VIDEO: Freely given legal services provide a unique return

In September 2022, days after being admitted to the North Carolina bar, Desirae Williams accepted her first pro bono case.

After what Legal Aid of North Carolina called a “Herculean effort,” Williams settled the housing-related matter favorably for her client and was honored by Legal Aid through its Pro Bono Hero Award.

Williams doesn’t work for Legal Aid or another legal services organization but is an associate with Robinson Bradshaw in Charlotte, one of the state’s larger law firms. She devoted 30 pro bono hours to the matter simply because she enjoys helping those who can’t help themselves.

A first-generation college graduate from Flint, Michigan, Williams points to her humble beginnings in explaining why she sometimes chooses to work for free.

“I know firsthand the impact of being unable to afford basic necessities due to my family’s limited resources,” Williams said. “Growing up, many organizations with goals similar to Legal Aid of North Carolina helped my family during hard times. I’ve always tried to give back to others in ways similar to those that my family received. I’m able to do that through pro bono work.”

No resources, no justice

Legal Services Corp., a congressionally established nonprofit corporation that funds civil legal aid to those who can’t afford it, estimates that up to 80% of the civil legal needs of low-income Americans go unmet. Some agencies believe the percentage is higher. And where there are no resources to retain legal help, there often is no access to justice.

Elysia Prendergast-Jones, a supervising attorney with Legal Aid of North Carolina, said that many can’t afford their household bills, much less the extra expense of legal services, no matter how desperately they may need them.

“There is no assistance for many civil cases, especially custody matters,” she said. “People need assistance in things such as understanding and filing the paperwork for those matters. Those things are only afforded to those who can pay, which creates a disparity in what is supposed to be a justice system. Even an hour of advice can make a world of difference for people.”

Pendergast-Jones began her career helping the less fortunate long before law school, and today, she advocates and volunteers for domestic violence victims and those in need every chance she gets. She got her start in high school, volunteering with domestic violence shelters and manning crisis phone lines; she calls her current occupation a natural progression of her desire to help others.

Among other capacities in which she serves, she cites 4ALL — Lawyers on Call as one of her favorite activities, answering legal questions for free that would otherwise cost the advice-seeker hundreds of dollars. She volunteers at her alma mater, the North Carolina Central University School of Law, as a law student adviser; is a guardian ad litem; serves on the North Carolina Bar Association’s family law section council; and was the pro bono committee co-chair of the NCBA’s family law section.

While Prendergast-Jones is not paid for her pro bono efforts, that is not to say that she doesn’t benefit from the work. It’s an honor, she said, to give away her most valuable commodity.

“Also, pro bono is as much for the person doing it as for the person receiving it,” she said. “If an attorney could help one family in need, it can literally make a life-or-death difference for children.”

North Carolina’s Pro Bono Resource Center provides direct services for matters such as driver’s license restoration but primarily connects lawyers to pro bono projects. The center’s director, Sylvia Novinski, said the organization’s new online platform, Pro Bono Go, collaborates with the Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy, Legal Aid of North Carolina, and Pisgah Legal Services to feature searchable pro bono opportunities for legal professionals.

“These types of cases include housing, expunction, estate planning and heirs’ property, domestic violence and family law, as well as innocence claims and guardian ad litem appellate work, and more,” Novinsky said.

The (in)ability to pay

While Legal Aid clients and others of limited means cannot afford to pay the price associated with legal services, Prendergast-Jones said she believes her clients should be represented as if they are being billed $500 an hour.

“I wish at times that I could offer my family more monetary things that a corporate life would provide, but knowing I was able to change the direction of a person’s life for the better gives me a pride money cannot,” Prendergast-Jones said.

She recalled a time in private practice when she was representing a family on a custody issue. The family was on a payment plan but fell on hard times when one of the children was diagnosed with brain cancer. Prendergast-Jones began representing the family free of charge so they could afford to pay their mounting medical bills.

“Years later, the child recovered and the children were living safe, wonderful lives,” she said. “The parents wanted me to know how much my assistance meant to the entire family, and I could do nothing but smile.”

At Charleston Pro Bono Legal Services, executive director Alissa Lietzow said that she doesn’t believe that their clients, all facing hardships and setbacks, should be precluded from receiving the help they need because they lack financial resources.

