VIDEO: Thinking Practically About Pro Bono Risk Management

On Tuesday, The PBEye posted a video about risk management at law firms and legal departments in the context of Maples v. Thomas.  In Maples, the U.S. Supreme Court is considering whether a defendant is prohibited from arguing the unconstitutionality of his death sentence in federal habeas proceedings, because – through no fault of his own – his lawyers missed a filing deadline in the Alabama state court.

In Tuesday’s video, our own Reena Glazer, assistant director of the Law Firm Pro Bono Project, discussed a few best practices regarding the duty to supervise subordinate lawyers and non-attorneys in pro bono matters and the treatment of pro bono matters when the attorney primarily responsible for the matter leaves the firm/department. Today we thought we’d post a follow-up with a few more focused tips for leaders in law firms and legal departments looking to take a proactive approach to risk management with regard to their pro bono practices.  Prudent policies and practices, however, should not be mistaken for a license to overreact or otherwise retrench from pro bono work.

What pro bono quality control and risk management issues keep you up at night and what steps have you taken to address them?  Let us know in the comments section or shoot us an e-mail.

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