PROBONO Bulletin - Summer 2008 - (Page 21)

InTERvIEW “I also believe strongly in giving back. We have an obligation to give back, both time and money, and I tell this to anyone who will listen.” Q: other than your pro bono legal work, how do you spend your time giving back? I spend a lot of time raising money for various nonprofit organizations. I often think how lucky I am that our profession pays well. The average family of four in this country earns less than $50,000 per year. What we earn is immense in comparison, and I am grateful for that. I give back because it is the right thing to do. While we can attempt to institutionalize doing good, it really needs to come from within you. Some people will devote their time and legal expertise to pro bono, while others won’t. Q: What about the balance between billable and pro bono work? you have an extremely successful practice, yet do more than your share of pro bono work and lead a very full life beyond your work. How do you do it? It’s difficult to explain. Inevitably, if you want something done, ask the busiest person. It seems it is always the busiest people that do the most pro bono. I guess it comes down to people’s beliefs and what they consider doing the right thing involves. To me, doing the right thing is talking the talk and walking the walk, so it would be hypocritical for me to tell people to do pro bono work and then leave it for them to do. Plain and simple, having such a balance is the right thing to do. Q: yet not everyone is quite as altruistic. Do you worry about new lawyers and the business of the law? Doing the right thing for the wrong reason is still the right thing. If people do pro bono because they are required to, so be it. It’s unfortunate that many lawyers look at pro bono as a requirement rather than a moral obligation. Obviously it would be best if it came from within. Q: you were recently given the Community Partnership Award from Health Care for the Homeless. What pro bono work did you provide them? It was very kind of them to give me such an honor, because the work involved is what I consider run-of-themill pro bono work. A woman had died and left a homemade will where she conveyed her assets to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and to Health Care for the Homeless. The woman’s brother contested the will. The matter became quite contentious when the brother threw in just about any claim he could to get the money. After several months of negotiations, we were able to hammer out a settlement. The brother got a piece of the estate while both charities received a bulk of the money bequeathed to them. The client and I were extremely pleased with the settlement. Q: How else does pro bono work benefit you? Pro bono serves a multitude of purposes beyond the obvious of doing good. My pro bono work has afforded me many networking opportunities and has helped me bring in billable work. As I said, even if you get into pro bono for the “wrong” reasons, it is still the right thing to do. But doing pro bono becomes habitual, becomes the natural thing to do. With some luck, the work will capture your heart. SUMMER 2008 | 21

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of PROBONO Bulletin - Summer 2008

PROBONO Bulletin - Summer 2008 Contents A Firm Response to a Natural Disaster Protecting Our Electorate National News An Interview with Sandy Gohn Mapping Impact FourThought Signature Project Update New Perimeter Launches Addis Ababa Law School Project Awards and Recognition What Our Clients Say About Us

PROBONO Bulletin - Summer 2008

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