Florida lawyers provided approximately 1.35 million hours of pro bono work in 2002-03 and contributed $2.53 million to legal aid organizations, according to the new figures gleaned from The Florida Bar’s latest dues statements.
“These numbers again demonstrate that every day Florida’s lawyers step up and give generously of their time and talents to help those less able to help themselves,” said Bar president Miles McGrane. “Assuring all our citizens have access to the legal system is one of our profession’s core values and providing free legal services to those who otherwise could not afford them sets us apart as a profession and is critical to the preservation of a free society.”
The new statistics represent a slight increase in pro bono services over the previous year, when Florida attorneys provided $1.31 million hours of free service and $2.45 million in direct legal aid contributions.
McGrane said the 1.35 million hours of pro bono work amounts to more than $67 million in free services, when calculated according to an estimate of $50 per hour in fees (based on doubling the $25-consultation fee charged by lawyers involved in the Bar’s Lawyer Referral Service). Nearly 30,000 of Florida’s 54,000 in-state actively practicing lawyers provided the free legal services to the poor from July 1, 2002 through June 30, 2003, and 7,543 lawyers donated cash directly to the legal aid providers.
In 1993, the Florida Supreme Court adopted a pro bono plan that encourages attorneys to give at least 20 hours per year in free legal services to the poor or contribute a minimum of $350 to legal aid organizations. Included in the Supreme Court plan was a mandatory requirement that every lawyer report whether he or she did or did not participate.
McGrane said Florida has one of the most aggressive pro bono legal services programs of any state, and is a national trend setter in the field. In the past two years, Maryland has adopted a pro bono rule similar to Florida’s and bar leaders from New York, Nevada, and Louisiana have requested detailed information on Florida’s pro bono plan to assist in their consideration of adopting pro bono plans of their own, according to the Bar’s Standing Committee on Pro Bono Legal Services.
McGrane said The Florida Bar is dedicated to making the law work for everyone, and Florida lawyers are committed to “making a difference in their communities.”