Four Suggestions for Finding an Enjoyable and Productive Pro Bono Project

By: Christopher King, Associate, Mountain View

We often hear that it’s an attorney’s professional responsibility to give back to the community by providing pro bono legal services. Many of us attorneys would be more than willing to do so, but may not know where to start or which pro bono opportunities to select.

Having participated in a number of different pro bono events over the years, I’ve had the opportunity to note the characteristics of the different types of events and identify those that are most enjoyable for me and in which I can be most useful. Not surprisingly, I’ve found a high degree of correlation between the "enjoyable" and "useful" categories.

Along these lines, the following are some considerations that may help you select more enjoyable and more productive pro bono events in which to participate.

Select opportunities in which you can leverage your existing legal expertise.

Pro bono is a particularly enjoyable experience when one can use one’s existing expertise to provide a high degree of value to clients. Attorneys with a background in corporate law, litigation, and tax, for example, have numerous opportunities to provide particularly effective assistance to pro bono clients in those areas.

Select opportunities in which you can develop substantive knowledge.

For those of us whose expertise is not in an area of law commonly needed by pro bono clients, it is still possible to select pro bono projects that allow the development of expertise in the relevant area over time. For example, clinics such as Tax Aid, the Share of Cost Health Care Clinic, and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recur on a regular basis and thus allow one to gradually accumulate valuable knowledge in that area. Being able to provide more useful substantive insights as one gains more experience makes the pro bono events much more rewarding for the practitioner, as well as providing a better result for the clients.

Select opportunities in which you can engage personally with clients.

One of the most rewarding aspects of pro bono work is the ability to engage with clients on a personal level, hearing more about their problems, sympathizing, and (hopefully) allaying their concerns. (I suspect that in many cases, sincere attention and sympathy may be more appreciated and longer remembered than the substantive advice that you provided.) Clinics that involve extended fact-gathering about client problems, for example, typically afford the best opportunities for this sort of interaction.

Select opportunities where you can team up with colleagues.

Many of us practice in areas of law where the work tends to be solitary, denying us the opportunity to work together with others. Many pro bono projects provide a welcome change in this respect, allowing us to team up with one or more of our colleagues. For example, many clinics typically involve working in teams of two, with one person performing most of the client interaction while the other person reviews client documents, and both conferring together as needed. Other clinics (e.g., Tax Aid) have a structure encouraging practitioners to consult with many of their colleagues to find a useful answer to the question at hand.

Christopher King is an associate in the Intellectual Property practice group at Fenwick & West LLP. A graduate of Santa Clara University School of Law, Christopher focuses his practice on obtaining domestic and foreign patent rights, with an emphasis on the computer software field. He has prepared and prosecuted numerous patent applications in diverse technology areas such as machine learning, video analysis, cryptography and computer security, advertising statistics, geographical information systems, and social networking. Christopher gives back by volunteering at Share of Cost clinics, where he helps seniors and disabled adults reduce their Medi-Cal "share of cost" responsibilities in order to afford medical care. In addition to being known as a supporter of pro bono at Fenwick, Christopher is also a ping pong champion in the firm's Mountain View office.