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I'm researching firms and I see a lot of firms that talk about their commitment to pro bono, but without any real explanation of what that means for young associates. One firm I'm interested in that fits this bill is GDC. It really talks up its pro bono commitment and gives details of things that have been worked on, but not what that means for people early in their careers.

Is anyone who has experience with GDC willing to discuss GDCs commitment to pro bono and what that means for young lawyers in more detail?

For example, can young lawyers essentially run their own small pro bono practice, really doing whatever interests them (e.g. grabbing a court appointed criminal defense case), or is it more restricted ("sure, you can do pro bono, and here are these mega companies who need some pro bono work done")? In between? Given the free market system they talk about, it's hard to really gauge how that interacts with pro bono.

Thanks all.

Anonymous User wrote:I'm researching firms and I see a lot of firms that talk about their commitment to pro bono, but without any real explanation of what that means for young associates. One firm I'm interested in that fits this bill is GDC. It really talks up its pro bono commitment and gives details of things that have been worked on, but not what that means for people early in their careers.

Is anyone who has experience with GDC willing to discuss GDCs commitment to pro bono and what that means for young lawyers in more detail?

For example, can young lawyers essentially run their own small pro bono practice, really doing whatever interests them (e.g. grabbing a court appointed criminal defense case), or is it more restricted ("sure, you can do pro bono, and here are these mega companies who need some pro bono work done")? In between? Given the free market system they talk about, it's hard to really gauge how that interacts with pro bono.

Thanks all.

I summered there last year and from what I gathered/the talks they gave us/the stuff I worked on I'd say it's a mix of people going out there and pursuing their own interests and work coming from organizations that the firm is deeply involved with. There were several examples of associates who had formed a relationship w/ a non-profit organization, done pro-bono work for them, and that had lead to a deeper relationship w/ dozens of associates doing work for that organization.

Another positive is that there truly is no cap to how much pro bono work you can do. One associate joked w/ me that he was getting paid a big law salary to work for a non-profit b/c he had billed over 1000 pro bono hours the previous year, counting 1 for 1 towards his hours.

I know of another person who had done some work w/ a clinic in law school that he didn't want to stop doing, so he went to the firm and got it approved. Now he flies across the country 2-3 times a year working on capital punishment cases.

Like most things GDC, it really is whatever you want it to be.

OP here: thank you for that information.

I'm inherently skeptical of what summer associates are told, though. Probably just the cynic in me. Would love to hear from people who have worked there as an actual associate.

But seriously, thank you for the response.

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