Pro Bono Assistance

http://www.nysba.org 1-800-582-2452 http://www.lawhelpny.org The Subject Matters host Joe Condon talks with today’s guest Erica Rangel, Esq., M.P.A., about Pro Bono assistance programs that is a designation given to the free legal work done by an attorney for indigent clients and religious, charitable, and other nonprofit entities. Pro bono is professional work undertaken voluntarily and without payment or at a reduced fee as a public service. It is common in the legal profession and is increasingly seen in architecture, marketing, medicine, 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. As members of a profession, lawyers are bound by their ethical rules to charge reasonable rates for their services and to serve the public interest by providing free legal service to indigent persons or to religious, charitable, or other non-profit groups. A lawyer's free legal service to these types of clients is designated as pro bono service.