The State Bar Association of North Dakota Fall 2013 Gavel Magazine | Page 36

PRO BONO
FEATURE

While it is a good to serve on the boards
of the local food pantry or school, North
Dakota lawyers are not providing pro
bono services by doing so. This is the one
of the messages the members of the recently reactivated State Bar Association of
North Dakota Pro Bono Task Force wants
to share with state lawyers.
“There is a pretty big misunderstanding in North Dakota that pro bono is the
same as community service,” says Levi
Andrist, Bismarck, who heads the Pro
Bono Task Force. “It’s important for state
lawyers to be good people and to volunteer for community service, but pro bono
work involves lawyers providing services
to individuals or groups who are unable to
pay with no expectation of getting paid.”
The goal of the task force is to build a culture of pro bono in the state that focuses
on manpower and money, says Andrist.
In building this culture, more lawyers
would step up to provide services, more
lawyers would contribute funds to the
Bar Foundation, and state lawyers would
support state and national legislation that
would increase funding for Legal Services
of North Dakota.
The North Dakota Supreme Court’s
Rules of Professional Conduct define Pro
Bono Publico Service in Rule 6.1.
It says, “A lawyer should render public interest legal service. A lawyer may
discharge this responsibility by providing professional services at no fee or a
reduced fee to persons of limited means
or to public service or charitable groups
or organizations, by service in activities
for improving the law, the legal system or
the legal profession, or by financial support for organizations that provide legal
services to persons of limited means.”
Unlike in some state where the obligation to provide pro bono services is
mandatory, Andrist says North Dakota’s
requirement to provide services is aspirational. And, while it continues to stress
the need for more involvement, SBAND
is working to provide better reporting and
recognitions services.

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GROWING A PRO BONO
CULTURE IN NORTH DAKOTA
“Reporting is important because it
elevates services to a next level,” says Andrist. “It also provides data for SBAND to
leverage services and make a much bigger
statement about what the state’s lawyers
are doing”

New recognition program launched
During the week of October 21, which
was National Celebrate Pro Bono Week,
SBAND launched its Justice of All Lawyer
Program.

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The Gavel Fall 2013