????No one tracks the overall volunteer attorney hours nationwide, but a recent study by the Pro Bono Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit, found that the average number of pro bono hours per attorney at big firms, each of which has at least 50 lawyers, sank by 8.6% last year compared to 2009. To be sure, 2009 was the most active year recorded in the program's nearly two-decade history.
????The findings mirror a study released last summer by The American Lawyer, which reported an 8% decline in the average pro bono hours for attorneys at the top 200 U.S. law firms.
????Law firms are lagging in donating legal help because "they are anxious, and they don't staff up quickly to meet the increase in client demand when the economy begins to improve," says Esther Lardent, chief executive of the Pro Bono Institute. "Much of the pro bono work is done by younger lawyers, but when they are in short supply, paid work is the priority."
????Currently, law firms are racing to retain, or win, paying clients, and the largest firms especially are scrambling to adjust to a new world where restive corporate clients are no longer as willing to automatically pay the sky-high hourly rates that are the bedrock of most law firms' finances.
????Still, pro bono work gives staff attorneys a chance to handle challenging cases, gain trial experience, and pat themselves on the back for doing good while still earning handsome wages.
????The large firms -- which self-report -- surveyed by the Pro Bono Institute pledged to contribute between 3% and 5% of their billable hours annually to pro bono work. That amounts to between 60 hours and 100 hours per staff attorney.
????But The American Lawyer survey found that some major law firms like Latham & Watkins registered notable declines in donated hours. The Los Angeles-based firm reported 47,000 fewer hours, a 30% drop in donated hours -- even as the overall number of firm lawyers increased by 10%.
????Other legal powerhouses like Cravath, Swaine & Moore in New York added substantially to their pro bono annual totals, while other firms stayed steady. But as fewer donated hours stack up against an overloaded court system, at least half of those in legal need will not receive services, says Jim Sandman, head of the non-profit Legal Services Corp., whose hundreds of offices across the country are assisted by volunteer or discounted services provided by private lawyers.
