Transcript Pro bono Trends and Developments for U.S. Law Firms and

How Washington Appleseed Engages Pro
Bono Attorneys in Addressing Systemic
Social Inequalities
Sue Donaldson, Esq.
Washington Appleseed Center for Law in the Public Interest
Seattle, Washington USA
June 20, 2008
• Thank you to Professor Walsh and to Director
General Noeline Blackwell for their leadership
• Thank you to Catherine Hickey of FLAC
• Acknowledging the Thomas Addis Emmett Fellows who have
worked with Washington Appleseed:
• 2006 Nicola White
• 2007 Claire McHugh
• 2008 Kelly Mackey
What / How / Why
• What we do at Washington Appleseed
• How we develop projects
• Why attorneys and firms are willing to
volunteer to help us
What We Do
• Washington Appleseed addresses issues of
social injustice on a systemic level.
• By using public education, pro bono legal work
and advocacy, community activism and policy
expertise, we work to address root causes and
produce practical solutions.
• Our projects range from issues concerning
health care, education, and economic security,
to juvenile justice, electoral reform, housing,
hunger, and more.
Appleseed Foundation (Founded 1993)
“Pro Bono’s New Frontier” (The American Lawyer)
• 16 Public Interest Justice Centers in U.S. and Mexico
• Focus on systemic reform and structural solutions
– Volunteers from legal, business, and academic professions
– Local centers set priorities through their boards of directors
– Program examples: health care, educational quality, financial access,
immigration, remittances, election reform
• National office and field staff provide policy expertise, some funding
• Executive Director Council promotes coordination and best practices
• Multiple offices handle “signature projects”
– Latham & Watkins – Appleseed election reform
– Several firms worked together on Katrina response analysis
• Foundations support and law firms handle projects for centers
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See www.appleseeds.net
How We Develop our Projects
By Subject Matter
Project Example:
“Helping Children of Girls in Detention”
Claire McHugh, 2007 Thomas Addis Emmett Fellow
How We Develop our Projects
By Replication of Other Center Projects
Project Example:
“Expanding Children’s Access to Dental
Care”
Nicola White, 2006 Thomas Addis Emmett Fellow
How We Develop our Projects
By Redeploying Transactional Legal
Tools on behalf of Underserved
Populations
Project Example:
“$30 Million USD Securitization for the
YWCA to Provide Housing”
How We Develop our Projects
By Theme
2008: Promoting economic selfsufficiency and opportunity for low
wage workers and their families
Current Projects Promoting “Economic self-sufficiency and opportunity for low wage workers and their
families” include:
Working Families Credit: Local and State Sales Tax Relief (Davis Wright Tremaine)
Asset Building Legal Issues (K & L Gates)
Garnishment of Exempt Funds (K & L Gates, and White & Case)
Monetization of Low-Income Weatherization (K & L Gates)
Improved Community and Economic Development Tools for the Central Area, Rainier Valley and
International Districts of Seattle (Heller Ehrman)
Housing Affordability (Heller Ehrman)
Affordable Housing Strategies for the Methow Valley (Attorney Volunteer Ryan Almstead)
YWCA Housing Securitization Project (Foster Pepper & Davis Wright Tremaine)
Work Supports Project (Senior Fellow Diana Stone)
Seattle-King County Asset Building Collaborative (Senior Fellow Diana Stone)
Health insurance coverage for children being raised by their grandparents (Perkins Coie)
Potential projects include:
Hunger issues being considered by Dorsey & Whitney
Child-care affordability issues being considered by Graham & Dunn
Banking / lending practices
Issues for low-income artists
Housing Affordability
How We Develop our Projects
By Individual Passion
Project Examples:
“ Housing Affordability through Land Trusts”
“Legal Rights of Workers with Multiple Sclerosis”
Why Attorneys and Firms Volunteer
with Washington Appleseed
Passion for Justice and Improving the
Lives of Others
Why Attorneys and Firms Volunteer
The American Bar Association supports pro bono through ABA Model Rule of
Professional Conduct 6.1 (Voluntary pro bono publico service) which provides
that lawyers should provide at least 50 hours of pro bono service annually by:
- Direct representation of the poor or organizations which serve the poor
without expectation of remuneration
- Additional service to groups seeking to secure or protect civil rights, civil
liberties or public rights, or charitable, religious, civic, community,
governmental and educational organizations
- Participation in activities for improving the law, the legal system or the legal
profession
See www.abaprobono.org and www.abanet.org/legalservices/probono/rule61.html
Why Attorneys and Firms Volunteer
Publicity and national recognition
The American Lawyer: Annual listing of top firms
• Profit-per-partner was the initial basis for ratings
• Associate satisfaction, diversity and pro bono added as
additional measures
• The “A” list of the top 20 firms nation-wide:
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Measures all of the above criteria in a single list
Pro bono score double-weighted
Allows firms that are not the most profitable to make the list
Top three firms had close to the highest pro bono scores
• Recognition through “A” list annual dinner and publicity
• List inspected carefully by members of the bar, students
• Lifetime achievement awards for public service
Why Attorneys and Firms Volunteer
Pro Bono Institute’s Law Firm Challenge (1996)
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Applies to law firms with more than 50 lawyers
3 or 5% of each firm’s total billable hours per year
Firm-wide commitment by all attorneys
Focus on legal services for:
• Persons of limited means
• Charitable, religious, civic, community, governmental and
educational organizations addressing the needs of persons of
limited means
– Regular monitoring and reporting
– 23 million hours of pro bono legal assistance estimated
to date
– 150 firms are signatories
– See www.probonoinst.org/challenge
Why Attorneys and Firms Volunteer
Corporate Pro Bono Challenge (2006)
– Co-sponsored by the Association of Corporate Counsel of
America (ACCA) and the Pro Bono Institute
– Helps develop culture of pro bono in corporate legal departments
– Simple, voluntary statement of commitment by general counsels
– Overall goals:
• Focus on improving the economic and social climate of communities
• Encourage at least one half of the legal staff to do pro bono
• Encourage outside firms used by companies to sign the Pro Bono
Institute’s Law Firm Challenge
– 68 signatories
Includes Accenture, AIG, Bank of America, Best Buy, Citigroup, CocaCola, Dell, GE, HP, Intel, Merck, Met Life, Microsoft, Pfizer, Sara
Lee, Shell, Starbucks, Washington Post
More information on our projects at our
website: www.waappleseed.org
• Questions?
• Acknowledgements:
– The Board of Directors, Washington Appleseed
– Betsy Cavendish, Executive Director, Appleseed Foundation
– Robert E. Herzstein, Esq. and Eric S. Koenig, Esq., Members,
Board of Directors, Appleseed Foundation
(Slides 5, 13-16 adapted from their January 2008 presentation in Mexico City.)
Thank you!