Page 262 - 2019 Orientation Manual

Pro Bono Activities

The Access to Justice Committee recognizes an important aspect of the Justice Community’s work
is the volunteer support by the private bar coordinated by local pro bono programs. the Access to
Justice Pro Bono Committee annually holds a statewide Pro Bono Coordinating meeting bringing
together pro bono programs and board members from around the state to define areas where the
LSBA can provide assistance to further local pro bono program efforts. Past efforts by the ATJ
Committee to assist the coordinators include, conducting online trainings for their pro bono
attorneys, creating the “Do Good, Do Well, Do Pro Bono” campaign to encourage young attorneys
to volunteer, and coordinating a public interest issue of the Louisiana Bar Journal. Efforts have
focused on a pro bono campaign to encourage new and/or unemployed attorneys to do volunteer
work; these efforts include: development of template power points presentations which local
programs can use to conduct CLE Programs on pro bono, solicitation of judicial support of pro
bono by the Louisiana Supreme Court and continuing to encourage law firm involvement through
development of model pro bono policies.

In an effort to increase pro bono work, attorneys can now gain CLE credit for “uncompensated pro
bono legal representation to an indigent or near-indigent client or clients”. Under an order signed
by Chief Justice Bernette Johnson, attorneys can earn one hour of CLE credit for every five hours
of pro bono representation, up to a maximum of three hours of CLE credit per year. Louisiana
Appleseed volunteer attorneys worked on this project which has made effective by Louisiana
Supreme Court order on May 1, 2015.

Voluntary Pro Bono Reporting Mechanism

The Access to Justice Committee annually collects statistics voluntarily reported by Louisiana
State Bar Association members in conjunction with submission of their annual fee statements
through the “Voluntary Pro Bono Reporting” form. Each year, thousands of volunteer hours of
legal services to poor people go unreported by attorneys who think it doesn’t matter or because
they think it is self-aggrandizement to report. The ATJ Department collects this information for
two very important reasons. The first is to obtain a more accurate picture of the amount of good
work Louisiana attorneys are doing in their communities. The second is to place a monetary value
on the amount of pro bono legal work provided by Louisiana attorneys each year. Often potential
funders ask how private attorneys are assisting the poor in Louisiana, through collection of this
valuable data, the LSBA ATJ Department and civil legal aid programs can provide a definitive
answer – in 2018, attorneys provided approximately 100,000 hours of pro bono legal advice when
valued at $150/hour amounts to $15 million worth of pro bono legal assistance. The online
“Voluntary Pro Bono Reporting Form” can be found at:
www.lsba.org/ATJ/ProBonoVoluntaryReporting.aspx.

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