards

Module 7 – Pro Bono and Public Service Flashcards

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1
Q

Professionally, Pro bono is

A
  • unique to lawyers

- a duty of the profession –> provision of pro bono legal services to those who cannot afford legal counsel

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2
Q

Why should lawyers donate their time to pro bono work?

A
  • Right thing to do - Pay it forward
  • Complexity of society makes it difficult for the poor to access necessary benefits
  • Attorneys are in a unique position to help those that may be disenfranchised
  • Duty to society
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3
Q

ABA Model Rule of Professional Conduct (6.1)

A

“Every lawyer has a professional responsibility to provide legal services to those unable to pay” (Included in the attorney oath)

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4
Q

“Pro Bono Legal Service” means

A

legal service rendered without charge or expectation of a fee for the lawyer at the time the service commences

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5
Q

What is Pro Bono work?

A
  • Work that addresses the needs of the poor
  • Participation in activities improving the law, legal system, or legal profession
  • Work for non-profit organization
  • Promoting access to justice & public service to the judiciary or state or local government
  • Structural mentoring
  • Public education
  • Political services
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6
Q

What is not Pro Bono work?

A
  • A client who didn’t pay his or her bill

- Cleaning up your neighbor’s house after a hurricane

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7
Q

Benefits of Pro Bono Work for Lawyers

A
  • Gratification of knowing you did something good for someone who needs the service but can’t afford to hire a lawyer
  • Stepping outside of your comfort zone & learning a different area of practice
  • Courtroom experience
  • Professional networking
  • Referrals
  • Good reputation
  • Grounds you as a person
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8
Q

Exception for public lawyers in the public sector:

A
  • Provides non-stop public service
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9
Q

Speakers:

A 
Karen Ladis (DLA)
- Karen Josefsberg Ladis joined the agency in 1991 as coordinator of Put Something Back Pro Bono Project, the official pro bono project of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit and Dade County Bar Association Legal Aid Society “Dade Legal Aid.” In 2014, she became the executive director, where she works tirelessly to provide greater access to justice to thousands of low-income individuals and families in need of civil legal assistance with nowhere else to turn to for help.  In 1990, upon graduation from University of Miami School of Law, Ms. Ladis worked in private practice and immediately joined the Dade County Bar Association Young Lawyers Section.  She served on the Bulletin Committee, eventually becoming Editor, and has remained an energetic and dedicated member of the association ever since.  During the past three decades, Ladis has participated in numerous voluntary bar associations and community service projects.  She currently serves on The Florida Bar Standing Committee on Pro Bono Legal Services, Florida Civil Legal Aid Association, Florida Pro Bono Coordinators Association, Pro Bono Committees of Miami-Dade Florida Association of Women Lawyers, South Miami Kendall Bar Association, US Bankruptcy Court of the Southern District of Florida, Florida Bar Business Law Section, and United Way Mission United. She is a nonvoting public interest member of The Florida Bar Board of Governors, served on the ABA Standing Committee on Pro Bono, the Public Service Committee of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation Attorneys Division and Young Leadership Council. In recognition of her commitment to pro bono legal services, in 1998, Ladis was awarded The Florida Bar YLD Pro Bono Service Award for Outstanding Public Service. In 2006, she was awarded the DCBA inaugural Robert L. Shevin Public Service Award.  In 2012, she was awarded the inaugural Eleventh Judicial Circuit Family Division Above & Beyond Award, and received it again in 2015 for exemplary contributions to the justice system. In 2017, she was awarded a DCBA Lifetime Achievement Award and from 2018 – 2021 she was recognized as a Legal Elite Government & Non Profit Attorney.  In 2019 she was awarded the Women of Distinction Award, the Statewide Guardian ad Litem Program’s Outstanding GAL Award for the Eleventh Judicial Circuit, and the University of Miami Law Alumni Association Henry Latimer Leadership & Professionalism Award. In October 2021, she received the Miami Dade Bar Johnnie Ridgely President's Award.

