Pro Bono Strengthens Lawyers and Law Firms

scalesWe spend a lot of time reading, thinking, talking, and writing about why lawyers should do pro bono work. In case you need additional reasons, check out this recent article that offers some adaptable tips and reminders:

  • Instilling values.  A law firm’s pro bono practice embodies its core values and demonstrates a commitment to access to justice.
  • Recruitment and retention. Pro bono is a must to attract and retain legal talent – especially among millennials. Fifty-nine percent of millennials gravitate toward employers with organized corporate social responsibility programs. Your pro bono program could be a decisive factor in attracting recruits and retaining lateral hires who are considering multiple job offers, encouraging them to remain loyal to your firm throughout their careers.
  • Teambuilding. Pro bono can facilitate new ways of working together, breaking down silos and barriers that seniority, office location, and practice group divides can create.
  • Higher aspirations. Pro bono can be about more than any one matter or representation.  A “pro bono mindset” is about being of service, helping others, and answering the highest calling of our noble profession. It’s about understanding and relating to a diverse group of people. “It’s about offering a helping hand, or a word of encouragement.”

For law firms, well-structured pro bono programs not only significantly benefit clients and communities but may also contribute to profitability, capacity for transformational change, and lawyer engagement and satisfaction. With the corporate community increasingly acknowledging the importance of purpose, it is yet another reason for firm leaders to prioritize their pro bono programs and embed a culture of pro bono throughout the firm.

Leave a comment and tell us about the impact that pro bono is having at your firm.

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