Spotlight on pro bono

In the 12 years since I left legal services practice, the legal needs of low income persons have changed, but they certainly have not diminished.

Legal service providers struggle to maintain the same staffing levels they have had for many years, continuing to meet only about 20 percent of the legal needs of poor people. Federal funding has been stagnant for nearly two decades, despite increased costs of providing services.

While new funding sources hold the promise of maintaining current levels of service, it is clear that access to the legal system for low income persons in Illinois will be a substantial systemic problem for the foreseeable future.

Private bar pro bono programs make a world of difference to those who cannot otherwise access the system.

While acceptance of pro bono cases is rewarding its own right, private practitioners need to know that pro bono cases make practical sense from the perspective of growing one's practice as well, and can enhance the coffers of the attorney who agrees to accept such cases on a regular basis.

Every once in awhile, acceptance of case with no expectation of any fee recovery might produce an unexpectedly good financial result for the attorney as well as the client.

A commitment to regularly accept pro bono referrals has resulted more than a few times in the client returning to my office later with a fee-generating case or cases, or in the pro bono referring friends or family members with significant fee-generating cases.

A recent example underscores how practicing pro bono work not only enhances the standing of all lawyers in the community, but potentially one's pocket book as well.

The client had filed a pro se complaint in the U.S. District Court, requesting review of a final administrative decision by Social Security finding that he was not disabled. The claim was complicated procedurally and factually in ways the hapless pro se litigant did not comprehend.

The court appointed me as his pro bono attorney, but the order of appointment expressly stated that this did not preclude a fee recovery against the government under the Equal Access to Justice Act, if the court later determined that the government's position in the litigation was not substantially justified.

After spending substantial time reviewing the administrative record, I discerned that not only was the final administrative decision legally wrong, but the government's position in the litigation was not substantially justified.

I prepared a brief in support of summary judgment and, after securing a remand to the Social Security Administration, I successfully petitioned for and received attorney's fees paid by the U.S. government under the Equal Access to Justice Act for my time and effort in the district court.

Pleased with these results, the client requested that I represent him at the subsequent administrative hearing after the case was remanded. With proper representation, the record was fully developed and the outcome was successful.

As a result, an individual and his family, formerly skeptical of lawyers and the legal system, now have a different view of both.

Admittedly, few pro bono cases have such a happy result for both the attorney and the client in terms of financial benefits. It is essential, however, to participate in organized pro bono activities to aid in defeating prevalent and unfavorable views of attorneys by many the general public.

Regular publicizing of pro bono activities by bar associations and other organizations can go a long way toward restoring the faith of the general public in lawyers and in the legal system.

In future years, as part of license renewal, we are being asked to report pro bono activities to the Supreme Court of Illinois. The organized bar can utilize this information in publicity to help restore the tarnished image of our profession.

Acceptance of pro bono cases makes sense, morally and professionally, and it is thus, for most of us, rewarding in its own right. And who knows? When you take on your next case it may be rewarding in more ways.

• • •