Local Bar Associations Provide Opportunities for Pro Bono Service

Conference of Local Bar Associations by Gifford Ray Hampshire , Chair Local Bar Associations Provide Opportunities for Pro Bono Service

ON APRIL 27, 2010 , the Virginia Bar the poverty population per Virginia ation to materials about proven, suc - Association hosted the First Chief legal aid attorney is 5,212. The studies cessful pro bono programs that can be Justice’s Pro Bono Summit. This sum - also show that Federal Legal Services tailored to your community. mit, which was attended by many Corporation funding has declined The subject of resources and pro - lawyers from around the common - steadily since the early 1980s. Interest grams for local bar associations is but wealth, was the result of the Chief on Lawyers’ Trust Accounts revenue (a one of the topics that will be addressed Justice’s call to the bar to improve the primary source of funding for legal at an upcoming Bar Leaders Institute provision of pro bono services to the aid) has declined from a high of $4.6 sponsored by the CLBA. Other topics public. The program featured reports million in 2007 to a projected $600,000 include how to lead your bar associa - about pro bono efforts in the state. for the fiscal ending June 30, 2010. tion during a bad economy, communi - Reports were given by legal aid officers Only about 3 percent of Virginia attor - cating with members of the bar and lawyers in private practice from neys participated in legal-aid-related through social media, involving judges Richmond, Roanoke/Shenandoah pro bono work in fiscal 2009, accord - in the bar, and the basics of local bar Valley, Southwest, Hampton Roads, ing to the studies. Through their pro leadership. The keynote speaker will be Danville, and Northern and Central bono programs, local bar associations Judge G. Steven Agee of the Fourth Virginia. The reports highlighted the provide an important alternative to U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. critical role local bar associations play legal aid for addressing the great unmet Continuing legal education credit will in facilitating pro bono services. need for pro bono assistance to be offered. The Bar Leaders Institute It was noted during the summit Virginia’s poor. will be on October 22, 2010, at the that busy lawyers usually just need to Providing legal services to the Roanoke Higher Education Center. be asked to provide pro bono service. poor is not just a matter of political Details will be posted at www.vsb.org. Local bar associations ask lawyers to correctness. By providing a mechanism Mark your calendars. I look forward to provide pro bono service, and match for pro bono service, local bar associa - seeing you there. talented lawyers with the needs of tions make substantial contributions to This is my last article as chair of clients who cannot afford to pay. Local the fair administration of justice. The the conference. It has been a good and bar associations provide structure for studies presented at the summit also productive year for the CLBA. I have pro bono projects in the areas of showed what we all know empirically: enjoyed my service immensely. As of divorce, wills, and protective orders. that a poor litigant is more than twice June 18, your new chair is Nancy M. The clients deserve access to the judi - as likely to lose a case if he or she is not Reed. Nancy has served well on the cial system. Local bar associations pro - represented. Local bar association pro CLBA Executive Committee for many vide a means for Virginia lawyers to bono programs, therefore, better the years and has the experience and skills fulfill their ethical obligation under odds for poor litigants. In so doing, the to do a fantastic job. Rules of Professional Conduct 6.1(a) to local bar association programs also provide at least 2 percent per year of promote confidence that Virginia’s Endnote: their time for pro bono work. judicial system serves the poor and 1 J.E. Whitfield, Executive Director, There is a critical need for pro wealthy alike. Blue Ridge Legal Services, Materials bono service that local bar associations If your local bar association has Documenting the Compelling Need for Increased Pro Bono Assistance in are instrumental in filling. According to implemented pro bono programs, I Virginia . (VBA Pro Bono Summit 1 urge you to get involved. If your local studies presented at the summit , there 2010) is a consistent unmet need for legal ser - bar association has not implemented vices for approximately 80 percent of pro bono programs, please consider low-income Virginians. The studies developing them. The Conference of further show that, while the overall Local Bar Associations (CLBA) can population per Virginia attorney is 283, help. It can direct your local bar associ -