Curious about how COVID-19 and new racial justice initiatives are affecting pro bono? Here are 5 data-backed pro bono trends from H1 2020
In light of COVID-19 and George Floyd’s death, an unprecedented number of law firms have made commitments to ramping up pro bono, general community service work, and racial equity initiatives to help close the gap for those in need. We took a look at Q1 and Q2 2020 data in Paladin to see how these commitments have (re)shaped pro bono efforts across the country, and found some notable trends:
- Non-profits and entrepreneurs represented about 30% of pro bono recipients (compared to 23% in 2019). No industry has been left unscathed by the economic slowdown caused by COVID-19, but nonprofits and entrepreneurs were especially hit hard as many of their funding sources and revenue dried up. Furthermore, many non-profits have been on the front lines of the personal and financial crises caused by the pandemic — working hard on issues like housing, employment, family, health, immigration, etc. Law firms, many of which are constantly looking for more transactional pro bono work, are well positioned to help non-profits, and quickly created programs and clinics to assist. For example, Vinson & Elkins partnered with the City of Houston’s Office of Business Opportunity to host phone-based consultations to assist small businesses, and five firms in Atlanta launched a joint initiative with the State Bar of Georgia’s Pro Bono Resource Center to offer businesses free legal advice.
2. Bankruptcy/debt and health related pro bono work more than doubled in Q2. Prior to the COVID-19 surge, the five most popular pro bono practice areas taken on on Paladin included corporate, immigration, intellectual property, family law, and employment. However, COVID-19 significantly shifted pro bono clients’ needs, and consequently, pro bono attention. In particular, as economic and health conditions weakened, we saw huge spikes in bankruptcy, education, health, housing, trust and estates, and public benefits issues — an order of 1.5–3x the magnitude.
3. Civil rights and criminal records/defense work only made up 12% of pro bono work in June. After George Floyd’s death on May 25, 2020, many firms were looking for ways to get involved with racial justice causes. While a few organizations on the front lines, like GoodCall in New York City, were directly helping protesters who were arrested, other racial justice related work took the form of criminal records expungement, innocence projects, election protection, and general civil rights initiatives. This work accounted for only about 12% of cases picked up on Paladin in June, although many of our partner organizations have committed to build out their criminal justice and racial equity pro bono initiatives, such as the 125 member firm Anti-Racism Alliance. Therefore, we hope to see this segment increase in H2 as new projects are launched.
4. After surging in April, pro bono engagements might be coming back down. March 2020 was a hectic one: the WHO designated COVID-19 a pandemic, the United States declared a national emergency two days later, states began issuing stay-at-home orders, and the CARES Act was passed (feels like 4 years ago instead of 4 months, right?). In April is when we see pro bono ramp up as lawyers get used to working from home, legal aid organizations shift services online, and Congress passes legislation for individuals and companies to navigate. However, this action decreased in May and June to near pre-COVID levels. This decrease could be due to attorney burnout, fewer opportunities available as legal services organizations streamline their casework, or firms pulling back to focus on billables. Nonetheless, as the second wave of legal needs hit, we should see this climb again.
5. Prediction: We’re only 2 weeks into Q3, but housing issues have already pulled ahead of other legal needs, accounting for 17% of pro bono work thus far. As unemployment benefit and eviction protection legislation sunsets, we’re about to see another wave of significant need. Similarly to how lawyers stepped up to meet the new normal in Q2, I hope we have continued momentum throughout the rest of 2020.
Have any other insights to share? Feel free to reach out at kristen@joinpaladin.com.
