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Which firms have the highest commitments to Pro Bono? Is there a rank? If not, what are some successful firms you know that really take pride in doing pro bono, as opposed to other ones?

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Thanks for the link, and what a great point made above by G. T. L. Rev. You probably saved me from some embarassment/not getting call backs in the future! I had overlooked the fact that yes, firms are firms built on doing BUSINESS...not charity work. Thanks for the relief, Rev.

ComatoseClown wrote:Thanks for the link, and what a great point made above by G. T. L. Rev. You probably saved me from some embarassment/not getting call backs in the future! I had overlooked the fact that yes, firms are firms built on doing BUSINESS...not charity work. Thanks for the relief, Rev.

For the other perspective, I talked about pro bono work a fair amount but generally phrased it as wanting the chance to develop litigation skills, not "give back" or whatever. Seeing that I was interested in developing a useful skill set was appealing to interviewers, I think.

But be careful. GTL's right that it could come across the wrong way.

pasteurizedmilk wrote:

ComatoseClown wrote:Thanks for the link, and what a great point made above by G. T. L. Rev. You probably saved me from some embarassment/not getting call backs in the future! I had overlooked the fact that yes, firms are firms built on doing BUSINESS...not charity work. Thanks for the relief, Rev.

For the other perspective, I talked about pro bono work a fair amount but generally phrased it as wanting the chance to develop litigation skills, not "give back" or whatever. Seeing that I was interested in developing a useful skill set was appealing to interviewers, I think.

But be careful. GTL's right that it could come across the wrong way.

I have to agree with GTL that you shouldn't focus on pro bono commitment in interviews/research, it's more about your own commitment to pro bono than the firm's. Any hours you do pro bono are in addition to the work you'll be doing for the firm. It is not a valid substitute and no matter what they say they will not view it as such. To make partner or to be kept on as a senior associate you need to be making money for the firm. That said, pasteurized's point is a good one, a great way for associates to get courtroom experience (if you want to do lit) is to do pro bono work and that experience will be valued when they're looking for someone to participate in depositions and witness prep etc. In the same vein, corporate associates can get experience doing work for non profit organizations by doing pro bono work. They'll value the extra experience but this will not take the place of expected billable hours.

I've heard that Latham is pretty serious about it. Talked to several associates who claimed they had each logged "hundreds" of pro bono hours every year; there is no cap and pro bono work counts toward yearly billable requirements. Maybe this is why they were market leaders in layoffs...