Any other biglaw associates not do pro bono?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It depends on the firm. Not doing any at Arnold & Porter while hoping to last in the litigation group would be... an error.

In comparison I don't think Quinn gives a single eff.

Really? Arnold & Porter?? I don't know the DC market as well as NYC but I've always thought the bigger/more reputable the firm was, the less time they wanted wasted on non billable work.

Not DC old school firms like A&P and Covington. They are big on pro bono.

+ 1

It's definitely a prestige thing in DC to do "important" pro bono work.

[Anonymous]

It really isn't that hard to squeeze in 25-50 hours per year. I almost never did any, but have more recently found my way on to an asylum case here or an impact litigation there. If you are more senior, you can get staffed on a case where a more junior lawyer is doing much of the work and it can be rewarded, at least to me, to sort of ride shotgun with them at hearings and reassure them that what they are doing is correct and quality work. Doing nothing in some firms doesn't hurt you, but doing something is helpful when writing a self-evaluation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a legal secretary to partners (who vote on which associates become partner) and can tell you that it's definitely noticed and taken into consideration. So if you're aiming to make partner, you should do more.

For two years I worked for the GC (who was also a partner) and a non-equity partner who was trying to make equity. In that time the Non-E had ONE pro bono client. It was one of many strikes against him.

If you're aiming to be rich and obnoxious and completely out of touch with the working class, then avoid pro bono at all costs.

Decide your priorities, and go from there.

Care to explain the eyeroll?

[Anonymous]

Interesting. DH felt like his pro bono is what got him chosen as part of the 2009 layoff.

[Anonymous]

If you want to check the box, but don't want to get involved in something unpredictable that may drag out, an amicus brief is usually a good, discrete, relatively easy pro bono project.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Interesting. DH felt like his pro bono is what got him chosen as part of the 2009 layoff.

Maybe your DH worked at my firm.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Interesting. DH felt like his pro bono is what got him chosen as part of the 2009 layoff.

Not if he otherwise made his commercial hours.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Interesting. DH felt like his pro bono is what got him chosen as part of the 2009 layoff.

Not if he otherwise made his commercial hours.

I did project financing at Biglaw in 2008. There were no hours b/c the economy dove off a cliff. Our shitty firm laid off 20 out of 22 associates. And it wasn't the genteel "indefinite time to find a new job" layoff. It was a "two weeks notice" layoff. It took a lot of us a year+ to find another position and some people never recovered their careers.

Do you not remember how terrible the legal job market was in 20008-2010?

[Anonymous]

My firm decided to fix this problem and just changed the bonus structure to require 50 hours of pro bono to get a bonus- by raising the bonus level by 50 hours! You can imagine how that went over, associates are PISSED. One senior walked out of the all-office meeting.

They did up the bonus amounts (mostly secondary market firm and our salaries are a bit below Cravath scale), but it comes out to something like an extra $0.75 per hour more with the higher hour threshold. Now no bonus until 2050 hours.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm a legal secretary to partners (who vote on which associates become partner) and can tell you that it's definitely noticed and taken into consideration. So if you're aiming to make partner, you should do more.

For two years I worked for the GC (who was also a partner) and a non-equity partner who was trying to make equity. In that time the Non-E had ONE pro bono client. It was one of many strikes against him.

If you're aiming to be rich and obnoxious and completely out of touch with the working class, then avoid pro bono at all costs.

Decide your priorities, and go from there.

Newsflash: pro bono does not always involve the working class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t do a ton but I still do try to do a bit. I have young kids and I feel like any extra time I have should be spent with them right now. I do try to do family service projects and volunteer work that I can do with the kids.

Why don’t you do it? Among other things, you can get good hands on experience that can be helpful to develop your skill set. Sometimes I have issues with taking on something that I don’t know when it will end but I have been able to find discrete, one off (rather than ongoing) projects, as well.

Like amicus briefs?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Interesting. DH felt like his pro bono is what got him chosen as part of the 2009 layoff.

Not if he otherwise made his commercial hours.

I did project financing at Biglaw in 2008. There were no hours b/c the economy dove off a cliff. Our shitty firm laid off 20 out of 22 associates. And it wasn't the genteel "indefinite time to find a new job" layoff. It was a "two weeks notice" layoff. It took a lot of us a year+ to find another position and some people never recovered their careers.

Do you not remember how terrible the legal job market was in 20008-2010?

I remember. But I am saying it’s not that someone spent their time on pro bono. It’s that they didn’t have hours that lead to the layoff.

[Anonymous]

My DH is a senior associate at a big firm and he has always done pro-bono. I think this year he is on target to hit 2000 billables and 100 pro-bono hours or something like that. He likes feeling like he is contributing back to society rather than just being another suit. Most of his pro-bono work is with the VA and veterans cases.

[Anonymous]

I’m in house now but always made it a point to do pro bono. Some of my most rewarding experience came from pro bono cases. That’s also where I took my first depos and did my first oral argument. It was also a nice balance to know that I was helping someone after defending some of the worst corporations on the planet. :-/

[Anonymous]

I have been reporting zero pro bono hours and zero contributions to legal aid for 7 years now. I did hundreds of hours in law school and will never voluntarily work for free again.