Pro bono refers to legal work done voluntarily and without charge for the public good. Many attorneys provide pro bono legal services every year in the United States, with a recommended minimum of 50 hours per year. Attorneys may also initiate cases without charging a client but receive payment later. Legal aid programs are an example of pro bono work, with strict income requirements and limited case types. The American Bar Association maintains a list of legal organizations that provide pro bono assistance. Some organizations have waiting lists or prioritize crisis situations.
In law, the term pro bono refers to legal work done voluntarily and without charge. A lawyer can deal with a lawsuit for free for a good cause. For example, if an individual has a valid case, but lacks the money to maintain a lawyer, a lawyer may agree to take the case because he believes in the person’s cause. The phrase comes from the Latin term pro bono publico, which means for the public good. When a lawyer works pro bono, he is said to be working for the public good.
In the United States, many attorneys provide pro bono legal services every year. The American Bar Association’s ethics rules recommend that attorneys provide a minimum of 50 hours of legal volunteer work per year. Conversely, some state bar associations recommend less. City bar associations may have recommendations similar to those offered by the American Bar Association, or they may choose to recommend a different amount of free work.
Sometimes attorneys may initiate cases without charging a client, but receive payment for their services later. This can happen in cases involving large cash payments. At the end of such a case, the judge may encourage the winning plaintiff to pay his attorney.
An example of a pro bono situation is a government funded legal aid program. Lawyers can contribute a certain number of hours to these programs, providing legal aid and advice to those in need. Typically, such legal programs have strict income requirements, taking on clients who have lower incomes. They often agree to help with certain types of cases, such as family law, landlord law, and consumer law.
The American Bar Association maintains a list of legal organizations that provide pro bono assistance in the United States. You can also find such lawyers and legal organizations through the Internet and local bar associations. It is worth noting that some organizations are inundated with legal aid requests on a regular basis. Therefore, they create waiting lists for people with certain types of cases or choose to prioritize cases, handling crisis situations first.
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