CBA Record November-December 2023

Chicago Bar Foundation Report

Pro Bono Milestone: The 100 th Bobservation, and the Top 10 By Bob Glaves

E ight years ago, I had the ambi tious idea to write a post about pro bono every day of Pro Bono Week in 2015. When I did that – and real ized a few people were actually reacting – I decided to keep going, though at the more sustainable pace of one per month. Having now reached 100 posts, I thank everyone who has been along for any part of this ride. Although some of these posts were met with a shrug, some struck a nerve and got a bigger reaction. I narrowed those down to the top 10. Having reread them for this column, I think they still resonate today. When we think about the huge gap in access to justice, it is hardly a revelation to say pro bono cannot come close to being a solution on its own. But does that make pro bono less important and less worthy of our resources and attention as a result? Of course not. In this post, I reviewed the many ways pro bono plays an inte gral part in the larger quest to fulfill our nation’s ideal of a fair and accessible jus tice system for all. As we celebrate 2023 Pro Bono Week, these points are as true as ever today. #9 PB&J and Toasters v. Toll Booths and Typewriters (March 2022) Innovation. It’s what all the cool kids are #10 Does it Really Matter? (October 2020)

talking about. The CBF is proud to be a longtime leader in innovation on the access to justice front, and it’s something we could use a lot more of in our profes sion and in our justice system. In the quest for the promised land of a justice system that is fair and accessible for all, we need to identify the legal ver sions of PB&J sandwiches and toasters that have served us well over the years and continue to do so and distinguish them from our legal equivalents of typewriters and toll booth operators, former main stays that were overtaken by far superior solutions. #8 What Do We Mean by Access to Justice? (September 2018) Access to justice – or equal access to justice, as it often is stated – is the holy grail of the legal system. But what does it mean? The answer is not always the same for everyone working towards what is assumed to be a common goal, and we all will do better by agreeing on a clear definition. The CBF has had some good internal board conversations since the original post appeared that have led to the adoption of a much stronger definition of access to justice: Everyone facing a legal issue (1) has timely and affordable access to the level of legal help necessary for them to get a fair and efficient outcome on the merits of their legal issue, and (2)

objectively can believe they were treated fairly in the process. #7 A Fork in the Road for Our Profession (September 2020) The 1980s called, and they want their Rules of Professional Conduct back. And they can have them. As the world around us has changed dramatically since those heady days when seeing a music video on MTV was mind-blowing, we have seen only modest changes in the Rules govern ing the business of law. The result is our profession has gradually priced the every day person out of the market for legal ser vices even though we have more lawyers practicing than ever before. Something is clearly wrong, and as this post laid out in more depth, moderniz ing the Rules of Professional Conduct to account for the realities of today’s legal market is one of the critical steps we need to take to turn the tide. #6 Top 10 Reasons the Billable Hour Needs to Go (February 2018) The billable hour continues to be a signifi cant and self-inflicted barrier to access to justice. Whatever its merits in the corporate market, for low and moderate-income indi viduals and small businesses, the billable hour makes legal services less affordable and accessible because it lacks transparency and certainty and misaligns incentives for efficiency, innovation, and value.

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