Pro Bono Publico

I have heard more than one lawyer say that if he or she had the chance to come back in another life, it would be as a summer associate. This year’s edition of law student summer camp is just kicking off at area law firms, and one thing is obvious – the classes are large. Selected at a time when the economy seemed poised to recover, summer associate classes at some large firms approach the one hundred mark. It will be a bit of a challenge during the normally quiet summer months for those firms to keep so many eager new recruits busy.

This situation makes the summer an opportune time to do pro bono work – and not just for summer associates. If you are an associate and have been thinking about taking a pro bono matter, when else would you have access to a handful of eager lawyers-to-be willing to assist you? I recently sent out an e-mail to our summer class requesting assistance with a pro bono matter and received nearly twenty responses. The associate who needed the assistance found himself in the enviable position of selecting two or three of the most experienced summers to help with the project.