Amber Kornreich, Esq.
- Amber Kornreich is a Partner at Kornreich & Associates practicing exclusively Family Law. Recognized as the Lynn Futch Most Productive Young Lawyer of the Year in 2018 by The Florida Bar Young Lawyers Division, she is a passionate lawyer and leader in the Miami-Dade Bar and in local philanthropy, including as an Officer of the Miami-Dade Florida Association for Women Lawyers, as a Director of the Dade County Bar Association, and as President of The First Family Law American Inn of Court.

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10
Q

Dade Legal Aid (Karen)

A
  • Provides free civil legal services for low-income children, foster growth, individuals & families in need in - Miami-Dade county
  • Twenty Staff Agencies
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11
Q

Speakers: Why do Pro Bono?

A
  • Fulfill FL bar oath of attorney and professional responsibility
  • Make a difference & change lives
  • Personal growth & development
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12
Q

Speakers: Professionalism

A
  • Judges don’t like surprises. You should prepare, they like to have enough time to make a decision
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13
Q

Speakers: How legal aid works

A

clients are typically referred, they take an application which is reviewed (process is online now)

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14
Q

Lawyer’s share with other profssions society’s responsibility to

A

address social ills

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15
Q

lawyers alone can address injustices victimizing

A

the poor –> only ones capable of doing so

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16
Q

This is an era with emaciated budgets and more people finding lawyers unaffordable

A

there is a greater need to act on behalf of the poor

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17
Q

ABA Model Rule of Professional Conduct 6.1

A

“Every lawyer has a professional responsibility to provide legal service to those unable to pay” (comment: applies to all lawyers – urges to donate at least 50 hrs of legal work with the majority being to pro bono work AKA persons of limited means/orgs that help these ppl)

18
Q

Pro Bono work offers

A
  • practice enhancement
  • sharpened skills
  • new subject matter expertise
  • professional satisfaction
19
Q

There is a distinction between pure pro bono work and public service

A

Pro Bono: legal services to the poor – indigent or working poor – (or service that directly address their legal needs)
Public Service: unpaid legal work like volunteering

20
Q

Primary purpose of pro bono

A

benefit clients, justice system, and society

21
Q

Benefits of pro bono to the lawyer

A
  • energizes and fulfills (pride in reshaping lives)
  • invaluable courtroom experience (especially for young lawyers)
  • can be a source of valuable guidance from practitioners who are subject-matter experts
  • responsibly explore new areas of practice
  • help build needed depth/credentials in a subject
  • yield valuable professional contacts
  • possible recognition (publication) from organized bar (help reputation)
22
Q

An attorney paid by the government/government supported agency for representing other than the government itself serve a high-calling. These are

A
  • Public defenders and legal aid lawyers
23
Q

Public defenders and legal aid lawyers benefits

A
  • higher job satisfaction than private practitioners
  • pride from doing a job that benefits us all
  • camaraderie of team atmosphere in gov’t offices
  • no added responsibility of business like private lawyers
  • gain real practice experience faster
24
Q

Provisions of service to the profession:

A
  • Bar service
  • Mentoring
  • Public education
  • Political service
25
Q

Pro Bono Bar service

A
  • Bar association provides opportunities for attorneys to serve on committees, governing boards, or as part of association sections/division
  • meaningful impact on profession/justice system (changes in procedural rules, development of educational programming, etc.)
26
Q

Pro Bono Mentoring

A
  • experienced attorney can provide service to the profession by serving as mentors to young lawyers (through organizational program or on a less formal basis)
27
Q

Pro Bono Public education

A
  • service the community by going out into the community educating the public about how the justice system/lawyers really work (writing, law day participation)
28
Q

Pro Bono Political service

A
  • lawyers bring valuable, important, and unique perspectives into public office (benefit of thinking like a lawyer)
  • joining local government boards and committees that guide elected officials (can lay groundwork for running for office or be a way to do political service without seeking election)
29
Q

Charitable and other community work

A
  • Not pro bono but still valuable (main conduit of community engagement by lawyers)
  • lawyers by training and experience are uniquely positioned to advance the work of charities
  • enables young lawyers to get expertise, build a network of like-minded professionals, and develops traction need for leadership in the organization
30
Q

What Cases Are Handled by Legal Services Offices?

