Why Attorneys Should Want To Do Pro Pono

By Pamela St. John, AT&T Corporate Counsel

As attorneys, we understand we have a moral and professional obligation to provide legal services to those who cannot afford them. The State Bar of Texas expects it and the disciplinary rules mirror that expectation. But besides the moral and professional obligation, why should we want to fit pro bono into our busy schedules? There are a multitude of reasons.

We Serve the Communities in which we Work and Live. One of AT&T’s missions, as a communications company, is to be involved in and give back to the communities it serves. Pro Bono work provides this opportunity for AT&T attorneys. Legal Aid offices throughout Texas provide free legal services every year to thousands of people who can’t afford an attorney. The need for volunteer attorneys is overwhelming and attorneys who provide pro bono services can immediately and significantly impact the lives of people in their communities who need their services the most. Not only do AT&T attorneys represent indigent clients and volunteer time at legal intake clinics, our Dallas attorneys also routinely mentor Southern Methodist University law students through SMU law school’s Small Business Clinic. Pro Bono opportunities like these allow attorneys to give back to their communities in personal and meaningful ways.

Pro Bono Activities Allow Us to Develop New Skills. Ethics rules provide that financial contributions to organizations providing legal services to the poor are also considered as legal services to the poor. Several innovative attorneys in our Redmond, Washington office decided to make a financial contribution by turning “lemons into legal aid.” They set up a lemonade stand on the sidewalk in front of the office on a hot day in August and sold lemonade. In fact, they sold not only real lemonade but also “virtual” lemonade. Their request was simple: If you can’t make it to the real lemonade stand, please buy a virtual glass of lemonade to support the Campaign for Equal Justice (which supports 26 legal aid programs across Washington state). They emailed their friends and colleagues. They posted on Facebook. And their friends and colleagues said “yes.” All in all, the innovative AT&T attorneys raised nearly $10,000 over the last two years just by selling lemonade.

Pro Bono Gets us Out of Our Comfort Zone. In a Good Way. Two of AT&T’s regulatory attorneys – who don’t normally practice immigration law – stepped out of their comfort zone when they, along with one of our outside law firms, successfully obtained political asylum for an Ethiopian doctor specializing in childhood nutrition/malnutrition (in addition to being a medical professor at a teaching hospital). The doctor had been persecuted – and anticipated future persecution – because he refused to join the governing party and was an outspoken advocate for political reforms. He had been arrested, severely beaten and held in deplorable conditions on three separate occasions in 2001, 2005 and 2008. Fearing for his life, the doctor fled Ethiopia and ultimately entered the United States in late 2009 pursuant to a valid tourist visa. Thanks to attorneys who were not afraid to step out of their comfort zone, after an initial denial and subsequent appeal the Ethiopian doctor was ultimately granted asylum by an immigration court.

Because We Can. Fortunately, our General Counsel, Wayne Watts, not only supports our pro bono efforts, he actually encourages us to do pro bono. Wayne recognizes the importance of the pro bono legal services our attorneys provide. In doing pro bono, our training, skills and knowledge allow us to change lives for the better. Not every profession is so fortunate. With some guidance from Legal Aid attorneys and outside counsel we occasionally team with, we too can become the family law, consumer and immigration lawyers our communities need.

Pro Bono Allows us to Recommit to our Chosen Profession. Like many attorneys, at times I wonder how I can juggle the demands of a busy career while fulfilling my obligation to pro bono. But each and every time I interact with my pro bono clients, I am reminded: Whether I represent clients in family law matters, am retained to prepare a Will or simply listen to someone’s story at a legal intake clinic or through a call-an-attorney program, I am humbled by their gratitude. They are grateful that someone listens to them, that they are taken seriously and that someone is actually going to help them make a change in their lives. It renews my vigor to be the best attorney I can be, to zealously represent my clients – whether in-house or pro bono – because I actually have the ability to make a meaningful difference in someone else’s life.

So, you see, there are many reasons why we should want to do pro bono. But in the end, it simply is just the right thing to do.

Pamela St. John is a General Attorney at AT&T. She co-chairs the legal department’s national pro bono committee and received the legal department’s first national pro bono award. She lives in Dallas.

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