Small nonprofit here - we use a medium sized firm (lowered rate, not pro bono).

Large nonprofit, with one in-house counsel and we mostly use biglaw, not pro bono, and a couple of very good regional firms. We really would not use a solo or unproven firm--we have a board to answer to, and pretty sophisticated legal issues.

OP, here. Thank you for the responses. Very helpful.

I work for a large well funded association and even though we have lawyers on staff, we also turn to just such a firm for association-specific things: bylaws, IP portections, antitrust, governance, etc: http://www.wtplaw.com/practices/nonprofit-organizations-0

The thing is, to be good you have to really understand the nature of associations and non profits, and apply it to a wide range of issues.

Do you have tax experience? This is the main area non-profits need to pay for legal services.

One of my best friends works for a small nonprofit and they do not pay for legal services at all. Those are provided by a law school (for their clients/patients) and for the nonprofit itself, services are provided pro bono by a local Biglaw firm who supports their causes. The Biglaw firm also sponsors their community events donates $$ to their community outreach programs, etc. They have a couple of lawyers on their board of directors as well.

I work for a nonprofit. We are small with a budget of 367k this year. We do not pay for law services, as we have a law school that provides services to us. The general rule for a nonprofit is pay for nothing.

OP with Big Law being in the dumps...many of the big law firms have their 1st, 2nd, and sometimes 3rd year associates assigned to do pro bono work for the nonprofits as you had imagined. And, as someone said, associations generally have their own attorneys/lobbyists. You might want to network with someone at ASAE to see if they know of any smaller associations who may pool for attorneys.

Most associations have in-house lawyers. Many lobbyist also fill the legal roll. The don't contract out to big law. As far as not-for profits the large ones use in-house counsel, I worked for a large DC based group with 8 lawyers on staff.

Maybe?

I think if you really know your niche, you can get this kind of business. But it really depends on the legal needs of the organization. E.g., a non-profit that engages in non-violent civil disobedience has very different needs than a non-profit that grants funds for community projects.

I am considering starting a solo law practice catering to non profits and associations and I am trying to determine if there is a market. I recognize that many non profits get their legal services pro bono but are there organizations that pay for their legal services as well? My hope would be to fill a niche for organizations who pay for their legal services but do not want to pay big law prices.

Many thanks for any thoughts.