April 16, 1999
By CARL S. KAPLAN
A Virtual Firm for Lawyers Who Volunteer
EW YORK -- Idealistic law school graduates often start their careers at large New York firms with a burning desire to do some "pro bono" work -- volunteering their time in the public interest.
|
John Decker for CyberTimes
|
Michael Hertz founded Probono.net to bring together lawyers interested in volunteer work and match them with cases.
|
But many never get around to it. Once inside a firm's polished front door, some overworked lawyers find they have little time to devote to the public good. Others may feel they lack the expertise to take on a complex case involving an unfamiliar area of the law. Worries about isolation from colleagues and a lack of resources may also take a toll.
Now a new Web site aims to help lawyers overcome those real-world barriers to public service.
Rolled out earlier this month, the non-profit site, dubbed Probono.net, hopes to create a public interest law firm in cyberspace. It is designed to stitch together a decentralized army of public-spirited lawyers -- everyone from the most experienced mentor at a public-interest law firm to the greenest pro-bono wannabe at a private firm.
Founded by Michael Hertz, a partner on leave from the law firm Latham & Watkins, the project also brings together many parts of the New York legal establishment: elite law firms, well-known public interest law organizations, law school clinics and public interest lawyers. It is supported by a $250,000 grant from the Open Society Institute, a project of the financier George Soros.
Hertz said he hoped the site could be adapted for use in other cities like San Francisco and Chicago. He said he was exploring the possibility of spinning off a version of Probono.net for the Long Island area.
Hertz, 39, a tall and thin man with a casual manner, said in an interview that "the light bulb went off" in his mind about the need for a pro bono Web site three years ago. He said that as a member of his firm's pro bono committee and a devotee of Internet technology, he realized that cyberspace would be the perfect place to create a "platform" for lawyers and others interested in pro bono work in New York.
There are three kinds of lawyers, Hertz explained. Some do pro bono work no matter what. Others will do none at all. The last group will do it if they are convinced that the task will be convenient and easy, and that they will have support from experienced lawyers, he said.
"I wanted to create a site that would make it as simple as possible for lawyers in the third group to get involved in pro bono," Hertz said. He noted that a recent study by the New York State Office of Court Administration revealed that only 47 percent of New York lawyers performed free legal work for the poor in 1997.
"The need is huge," Hertz said. "Studies show that 80 percent of the civil legal needs of low-income people go unmet by lawyers. If we can link all the parts of the legal system together, it can be very effective."
Probono.net, which took about a year to develop at the New York offices of the Open Society Institute, is organized around "practice areas," focused on specific legal topics. Each practice area is "hosted" by one or more public interest law firms and supported by a private law firm.
For example, a lawyer could go to the site and click on the "calendar" button to see a listing of training sessions in New York offered by various public interest groups. After attending a training session in, say, asylum law -- one of two practice areas available on the site so far -- the lawyer can ask to join that practice area, which is hosted by the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights with assistance from the firm of Davis Polk & Wardwell.
Once approved, the lawyer gets a password and can go to a private area on the site to view postings of new asylum cases that need volunteers. He or she can visit an online library that contains training materials, briefs, standard legal forms and the like.
Most important, the lawyer can participate in discussions on a special message board in the practice area. By posting questions and chatting with colleagues, the lawyer can get answers or advice from more experienced lawyers or volunteers. There's also a news section where lawyers can post links to articles of interest on other sites.
The second practice area available on the site is "family justice." Down the road, Hertz expects to add online communities dealing with subjects like criminal appeals, disability rights and the death penalty.
Lawyers say the site will be an efficient matchmaker between lawyers and cases.
"In one way, this site enables attorneys sitting at desktops in an office to find out about areas of law that might interest them, find out who the players are and find out how to get involved in a public interest program," said Michael Rothenberg, associate director of New York Lawyers for the Public Interest. The non-profit legal group will host Probono.net's disability rights practice area in the fall, with support from the law firm Schulte Roth & Zabel.
Another key advantage is that the Web site provides virtual hand-holding and collegiality, Rothenberg said. Traditionally, lawyers at Rothenberg's organization, like many public interest firms, circulate lists of cases to private law firms in hopes of attracting volunteers, who would, in turn, be supervised by law firm partners.
"What this does is create a sort of online community and support network for lawyers in each practice area," Rothenberg said. The site also leverages the ability of an experienced lawyer to mentor or offer advice to others in the same electronic practice area, he said.
Another benefit is harder to see, but no less important. "People in legal services and the pro bono community are getting excited about this, and in some ways [Hertz's] concept is unifying the community," said Maria Imperial, executive director of the City Bar Fund, a non-profit affiliate of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York that provides legal services to the poor.
Richard Zorza, an expert in technology and law who is a vice president of the Fund for the City of New York, a private foundation, said Probono.net is a harbinger of a transformation in the delivery of legal services.
"I think all kinds of people that worked in disconnected ways in the past are now able to work in a more connected way," he said. "The fact is that attorneys who were unconnected in the past will now be able to help each other, share court papers, et cetera. The Net is making it possible for those kinds of things to happen."
Probono.net will leave its incubation cubicle at the Open Society Institute's offices next fall and open its doors as a free-standing private charity, Hertz said. He expects he will hire a small staff to run it and raise money from foundations.
For his part, Hertz said he expects to return to his old job at a private firm. But for the time being, he will remain with Probono.net. "I'm going to see this through," he said.
CYBER LAW JOURNAL is published weekly, on Fridays. Click here for a list of links to other columns in the series.
Related Sites
These sites are not part of The New York Times on the Web, and The Times has no control over their content or availability.
Carl S. Kaplan at kaplanc@nytimes.com welcomes your comments and suggestions.
