Pro Bono Is Worth My Time
As lawyers, our time has value. I don’t mean just the indefinite notion that our time is valuable but a specific dollar amount attached to every six minute increment of our day.
When I started billing by the hour, normal tasks took on a new significance. That traffic jam – $65; my kid’s trip to the dentist – $225; laundry . . . I have a family of five, so I don’t even want to think about that cost. The paradigm shift forced me to answer, “Is it worth my time?” before adding anything to my schedule, and more often than ever before, the answer was “No.”
I’ll be the first to admit that pro bono work took a backseat to the daily demands on my time, and I fell far short of the 50 hours North Carolina lawyers are encouraged to do each year. See North Carolina R. Prof. Cond. Rule 6.1. However, when I really started thinking about investing my time in what I valued – my kid’s soccer game, dinner with my husband, a phone call with a friend – I realized that I missed volunteering.
Many of us volunteered a significant amount of pro bono hours in law school. I think back to the hours I spent pouring through paperwork with the heroes caught in red tape while volunteering at the local VA Clinic; how I felt listening to the patients in a cancer center craft an estate plan with a volunteer attorney; or the relief I saw spread across the face of folks getting a clean slate through expunction. Those meaningful, valuable memories make it clear that every minute was time well spent.
As Pro Bono Month ends and 2022 winds to a close, take a minute right now to think about your favorite pro bono experience and how it made you feel. I’m willing to bet that your experience passed the “worth my time” test. With that in mind, I’m challenging you and me to put pro bono on our calendars this month. Do it now before the next client call or staff emergency, and set your intention (and maybe even your calendar) for 2023.
Our time is valuable, and pro bono is worth it.
Not sure where to volunteer? Check out these resources: