Rule 6.1. Pro Bono Publico Service
Effective January 1, 2010
A lawyer should render public interest legal service. A lawyer may discharge this responsibility by providing professional services at no fee or a reduced fee to persons of limited means or to public service or charitable groups or organizations, by service in activities for improving the law, the legal system or the legal profession, and by financial support for organizations that provide legal services to persons of limited means.
Comment
[1] The American Bar Association House of Delegates has formally acknowledged “the basic responsibility of each lawyer engaged in the practice of law to provide public interest legal services” without fee, or at a substantially reduced fee, in one or more of the following areas: poverty law, civil rights law, public rights law, charitable organization representation and the administration of justice. The Indiana State Bar Association's House of Delegates has declared that “all Indiana lawyers have an ethical and a social obligation to provide uncompensated legal assistance to poor persons” and adopted an aspirational goal of fifty hours a year, or an equivalent financial contribution, for each member of the bar.
For purposes of this paragraph:
(a) Poverty law means legal representation of a client who does not have the financial resources to compensate counsel.
(b) Civil rights (including civil liberties) law means legal representation involving a right of an individual that society has a special interest in protecting.
(c) Public rights law means legal representation involving an important right belonging to a significant segment of the public.
(d) Charitable organization representation means legal service to or representation of charitable, religious, civic, governmental and educational institutions in matters in furtherance of the organization’s purpose, where the payment of customary legal fees would significantly deplete the organization’s economic resources or where it would be inappropriate.
(e) Administration of justice means activity, whether under bar association auspices or otherwise, which is designed to increase the availability of legal representation, or otherwise improve the administration of justice. This may include increasing the availability of legal resources to individuals or groups, improving the judicial system, or reforming legal institutions that significantly affect the lives of disadvantaged individuals and groups.
[2] The rights and responsibilities of individuals and organizations in the United States are increasingly defined in legal terms. As a consequence, legal assistance in coping with the web of statutes, rules and regulations is imperative for persons of modest and limited means, as well as for the relatively well-to-do.
[3] The basic responsibility for providing legal services for those unable to pay ultimately rests upon the individual lawyer, and personal involvement in the problems of the disadvantaged can be one of the most rewarding experiences in the life of a lawyer. Every lawyer, regardless of professional prominence or professional workload, should find time to participate in or otherwise support the provision of legal services to the disadvantaged. The provision of free legal services to those unable to pay reasonable fees continues to be an obligation of each lawyer as well as the profession generally, but the efforts of individual lawyers are often not enough to meet the need. Thus, it has been necessary for the profession and government to institute additional programs to provide legal services. Accordingly, legal aid offices, lawyer referral services and other related programs have been developed, and others will be developed by the profession and government. Every lawyer should support all proper efforts to meet this need for legal services.
[4] Typically, to fulfill the aspirational goals in Comment 1, legal services should be performed without the expectation of compensation. If, during the course of representation, a paying client is no longer able to afford a lawyer’s legal services, and the lawyer continues to represent the client at no charge, any work performed with the knowledge and intent of no compensation may be considered pro bono legal service.
The award of attorney’s fees in a case originally accepted as pro bono does not disqualify such services from fulfilling the foregoing aspirational goals. However, lawyers who receive attorney’s fees in pro bono cases are strongly encouraged to contribute an appropriate portion of such fees to organizations or projects that benefit persons of limited means, or that promote access to justice for persons of limited means.
[5] Typically, the following would not fulfill the aspirational goals in Comment 1:
(a) Legal services written off as bad debts.
(b) Legal services performed for family members.
(c) Legal services performed for political organizations for election purposes.
(d) Activities that do not involve the provision of legal services, such as serving on the board of a charitable organization.