“The judicial system can feel very intimidating, and I love that we can help alleviate some of that for our clients,” Lietzow said.

Teaching to give

At the Charleston School of Law, where the mission is “pro bono populi” (“for the good of the people”), students learn the practice of law as a profession, with the chief aim being to provide public service. To graduate, students must perform 50 hours of pro bono work under the supervision of a licensed attorney.

Charleston Law’s director of public service and pro bono, Michelle Condon, said that the law school has been committed to public service since its founding.

“Our students have provided almost 290,000 hours of law-related services through our pro bono program since the law school began,” Condon said. “The pro bono program is a win-win program. The sites and clients win by the students assisting attorneys in the provision of needed legal services, and the students win by gaining practical experience, making contacts in the community, and experiencing the satisfaction of giving back. Our goal is for the students to continue their pro bono work as practicing attorneys.”

Lietzow, of Charleston Pro Bono, said that the ripple effect of having law student volunteers is inspiring.

“I find myself in the unique position with all of the law student involvement that we have to see how the training and exposure we provide to those students fosters a passion in them and they, in turn, chose a career in public service,” she said.

A firm commitment 

When Russell Robinson, Bob Bradshaw and Robin Hinson founded Robinson Bradshaw in 1960, they promoted and encouraged the firm’s attorneys to engage in pro bono work. As such, the firm has a rich history of seeking to meet the legal needs of the indigent and economically disadvantaged. Where Williams’ pro bono award is the firm’s latest recognition for its efforts, it is far from the only. On one level, the firm’s attorneys — 24 of whom qualified for the North Carolina Pro Bono Resource Center’s pro bono honor society by dedicating at least 50 hours in the past year to pro bono work — handle individual issues such as landlord-tenant disputes, expungements and immigration work for neglected children looking to become United States citizens. It also performs work on a more systemic level, such as employing a 15-person team to successfully challenge North Carolina’s redistricting plan. In that case, the North Carolina Supreme Court found that congressional and state legislative maps violated the state’s constitution, ordering the maps to be redrawn.

“We were involved in those to protect people’s right to vote,” said Blaine Sanders, the firm’s director of pro bono services and chair of the pro bono committee. “But what I’ve tried to do is do more in terms of individual cases … focusing on the things the legal services organizations have asked us to focus on. What we’re trying to do is help people of limited means.”

The firm is poised to log more pro bono hours this year than ever before, Sanders said, something he attributes to the firm being more intentional about serving the underserved and the fact that new associates joining Robinson Bradshaw are eager to volunteer their time and expertise.

“I think people, especially young people, come out of law school, and they’re like, ‘Lawyers help people,’” Sanders said. “That includes helping more than your billable clients.”

Thanks all around

Prendergast-Jones said the need for pro bono work is year-round, though the holidays can make for additional stressors that create more of a need.

“For example, a parent struggling to pay bills and provide for the holidays may take those stressors out on his or her partner, creating a domestic violence or child abuse situation,” she said.

But in this season of giving, those who engage in pro bono work are as thankful for the opportunity to serve as those who are being served.

Sanders said that there is nothing wrong with billing clients and making money, but that helping those with limited means is its own reward.

“I say that pro bono lawyers are happier lawyers,” Sanders said. “You get something out of it that’s different from what you get out of doing complex business work. You get a lot more God-bless-you’s from your pro bono clients.”

Novinsky, the child of immigrants from Argentina, never had corporate law aspirations, realizing early on that she wanted to go to law school to help those who faced difficulty in accessing the justice system. She always knew and appreciated the sacrifices her parents made so she could earn a good education.

“I consider it a privilege to work with my public interest colleagues as well as all the legal professionals who desire to make the legal system more equitable and accessible to our fellow North Carolinians,” Novinsky said.

Prendergast-Jones said that when lawyers sit down with their families this holiday season, they should consider how they can say, “Thank you, pro bono.”

“Think about the intangible gifts you can receive while doing pro bono,” she said. “Think about the colleagues you can build relationships with while doing pro bono activities. I was fortunate to make great friendships, and I can’t help but say, ‘Thank you, pro bono.’ I hope this inspires you to find your thank you.”

Williams, of Robinson Bradshaw, said she encourages all who can give back to others, whether through pro bono work or other charitable measures.

“It makes more of a difference than most can imagine,” she said. •