I. The Firm's History and Commitment to Pro Bono Legal Services
Holland & Knight has a long tradition of public service. The firm's commitment to pro bono work was led by Chesterfield Smith, the firm's founder and chairman emeritus. For almost 40 years, Mr. Smith imbued Holland & Knight lawyers with a sense of community purpose and the recognition that lawyers have a professional duty to provide needy people and groups with free legal services.
Today, the firm expects to contribute annually an amount of time equal to approximately 3 percent of the firm's billable hours to pro bono legal services. This expectation translates into an average of approximately 50 hours per lawyer per year. While the firm believes that participation in pro bono cases should remain a matter of choice, the firm expects that a majority of both partners and associates will personally participate annually in pro bono legal work.
II. The Firm's Commitment to Lawyers Who Perform Pro Bono Legal Services
Every lawyer in the firm who dedicates time to pro bono legal services is doing that work pursuant to the firm's tradition, the Holland & Knight Commitment and the Rules of Professional Conduct which govern our work. Accordingly, all approved pro bono legal work will be considered in evaluation, advancement and compensation decisions within the firm.
III. Rule 6.1, ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct
Rule 6.1 of the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct establishes an aspirational professional responsibility for every lawyer to perform annually 50 hours of pro bono legal services for the poor.
"The poor" are not only those living below the federal poverty guidelines, but also the "working poor." The "working poor" are those families who have limited means and cannot reasonably afford the legal services they need. A good faith determination by the lawyer is sufficient. The legal services that count as pro bono legal services are direct free legal assistance to poor persons or to organizations whose overall mission and activities are designed predominantly to address the needs of the poor.
IV. Satisfying the Annual Aspirational Professional Responsibility
The firm's pro bono work generally falls into one of three categories.
First, the Community Services Team (CST), staffed with five full-time lawyers, the Smith Fellows, two paralegals and an administrator, and utilizing other lawyers in the firm in selected cases, is devoted exclusively to pro bono legal services, concentrating its efforts on cases with significant issues affecting large numbers of people. This work is reported in the 094100 series.
Second, many lawyers in the firm provide pro bono legal services to the poor or organizations whose primary mission is service to the poor on individual cases and projects that are indigenous to each of our offices and are supervised by a Pro Bono Partner in each of our offices. This work is reported in the 094000 series.
Finally, many lawyers in the firm provide pro bono services to civic and charitable organizations whose work, while not designed predominantly to address the legal needs of the poor, fulfills other important needs in the communities we serve. The first two categories are considered qualified pro bono legal services under our policy. The third category involves work that is very important for the communities we serve, but does not qualify as pro bono legal services under our policy. This work is reported in the 888000 series.
V. Approval and Supervision of Pro Bono Legal Services
As described more fully below, all pro bono legal services must be approved by either the CST Partner (094100 series), or a Pro Bono Partner and Practice Group Leader (094000 series).
A. CST Cases (094100 series):
The CST Partner is in charge of the approval process, budgeting and case management for CST cases. CST cases include but are not limited to cases that involve significant resources and or socially controversial issues.
B. Individual Case Pro Bono Legal Services (094000 series):
Each office has a Pro Bono Partner in charge of the approval process, budgeting and case management for individual cases which are indigenous to each office. The duties of the Pro Bono Partner are: (1) to encourage and facilitate a wide variety of pro bono legal services in each office in order to fulfill the firm's commitment to pro bono legal services and the individual lawyer's desire to make an independent pro bono contribution of his/her time; (2) to ensure that each and every pro bono matter is being actively supervised by a partner or senior counsel; and (3) to ensure that pro bono legal services are, to the extent practicable, evenly distributed throughout the office and consistent with the firm's expectations with respect to its overall commitment to pro bono work. New matter memos for individual cases must be approved by both the Pro Bono Partner and the Practice Group Leader.
VI. Implementation of the Firm's Commitment to Pro Bono Legal Services
The CST Partner will annually provide to those making compensation decisions appropriate data concerning pro bono legal services done by lawyers working on all pro bono cases for consideration in evaluation, advancement, and compensation decisions within the firm
Qualified pro bono work is considered "creditable" for billing and collection purposes. That means that the firm will give billable hour and collection credit to all attorneys and paralegals for performing qualified pro bono legal services. As stated above, qualified pro bono legal services is defined as legal work undertaken, without expectation of a fee, generally on behalf of poor people or organizations that predominantly serve poor people, which has been approved either by the CST Partner or by a Pro Bono Partner and the Practice Group Leader in accordance with the firm’s Pro Bono Policy.
Qualified pro bono legal services will be treated the same as paying client work for purposes of compensation in accordance with the following guidelines:
1. Billable hour credit in the category of creditable time will be given to all timekeepers (attorneys and paralegals) in the full amount of hours determined to be reasonable and appropriate. The determination of "reasonable and appropriate" shall be made by the CST Partner for 094100 matters and by the Pro Bono Partner in the office which generated the 094000 matter. Pro bono work in excess of 100 hours in a single year must be approved in advance by the Partner in charge of the Community Services Team and the responsible Practice Group Leader.
2. Collection credit for all creditable time is calculated as follows for associates, senior counsel and paralegals: first, the number of billable hours determined to be reasonable and appropriate will be multiplied by the timekeeper's billing rate. That figure will then be multiplied by the average percentage yield of billed time for all persons in that billing category (associates, senior counsel, or paralegals) for the calendar year.
3. Collection credit for all creditable time is calculated as follows for partners:
The number of billable hours determined to be reasonable and appropriate will be converted to equivalent collections at the partner's average net hourly rate collected or "yield." The resulting equivalent collections calculation will be treated as collections on own time (COT) for partner compensation determination purposes.
4. The terms of any timekeeper's contract will supersede the above policy to the extent the contract and the pro bono policy are inconsistent.
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