Page 109 - Impact: Collected Essays on Expanding Access to Justice

of the disconnect between pro bono attorneys and the gap in legal services comes from a lack of knowledge of the practice of trial courts . Private attorneys are well equipped to master the law and the facts, but in many courts that is less important than understanding practice on the ground . With issue papers and systems advocacy, private attorneys are in their element . They can direct their substantial resources and talent to making persuasive arguments, and can do so freed from any regular role in the system they might be challenging . Partnerships with the private bar can be a terrific team approach to making social change .17
Iv.TheTransformative Potential of Pro BonoWork
Not only can pro bono service help to fill a desperate need for legal services, it also has an under- recognized ripple effect throughout the legal profession . As we struggle over the nuts and bolts of delivering services to poor people, while navigating the restrictions placed on volunteerism by firms, we often forget the transformative nature of increased pro bono activity for the profession as a whole . We have all heard volunteer attorneys say that the case they took reminded them why they went to law school, and is the one they will always remember . Rather than being cynical about how one poor person’s case enables a volunteer to feel better about a lifelong career doing big law transactional work, we should remember that the volunteer will be sharing with professional colleagues the concerns of the poor over cocktails and networking events for years to come . If we are lucky, they will be directing some of their charitable giving to legal services organizations, and they will be more likely to listen intelligently to political analyses of social services decisions . In my agency, we were recently holding a meeting among current and former volunteers, and they all expressed a desire to get together with other “like-minded” attorneys . Rather than networking within their firm, or within big law, they want to network with the private lawyers who care about the public interest . If legal services and pro bono organizations promote that connection, we are growing a powerful base within the professional class that will continue to support access to justice for the poor, while being able to leverage their own substantial access to power . •
17 Deborah L. Rhode, Access to Justice: A Roadmap for Reform, 41 fordham urb. L. J. 1227, 1250 (2014).
Alternative Models
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