Some of the most personally rewarding things we do involve “being good for nothing” — that is, helping someone without any expectation of payback. Many times that involves volunteer efforts that use skills or knowledge outside the scope of our normal work, e.g. work for Habitat for Humanity, the Boys and Girls Club or the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure.

Sometimes we are able to help others using litigation support skills and knowledge by becoming involved in pro bono work. The Wikipedia entry for pro bono states:

Pro bono publico (usually shortened to pro bono) is a phrase derived from Latin meaning "for the public good". The term is generally used to describe professional work undertaken voluntarily and without payment as a public service. It is common in the legal profession and is increasingly seen in marketing, technology, and strategy consulting firms. Pro bono service, unlike traditional volunteerism, uses the specific skills of professionals to provide services to those who are unable to afford them.

In the legal profession, pro bono work typically involves providing legal representation to people who could not otherwise afford it including indigent rights, landlord/tenant, death penalty appeals or environmental issues. The previously published ALSP Update article Pro Bono Litigation Support as a Marketing Tool detailed one such effort involving a law suit seeking health benefits for 650,000 underserved children in Tennessee.

While the direct recipients of pro bono legal work will seldom be in a position to pay volunteers, there can still be a significant return on individual time spent working on pro bono work. In addition to being able to feel good from doing good, some of the other benefits at an individual level include:

• Personal Networking. Volunteering for pro bono work is an excellent way to extend your personal network — even in the days of Monster.com, most jobs are located through people we know. Many large firms have formal pro bono coordinators and volunteering within the firm can provide a way to make personal connections with lawyers and others with whom you do not have regular contact. There are also many pro bono opportunities independent of what your employer may be doing. Either way, working with others who share a common passion can be a great bonding experience.
• Skill Development. Some projects may give you a chance to spread your wings a bit and develop skills and knowledge in areas that are a bit beyond your normal job responsibilities, e.g. installing networks, implementing document assembly programs, building Web sites or SharePoint sites.

How to Get Involved
If you’re interested in performing pro bono work, the best place to start may be within your current organization. Your employer may have a program where you could get paid for all or a good part of your pro bono work. If your employer doesn’t have such a program, contact your local bar association to see what pro bono projects are active in your area. If you’re a non-lawyer, be prepared to explain how you’d like to help leverage the time being spent by the pro bono lawyers by the use of technology.

Check with Pro Bono Net, a national nonprofit dedicated to increasing access to justice through increased volunteer lawyer participation and innovative use of technology, for ideas on how your skills could be put to use. For example, there’s a great story on ProBono.net that describes a pro bono effort in Texas to upgrade the technology used at legal aid programs in the state, “Texas Collaboration Provides Major Boost for Legal Aid Technology.” It details the workings of the Texas Access to Justice Commission’s Technology Committee comprised mainly of the chief information and technology officers of major firms. The committee assessed the current technology within 37 legal aid offices around the state and made recommendations on how programs could use technology in their day-to-day work.

Members of the ATJ Technology Committee included:

• C. Lynn McGuire, chief information officer, Andrews Kurth LLP (Houston)
• J. Mark Hendrick, director of information technology, Baker Botts, LLP (Houston)
• C. Kirk Scruggs, director of information systems, Bracewell & Guiliani LLP (Houston)
• Scott Preston, chief technology officer, Fulbright & Jaworski LLP (Houston)
• Dennis Van Metre, chief technology officer at Vinson & Elkins (Houston)

Even if you are not able to serve directly on such committees, remember that your firm’s pro bono coordinator will know key people at leading legal aid and public interest organizations in your community. Getting to know your pro bono coordinator brings you one degree of connection closer to them.

Those of you who are active in ALSP chapters might consider starting a pro bono committee to work with local bar association pro bono groups.