A

The following are only a few examples of the types of cases usually handled:

Civil Issues
Consumer
Divorce
Domestic violence
Education
Family law
Foreclosure defense
Health welfare
Immigration issues
Landlord/tenant
Public benefits
Senior benefits
Social Security
31
Q

What Will the Legal Services Cost, and Who Can Apply for Them?

A
  • Most –> free of charge to people who qualify
  • Some areas have low fee panels for people w/ low fixed incomes
  • Meant for people of low income who cannot afford the services of an attorney
  • Many programs have different standards (based solely on income, ownership of property, family size, etc.)
32
Q

Where are Legal Services Offices Located?

A
  • countywide

- virtual help available (FL Free Legal Answers forum w/ attorneys answering)

33
Q

History of Legal Aid

A
  • Earlier programs operated by volunteer lawyers from local bar associations were called legal aid societies.
  • federal effort to provide funds for legal counsel to the needy began in the mid-1960s
  • Office of legal services (established within the office of economic opportunity) was created to distribute federal money to local programs called Legal Service Organizations –> transferred to the Legal Aid Corps (LSC) created by congress in 1975
34
Q

How is legal aid financed?

A
  • legal aid societies and legal service organizations are multi-sponsored by federal, state, and local government, FL Bar Foundation, the FL Bar, local bar associations, and through special grants
  • FL is divided into 7 regions each with bar programs that receive Legal Service Corps. (LSC) funding or no LSC funding but are funded by other sources (can accept broader range of cases)
35
Q

What do legal aid services do?

A
  • provide same legal services as any other attorney
  • lawyers can advise and represent in most areas of civil law (criminal cases have public defenders)
  • Each program has priorities for types of cases it will take (demand exceeds staff/$$$ available to handle cases) –> offices limit types of cases taken
  • Generally, do not deal w/ cases where money is being sought as a settlement
36
Q

Pro Bono Service and Reporting

A
  • Florida Supreme Court ruled in 1992 that lawyers should aspire to do 20 hours of pro bono work a year or contribute $350 to a legal aid organization
  • Service is NOT mandatory but reporting is REQUIRED
  • provides a necessary and accurate picture of the need and fulfillment of legal aid to indigent Floridians
  • Members report through simplified reporting form that is part of the annual membership fees statement each yr
37
Q

Individual Pro Bono Service Volunteer Opportunities

A
  • Florida Pro Bono Matters
  • interactive website that enables attorneys to search for pro bono cases that suit their interests and submit an interest form to the legal aid or pro bono program that posted the case.
  • Florida Free Legal Answers
  • pro bono project that allows you to conduct pro bono service online from your office, your home or wherever you choose. Enrollment is open to all eligible Florida Bar members.
  • Florida Guardian Ad Litem program
  • website offers volunteer opportunities.
  • Young Lawyers Division Disaster Legal Services Hotline
  • service provided in conjunction with the ABA Young Lawyers Section and FEMA to provide basic civil legal services for victims of a natural disaster who cannot otherwise afford legal representation.
38
Q

Rule 4-6.1

A
  • Pro Bono not an obligation
  • SHOULD render pro bono legal services
  • aspirational rather than mandatory in nature
  • Failure to fulfill one’s professional responsibility under this rule will not subject a lawyer to discipline
39
Q

Collective Pro Bono Service Option

A

Bar rules allow law firms to devise a collective plan where some firm lawyers can devote most or all of their time to pro bono work with the resulting hours spread among all firm lawyers. This option was designed to encourage firms to tackle more demanding and complicated pro bono cases.

Collective satisfaction is permitted when law firms provide pro bono legal service to the poor or working poor:

in a major case or matter involving a substantial expenditure of time and resources;
through a full-time community or public service staff; or
in any other manner that has been approved by the circuit pro bono committee in the circuit in which the firm practices.

40
Q

Comments to Rule 4-6.1

A
  • Pro Bono legal service mean service rendered without charge or expectation of a fee for the lawyer at the time the service commences
41
Q

Dade Legal Aid Seminar Recruits 75 Lawyers Willing to Take a Pro Bono Case

A

More than 75 recruited to take on a pro bono family law case in exchange for attending the 28th annual Nuts and Bolts of Family Law seminar presented by the DLA: Put Something Back Program

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