This collection of original essays by leading and emerging scholars in the field examines the history, conditions, organization, and strategies of pro bono lawyering. Private Lawyers and the Public Interest: The Evolving Role of Pro Bono in the Legal Profession traces the rise and impact of the American Bar Association's campaign to hold lawyers accountable for a commitment to public service and to encourage public service within law schools. Combining empirical legal research with reflections by practitioners and theorists about the meaning and practice of pro bono legal work, this collection of essays interrogates the public service ideals that are inscribed within the legal profession and places these ideals within a broader social, economic, ideological, and normative context. Particular attention is paid to the factors that explain why lawyers engage in pro bono work and the ways in which their views of pro bono are mediated by the institutional context of their legal practice. The book also explores the concept of "public" in public service and compares pro bono as a means of delivering legal services with other mechanisms such as state funding. Collectively, these essays investigate the evolving role of pro bono in the legal profession and in law schools, the relationship between pro bono ideals and pro bono in practice, the way that pro bono is shaped by external forces beyond the individual practitioner, and the multi-faceted nature of legal professionalism as expressed through pro bono practice.
Private Lawyers and the Public Interest: The Evolving Role of Pro Bono in the Legal Profession explores timely questions about the role of pro bono in the legal profession, the relationship between pro bono ideals and pro bono in practice, and the opportunities and limitations of pro bono in expanding access to justice. The contributing writers explore theoretical, empirical, and practical questions regarding the role of pro bono and public service in the legal profession and in law schools. The research presented not only highlights the increase in pro bono efforts across the legal profession but critically examines the limitations of pro bono work, as well as the potential problems such work may pose to the ideal of achieving greater access to justice.
