FOR YOUR PRACTICE | PRO BONO
How to Make Pro Bono Work Cool Again in a Post-COVID Era BY BECCA ODELIUS, ESQ.
Maryland is one of 10 states that requires licensed attorneys to report their annual pro bono hours,1 yet there remains the urgent need to close the “‘Justice Gap,’ the difference between the civil legal needs of impoverished Americans and the resources available to meet those needs.”2 Recent “[s]tudies have shown that more than 70% of low-income American households experience at least one civil legal dispute in a given year.”3 In its latest available report, the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) shows nearly 40% of lawyers licensed to practice in Maryland provided some pro bono services across the state in the 2023 fiscal year.4 However, the Justice Gap is still widening.5 Furthermore, the “COVID-19 pandemic has deepened this crisis of justice.”6 Convincing Maryland attorneys that they have a moral obligation to provide pro bono services is not the answer to closing the Justice Gap.7 Instead, there needs to be a way to make pro bono work the cool thing to do. THE HISTORY OF PRO BONO WORK IN MARYLAND Organized pro bono work began in Maryland in 1911 with the establishment of the Maryland Legal Aid Bureau (LAB).8 LAB served the city of Baltimore until the addition of federal funds eventually allowed the organization to expand into other Maryland counties.9 In 1969, Piper and Marbury, a Baltimore-based law firm, “became one of the first private law firms in the nation to open a branch office devoted exclusively to providing high-quality legal services to low-income persons.”10 The
firm eventually closed that office but helped establish “the Legal Services Clinic at the University of Maryland School of Law in 1976.”11
1
Pro Bono Reporting, A.B.A., https://www.americanbar.org/groups/probono_public_service/policy/arguments/ (last updated May 23, 2024). California will require mandatory pro bono reporting starting in 2026. Id. See also Md. Code Ann., Md. Rules § 19-503 (West 2023). 2 David W. Lannetti & Jennifer L. Eaton, Sparking a Movement: A Coordinated, Bottom-Up Approach to Increase Voluntary Pro Bono Service and Mend the Justice Gap, 25 Rich. Pub. Int. L. Rev. 1, 2 (2022). 3 Id. at 16. 4 Administrative Office of the Courts, Current Status of Pro Bono Service Among Maryland Lawyers 1 (Oct. 2024) [hereinafter AOC]. 5 See Lannetti & Eaton, supra note 2, at 2. 6 Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh’s COVID-19 Access to Justice Task Force, Confronting the COVID-19 Access to Justice Crisis 6 (Jan. 2021) [hereinafter Task Force]. 7 See Lannetti & Eaton, supra note 2, at 3. 8 Robert J. Rhudy, Maryland Legal Services Corporation: Promoting Equal Access to Justice, 7 Md. L.J. Race, Relig., Gender & Class 267, 268 (2007)., 9 Id. at 269 (explaining federal funding began in 1966 with multiple locations in other counties by 1971). 10 Id. at 271. 11
Id.
MARYLAND BAR JOURNAL | VOLUME 7 ISSUE 2
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