Corporate Counsel
August 27, 2014
“The American Bar Association House of Delegates adopted a resolution this month asking appellate courts around the country to allow in-house counsel to provide pro bono services in the jurisdiction where they work, whether or not they are licensed in that area, according to Terry Carter, a senior writer at the ABA Journal.
The proposed rule says the lawyers would already be authorized to practice law while in the exclusive employment of an organization, despite not being licensed in the specific jurisdiction, subject to applicable rules and professional conduct. It would simply extend that authorization to pro bono work.
Carter explains this practice is already in place in 31 jurisdictions, and this resolution is simply to encourage the other 19 to adopt it. He says it was sponsored by the ABA’s Young Lawyer Division and the Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service. An ABA study published in 2013 found U.S. lawyers were aware of pro bono as a professional responsibility and committed to volunteering their legal services when possible. Sixty-eight percent of respondents said they performed some form of pro bono service within the year they were surveyed.”