Earlier this month, New York enacted a rule requiring mandatory reporting of pro bono hours and donations to legal services organizations as part of the attorney registration process. On May 14th, the New York Law Journal published an article by attorney Vess Mitav titled "Pro Bono Mandate Misses the Mark." In his article, Mr. Mitav posits that the new rule "is unlikely to serve its intended purpose of increasing free legal services to those needing them, for the simple reason that most firms in New York are small operations or solo practitioners, who are already stretched to the limit and depend on clients to pay their bills to keep their doors open and the lights on."

I think Mr. Mitav has missed the mark.

In the seven states that have enacted similar rules, pro bono participation rates have increased. Reporting is a simple way to ensure, at the very least, that every two years, attorneys are at least thinking about pro bono, and this might in turn motivate them to do pro bono work. Clearly it seems to have worked elsewhere. It is also a way to capture key information about what pro bono work is currently being done that may not be reported elsewhere. I believe that the current reporting requirement only asks for number of hours and dollar amount. My suggestion to Judge Lippman is that it go into even more detail -- if not asking about particular organizations for whom pro bono work has been done, then at least asking about the subject areas in which the work has been done.  The community and courts can then use this data to be more strategic about developing new pro bono programs and redistributing pro bono resources to those who are being underserved.

This wonderful news arrived in my email inbox today from the New York Law Journal. What does this mean? While large law firms generally report their pro bono hours through their firms' reporting to the American Lawyer, Vault, the Pro Bono Institute and others, pro bono hours of New York attorneys in small to mid-sized firms, in-house legal departments, and solo practitioners might often be left unreported in any formal way if they are not captured by legal services providers. This new requirement will allow the courts to get a better sense of these hours and formulate meaningful access to justice programs accordingly.