The Thirsty Horse

By Sylvia Mayer, Partner at Weil, Gotshal & Manges

February 12, 2012 – “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.” So true and, yet, so frustrating. And I’m not just talking about horses.

This idiom rings true in so many contexts, including pro bono coordination. Just as you cannot force a horse to drink, you cannot force an attorney to provide pro bono legal services. So, what is a pro bono coordinator to do?

The short answer is get creative. A more thoughtful answer leads to the same conclusion – get creative – but includes practical suggestions too.

I have served as the Partner Pro Bono Coordinator for our office and head of our office Pro Bono Committee for over six years, which only tells you that I’ve spent a lot of time staring at my reflection in the full trough of pro bono with nary a horse in sight to drink it. Seriously, I don’t mean to paint such a bleak picture. The reality is that most attorneys want to participate in pro bono and many of them do so with little to no prodding.

Nonetheless, some require prodding, hand holding, forceful reminders and, often, creativity. There is no “one size fits all” solution. Instead, you have to craft the solution for the specific problem at hand. Below are some practical tips based on my experience.

1. Don’t Leave Home Without Your Toolbox: I am a partner in our Business Finance & Restructuring Department, which means that I spend most of my time working with distressed businesses or their stakeholders. In addition, I have been working closely with financial institutions on resolution planning as required under the newly enacted Dodd-Frank Act. What does this have to do with pro bono? A lot. Here is a list of some of the tools that I apply to my billable clients, pro bono clients and pro bono management:

• Calm Leadership in a Crisis. No one can think clearly if they are scared, angry or defensive. Take a deep breath and order your thoughts. I practice this daily with my Dodd-Frank work. The volume and breadth of changes are overwhelming, which means that much of what must be done has never been done before. It is my job to calmly lead my clients through the intricate web. So too with pro bono. Many attorneys are scared to take on a pro bono matter because they feel unqualified. Pressure only makes them defensive, which often leads to anger. Stop, look and listen. Find a way to defuse their fear through training, mentorship, partnering or shadowing.

• Conscious Listening. Hear what they mean, not what they say, which may be more evident in their actions than their words. If the attorney keeps saying that he or she is committed to doing pro bono, but has done nothing, then there is a problem. Gently probe to find out what is really at issue. Discomfort with the subject matter? Time constraints? Perceived lack of support? Then address the issue.

• Fashion a Solution that Fits the Problem. Each chapter 11 case that I have worked on has been unique. Enron was very different from WorldCom, which was very different from SemGroup, which was equally different from General Growth Properties and so on. The same is true for pro bono coordination. The most successful pro bono experiences involve an issue in which the attorney is mentally and emotionally engaged. Find their passion and you can find their pro bono.

2. Don’t Go It Alone: In order to generate excitement around your pro bono program and to prevent it from being the same old, same old, you need others actively involved in pro bono coordination. In addition to having a Pro Bono Committee within our office, we have adopted two approaches that have really paid off.

• Pro Bono Liaison. Each committee member is assigned to a group of attorneys. Committee members (the liaison) meet with their assigned attorneys at the beginning of each calendar year to create a pro bono work plan tailored to that attorneys interests, including annual hours goals, project ideas and support needs. The liaisons then touch base periodically with their assignments to insure that their needs have been addressed and the work plan is on track.

• Ownership. Each committee member is asked to “own” a project or program. Perhaps they will be responsible for organizing participation in a legal aid clinic or they will conduct a pro bono-oriented CLE program. The options are limitless. Let your committee’s creativity surprise you.

3. Shine the Light: Yes, doing good feels good. But it also feels good to be acknowledged and appreciated. Pro bono is a great way to give attorneys visibility within your organization. Share success stories. Comment on their great work to the leaders of your organization. Make pro bono an important way for attorneys to shine.

4. Learn by Doing: In law school, you learn some law and some analytical skills, but the reality is that you only truly learn how to “be a lawyer” by being a lawyer. Pro bono is a fantastic opportunity to learn by doing. Want to take a deposition? Have direct client contact? Cross examine an expert? Argue to an appellate court? Lead a negotiation? You name it. Find out the skill someone wants to work on and then find a pro bono opportunity for them to do so. They will come back for more.

Hopefully, by now, your horse has drunk some water. If not, don’t give up. Many attorneys are reluctant to do pro bono, but once they’ve tried it, they are hooked. How do I know that? Because I was one. Change happens.

By: Sylvia Mayer, a partner in the Business Finance & Restructuring Department of Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP’s Houston office. Sylvia can be reached at sylvia.mayer@weil.com. If you need more ideas on how to energize your pro bono program, feel free to contact her discuss.

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