Pro Bono Legal Work: The disconnect between saying you’ll do it and doing it

Pro bono is a significant component of one of the many professional obligations a lawyer has to fulfil for the public good. It is evident that this is acknowledged by not only those who practice law, but those who are training to be a lawyer and by the professional bodies. Despite this acknowledgement there is a clear disconnect between the importance placed on delivering pro bono services and the actual delivery of the same. There have been previous suggestions that in order to increase the commitment to pro bono work, there is a need to mandate its delivery. However, the notion of mandatory pro bono work has always been dismissed and therefore it is now appropriate to consider other ways in which a commitment could be encouraged and adopted. This paper will consider the reasons why the profession, at all stages, considers pro bono to be such an important social function and whether such motivations are sufficient to sustain a commitment throughout a lawyer’s career. Such considerations will be made from the perspective of a solicitor in England and Wales, as this is connected to the author’s own pro bono experience. The paper will also consider why there is a disconnect, and what the rationale is for non-participation in pro bono work once in practice. It will consider the key barriers to full participation and recommend action that ought to be taken in order to develop a pro bono culture and therefore commitment.

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13. Lawyers’ social responsibilities

Legal Ethics ◽

10.1093/he/9780198788928.003.0013 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Jonathan Herring

Keyword(s):

Public Good ◽

Criminal Law ◽

Justice System ◽

The Public ◽

Social Responsibilities ◽

Pro Bono ◽

Greater Good ◽

Professional Codes

This chapter examines the responsibilities that lawyers have to society and the greater good. While the professional codes tend to focus on duties to clients, there are some limited duties to the public good. These are found in the duties under the criminal law, and the broader duty to the court and justice system. Lawyers also recognise an obligation to the greater good by means of their pro bono work. However, this is not undertaken by every lawyer.

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AN ASSESSMENT OF THE FRAMEWORK FOR BUILDING A PRO BONO CULTURE AMONG LEGAL PRACTITIONERS IN NIGERIA

Scholarly Journal of Advanced Legal Research ◽

10.46654/sjalr.1540 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 13-26

Author(s):

Ifeanyi Nnadi Henry, Esq. ◽

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Keyword(s):

Public Good ◽

Professional Services ◽

Equal Access ◽

Access To Justice ◽

Legal Services ◽

The Public ◽

The Poor ◽

Pro Bono ◽

Administrative Framework

Pro bono legal services are professional services rendered by lawyers or other legal experts1 to indigent and disadvantaged litigants in the society for the public good id est, in order to promote a just and equitable society. It is a subset of the principle of equal access to justice and is based on the assumption that the poor requires but cannot access justice because they lack the financial means. Using the doctrinal approach, this discourse assesses the existing legal and administrative framework for pro bono engagement by lawyers in Nigeria with a view to identifying areas of improvement. Having identified possible areas of improvement, recommendations are proffered on legislative and administrative measures towards improving the level of engagement in pro bono legal services by legal practitioners in the country.

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Sacred Laws and Sacred Republics

As If God Existed ◽

10.23943/princeton/9780691142357.003.0006 ◽

2012 ◽

Author(s):

Maurizio Viroli

Keyword(s):

Public Good ◽

The Public ◽

Divine Wisdom ◽

Religious System ◽

Decent Life ◽

Will To Live ◽

The Will ◽

The Many ◽

Sacred Laws

This chapter considers theories on sacred laws and republics. For civic humanists, laws are sacred as long as they reflect divine wisdom, and because their object is not just whatever is good but rather the divine good, which is the public good. In order to ignite and sustain loyalty within a citizenry toward laws and statutes, a republic must foster its religious system with great diligence. Furthermore, a republic must educate its citizenry to love justice and the fatherland, through both the teaching imparted by good and revered priests, and ceremonies that strike and move the multitudes' sentiments. Palmieri, for instance, believes that religion instills a sense of duty and reinforces within men's souls the will to live in accordance with justice. He emphasizes that God loves the decent life and wants to preserve it, and therefore rewards men involved in the excellent deeds of “extirpating tyrants for the good of the many” as well as “establishing good and peaceful governments.”

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Voting Power and the Public Good Index: Some Thoughts

10.31235/osf.io/rtgxv ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Matthias Weber

Keyword(s):

Public Good ◽

Power Indices ◽

Voting Power ◽

The Public ◽

Good Index ◽

Public Good Index ◽

The Many

Among the many voting power indices, the public good index (PGI) is one of the less well-known ones. Holler (2018) posits some hypotheses about why this is the case. In response, I share a few thoughts here on voting power in general and about the popularity of the PGI.

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Pro Bono Publico: Institutional Leadership and the Public Good

Higher Ground ◽

10.1515/9780822387770-006 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 84-97

Keyword(s):

Public Good ◽

The Public ◽

Institutional Leadership ◽

Pro Bono

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Adam Smith and the Theory of Punishment

Journal of Scottish Philosophy ◽

10.3366/jsp.2012.0028 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

pp. 69-89 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Richard Stalley

Keyword(s):

Public Good ◽

Legal Theory ◽

Adam Smith ◽

Moral Justification ◽

Impartial Spectator ◽

The Public ◽

The Third ◽

Justification Of Punishment ◽

The Many

A distinctive theory of punishment plays a central role in Smith's moral and legal theory. According to this theory, we regard the punishment of a crime as deserved only to the extent that an impartial spectator would go along with the actual or supposed resentment of the victim. The first part of this paper argues that Smith's theory deserves serious consideration and relates it to other theories such as utilitarianism and more orthodox forms of retributivism. The second part considers the objection that, because Smith's theory implies that punishment is justified only when there is some person or persons who is the victim of the crime, it cannot explain the many cases where punishment is imposed purely for the public good. It is argued that Smith's theory could be extended to cover such cases. The third part defends Smith's theory against the objection that, because it relies on our natural feelings, it cannot provide an adequate moral justification of punishment.

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