Pro bono
The problem of chronic underfunding of legal aid is that it traps the lower middle class in no-man's-land: too rich to qualify for legal aid, too poor to pay an attorney in private practice. To remedy the ongoing shortage of legal aid services, some commentators have suggested that mandatory pro bono obligations ought to be required of all lawyers, just as physicians working in emergency rooms are required to treat all patients regardless of ability to pay. Such proposals have been mostly fought off by bar associations successfully. In their 1993 Model Rule 6.1, the American Bar Association emphasized the importance of attorneys providing a minimum of fifty hours of free legal assistance to low-income litigants annually. To justify this requirement, the American Bar Association has referenced the larger movement to incorporate larger ideals that are central to the legal profession, such as public service and advancing the public good, in actionable ways. Since then, pro-bono legal work has become institutionalized in large firms. Before the 1990s, pro-bono legal work was provided mainly by small firms; however, by the end of the 1990s, pro-bono was distributed “through a network of structures designed to facilitate the mass provision of free services by law firm volunteers acting out of professional duty”. 1/3 of Latino lawyers perform pro-bono work and 49% of Latino lawyers report to meet this 50 hour annual quota with 8.3% report to providing 200 hours or more. Pro bono services are sometimes awarded by Courts in cases related to employment, sex discrimination, consumer credit and fraud amongst others.