Berks Barrister Fall 2018 - 39

Closing Argument

Planning

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PRO BONO IS CALLING

y days are numbered. I will conclude a decade of
service as Berks County Bar Association's Executive
Director at the end of December.
It has been a rewarding ten years. I will miss the staff, helping
members in ways only a Bar-Tender can, as well as missing the
unscheduled visits of colleagues taking advantage of my open-door
policy. But it is time to move on. Change is good.
In looking back, one of my favorite aspects of the position
has been getting to know attorneys whose practice is in areas not
traveled by me during the first thirty years of my legal career. As
a PI and work comp attorney, my opposing counsels were usually
from out of the county. Outside the circle of my
friends, I did not know many local attorneys.
A case in point is Amy B. Good. I had no
clue the respected bankruptcy attorney in private
practice existed. Then one day in 2009, my first
year as executive director, she appears in my
office without an appointment following her pro
bono stint at MidPenn. Mind you, it was not to
complain about doing pro bono work but rather
to suggest, with convincing arguments, that the
Bar Association should help MidPenn replace its
antiquated computer equipment. A member of the
bar for less than four years at the time, facing an
attorney with more than thirty years of experience,
Amy was not the least bit intimidated.
I was president of MidPenn at that point and,
to say I was embarrassed is to put it lightly. She made quite an
impression-being the only private attorney who has ever plopped
down in my office advocating on behalf of legal services.
She caught me already feeling guilty over the Law Journal's
significantly increased revenue from sheriff sale advertising due to
the foreclosure crisis. Amy's convincing visit tipped the scales, and
we proceeded to add a line to our budget, making a contribution
to MidPenn over and above payment of the collected pro bono
opt-out fees.
Because of her devotion in providing pro bono representation,
she received the PBA Pro Bono Award in 2012. Then two years
later, she followed her passion, left private practice and became
manager of MidPenn's Reading office.
The unintimidated advocacy she displayed in my office, more
than nine years ago, has only intensified on behalf of the poor. It
has not gone unnoticed. She was recently named by the PBA as
the Pennsylvania Civil Legal Aid Attorney for the year. It is a
deserved honor; helping the poor is Amy's calling.
In partnership with MidPenn, our pro bono program helps

provide access to justice for those in need. Last year active pro
bono attorneys handled 168 cases, 194 adults and 169 children,
through MidPenn's office. The program also partners with Safe
Berks and Encore Berks to serve countless others. Other Pro
Bono Team members contributed over $80,000 to support legal
services. Around the state, our program is considered a model.
Most members of the Bar Association participate in the
program, like Amy had, without complaint, but a few drag their
feet, by being slow to confirm appointments, or make unreasonable
demands as to the type of case they will take (No, mergers and
acquisitions are not handled by MidPenn) or simply fail to
show up for their scheduled time. To her credit,
Amy will bend over backwards to accommodate
reasonable requests or find alternative ways to be of
service to MidPenn clients.
If a member remains recalcitrant, I send him
or her an invoice in the amount of the opt-out
fee. Enforcement of the professional obligation
to provide access to justice is not fun, but it is
necessary, if only to be fair to those who do give of
their time or money without complaint.
The need for pro bono representation continues
to be great. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court, by
an order issued earlier this year, implemented the
Emeritus Program, reducing the annual registration
fee and the number of required CLE credits with
the objective of encouraging attorneys already on
retired status to provide pro bono representation.
I have my doubts whether the program will really succeed
in meeting its objective. From what I have observed in the past,
attorneys of retirement age who want to practice law will continue
to do so at full throttle, long past retirement age. Those who have
chosen retired status, exit completely, leaving the practice of law to
others with no regrets.
That may change as more Baby Boomers come of retirement
age. I for one will be joining MidPenn as a volunteer attorney
in February, inspired by Matthew Desmond's Pulitzer Prizewinning book, Evicted. Representing tenants facing eviction will
allow me to once again practice law without having to run all over
eastern Pennsylvania, attending hearings and medical/vocational
depositions or having the stress of preparing for and conducting
jury trials. Even uncompensated, I hope to find it very rewarding.
No doubt there are others who, while wanting to cut back, still
want to use their legal skills to make a difference in a person's life.
They simply need to be convinced of their calling.
And I know just the woman to do the convincing!
Fall 2018 | 39

Retirement

By Donald F. Smith, Jr., Esquire

http://www.berksbar.org

Berks Barrister Fall 2018

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