The Pro Bono Institute

Statement of Principles
Recognizing the growing severity of the unmet legal needs of the poor and disadvantaged in the communities we serve, and mindful that major law firms must - in the finest traditions of our profession - play a leading role in addressing these unmet needs, our firm is pleased to join with other firms across the country in subscribing to the following statement of principles and in pledging our best efforts to achieve the voluntary goals described below.

Our firm recognizes its institutional obligation to encourage and support the participation by all of its attorneys in pro bono publico activities. We agree to promulgate and maintain a clearly articulated and commonly understood firm policy which unequivocally states the firm's commitment to pro bono work.

To underscore our institutional commitment to pro bono activities, we agree to use our best efforts to ensure that, by no later than the close of calendar year 2008, our firm will either:

	(a)	annually contribute, at a minimum, an amount of time equal to 5 percent of the firm's total billable hours or 100 hours per attorney to pro bono work;
	or
	(b)	annually contribute, at a minimum, an amount of time equal to 3 percent of the firm's total billable hours or 60 hours per attorney to pro bono work.

In recognition of the special needs of the poor for legal services, we believe that our firm's pro bono activities should be particularly focused on providing access to the justice system for persons otherwise unable to afford it. Accordingly, in meeting the voluntary goals described above, we agree that a majority of the minimum pro bono time contributed by our firm should consist of the delivery of legal services on a pro bono basis to persons of limited means or to charitable, religious, civic, community, governmental and educational organizations in matters which are designed primarily to address the needs of persons of limited means.
Recognizing that broad-based participation in pro bono activities is desirable, our firm agrees that, in meeting the minimum goals described above, we will use our best efforts to ensure that a majority of both partners and associates in the firm participate annually in pro bono activities.

In furtherance of these principles, our firm also agrees:

	(a)	To provide a broad range of pro bono opportunities, training, and supervision to attorneys in the firm, to ensure that all of our attorneys can avail themselves of the opportunity to do pro bono work;
	(b)	To ensure that the firm's policies with respect to evaluation, advancement, productivity, and compensation of its attorneys are compatible with the firm's strong commitment to encourage and support substantial pro bono participation by all attorneys; and
	(c)	To monitor the firm's progress toward the goals established in this statement and to report its progress annually to the members of the firm and to the Law Firm Pro Bono Project.

This firm also recognizes the obligation of major law firms to contribute financial support to organizations that provide legal services free of charge to persons of limited means.

As used in this statement, the term pro bono refers to activities of the firm undertaken normally without expectation of fee and not in the course of ordinary commercial practice and consisting of

	(a)	the delivery of legal services to persons of limited means or to charitable, religious, civic, community, governmental and educational organizations in matters which are designed primarily to address the needs of persons of limited means;
	(b)	the provision of legal assistance to individuals, groups, or organizations seeking to secure or protect civil rights, civil liberties or public rights; and
	(c)	the provision of legal assistance to charitable, religious, civic, community, governmental or educational organizations in matters in furtherance of their organizational purposes, where the payment of standard legal fees would significantly deplete the organization's economic resources or would be otherwise inappropriate.