Free Legal Services - Attracting Legal Talent for Public Involvement Groups
- Troutman Sanders LLP, Atlanta, Georgia (United States)
This paper reviews the public service responsibilities of lawyers, and how they can fulfill the annual goal of performing pro bono services by serving certain public involvement groups, including organization involved in Constitutional issues and environmental protection matters. Public involvement groups should consider their needs for legal services and consider soliciting lawyers to serve on their boards or to volunteer legal services which will assist those lawyers in fulfilling their professional obligations under Rules of Professional Conduct. The group should identify specific activities and tasks that require the skills and training of a lawyer, including corporate governance issues; conflict-of-interest questions; the statutory construction of laws, regulations and ordinances; or analysis of potential liability. The addition of a lawyer to advisory boards for governmental agencies and for non-profit boards of charitable, religious, civic, community, environmental and educational organizations may provide those boards with knowledge, analytical approaches and insights that complement the abilities of other board members. Rules of Professional Conduct applicable to lawyers include admonitions for lawyers to provide 'Public Service'. Representative of many rules, the American Bar Association Model Rule 6.1, entitled 'Voluntary Pro Bono Publico Service' addresses every lawyer's professional responsibility to provide legal services to those 'unable to pay'. This Model Rule exhorts each lawyer to provide fifty (50) hours of legal services without fee or expectation of fee to persons of limited means or charitable, religious or civic, community, governmental and educational organizations or to individuals, groups or organizations seeking 'to secure or protect civil rights, civil liberties, or public rights, or charitable, religious, civic, community, governmental and educational organizations in matters in furtherance of their purposes, where the payment of standard legal fees would significantly deplete the organisation's economic resources'. This Public Service rule sets forth a goal that lawyers should aspire to meet; the rule is without disciplinary penalties for its violation. (authors)
- Research Organization:
- WM Symposia, 1628 E. Southern Avenue, Suite 9 - 332, Tempe, AZ 85282 (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 21290788
- Report Number(s):
- INIS-US-09-WM-07173; TRN: US10V0113038199
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: WM'07: 2007 Waste Management Symposium - Global Accomplishments in Environmental and Radioactive Waste Management: Education and Opportunity for the Next Generation of Waste Management Professionals, Tucson, AZ (United States), 25 Feb - 1 Mar 2007; Other Information: Country of input: France
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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