An Open Letter: Philadelphia VIP Issues a Plea for Aid

This article is reprinted with permission from
Tuesday, September 28, 2004 issue of
The Legal Intelligencer © 2004 NLP IP Company.
Further duplication without permission is prohibited.
All rights reserved.

Sharon Browning, Executive Director
Philadelphia VIP

Let's be completely honest.

Relative to the total number of practicing lawyers in Philadelphia, only a handful do pro bono cases. In the recent AmLaw 200 survey, of nine cities rated, Philadelphia ranked seventh in average number of hours devoted to pro bono work by lawyers in large firms.

No amount of cajoling, sharing of poignant anecdotes, or appeals to professional responsibility alter the fact that the overwhelming need for skilled legal help for marginalized Philadelphians has yet to make a significant impression on the bar in Philadelphia. As a wise and knowledgeable observer of our local scene stated recently, it's like trying to bail the ocean with a teaspoon.

In no way does this observation diminish the amazing contributions of those Philadelphia lawyers who practice with fire in their bellies, who evince a passion for justice that fills me with admiration and gratitude. You know who you are. And I recognize and honor the vision and tremendous support of the Bar Association for legal services and pro bono projects over the past 24 years, as well as the herculean effort that resulted in the 2002 Pro Bono Task Force Report. The Report remains both a celebration of what is best in pro bono in Philadelphia and a challenging blueprint of what remains to be done to increase pro bono participation. But I long for a candid dialogue about pro bono work in this city of lawyers. We all know that we’re not really doing all that well in the aggregate. I sense an obstacle larger than any we have articulated so far: a firmly entrenched, cultural reluctance to become involved in this vital work.

Why is this resistance so strong? I'm not sure, and I invite all of you to give me your thoughts on this. But I suspect that the link between our collective failure to embrace pro bono work is but a symptom of a more troubling malaise in our profession; I sense a deep and silent sadness among lawyers.

Ideally, commitment to the pursuit of justice gives profound meaning to a lawyer's life. Lawyering historically was not only an intellectually invigorating pursuit, but also one that connected lawyers deeply and intimately to their communities. Oliver Wendell Holmes referred to this stimulating and satisfying immersion in the pursuit of the common good when he said, "...what other [profession] gives such scope to realize the spontaneous energy of one's soul?"

I fear that we, as a profession, are losing our souls. Ours is the profession with the highest rate of depression and a climbing suicide rate. Job dissatisfaction is rampant. Diminished leisure time and the crushing pressures of billable hours, business development, and profit production are extracting what gasping vestiges of professionalism are left. In an age where the trend toward holistic, balanced lives is providing illumination for many, we lawyers are still in the dark.

VIP staffers keep files of 'happy camper' stories. We have many-- cases where clients and attorneys are both satisfied with the outcome of the case. But we also have 'unhappy campers'. It pains me to say that we have cases returned to us by attorneys who simply can't find the time to complete them, or who have delayed so long in working on the case that they have lost interest. We struggle mightily to 'market' cases in a way that attorneys will find appealing and sympathetic. It is often heartbreaking work, however, because what we package as product is a human life--- usually marked by some dimension of human suffering. It would be so much easier if we were all operating on the same assumptions: that all lives are sacred, that access to the legal system based on wealth or luck is privilege, not justice, that justice deferred is justice denied, and that until we midwife what Abraham Lincoln called the 'new birth of freedom' for all, none of us can claim to be truly free.

The staff here at VIP continues to be willing, able, and delighted to help each and every lawyer find the pro bono case that suits his or her interests and needs. As the hub of pro bono legal services in Philadelphia, we are happy to connect programs with practitioners and will gladly help you find your pro bono home with one of the 20 public interest and legal services organizations in the city that seeks the assistance of pro bono attorneys. The public interest community stands constantly poised with arms full of cases, eager to help every lawyer develop expertise in some area of poverty law. The need is vast; we all long for the day when we have an attorney waiting list rather than a steady stream of clients denied service because we cannot find a lawyer willing to help them.

The solution to this problem resides in all of us; only together can we do the hard work of preserving the integrity of the legal profession. I would like to invite the Philadelphia legal community to engage in an honest conversation about all of these issues. First, we at VIP want to hear your stories: why do you dread the words 'pro bono'? Why do you, or don’t you take pro bono cases? What could we do to facilitate your participation? If you have even a scintilla of interest in taking a pro bono case, please call me. If not, please empty your wallet and give to the public interest or legal services organization of your choice, or make a hefty donation to the Bar’s Access To Justice campaign. Staff model legal services organizations are efficient and effective at advocating for and delivering legal services. They continuously provide life sustaining and community-enhancing legal assistance, and can use every penny you can spare.

But even more importantly, can we begin a dialogue with each other about contemporary legal culture and its impact both present and potential, on us, our families, and our communities? I welcome your thoughts and ideas about what we all can do to reverse the mechanistic and demoralizing spiral in which our beloved profession spins.

Perhaps it is time to remove the blindfold from Lady Justice's eyes, so that she can see the multitudes clamoring to climb onto her unweighted scales. The stakes are high: survival for some, personal happiness for others, the strength of our communities, the health of the city and region, the integrity of our legal system, and above all, that elusive and fragile principle we call justice. The true bottom line is this: there is no profit in ignoring the signs of distress in our profession. All of us are needed to mend and bind these rents in the fabric of justice.. There is healing here for us all.

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