Pro Bono At a Glance

Fall 2022 Edition

Dear friends,

The period after the end-of-year holidays is often spent taking stock of the past year and planning for the year ahead. As a firm, the year’s performance is typically evaluated by profitability and financial strength, the solidity of old and new client relationships, the number of terrific new attorneys to join our ranks and initiatives launched and concluded. Another key measure is the number of individuals and non-profits that have received pro bono support from our lawyers and staff. This metric does not factor in our financial performance, and in fact may negatively impact our bottom line. But when we consider how “successful” we have been as a law firm in the past year, these efforts are a vital part of the calculus. The fact that we operate as a profitable business while also providing critical legal services without pay to those individuals and organizations that otherwise would not have access to the justice system is a tribute to all our pro bono volunteers and the firm’s management supporting these efforts. We will calculate the number of pro bono hours and the value of those services when that information is available at the beginning of 2023. But as we close the book on 2022, the Pro Bono Committee thanks all the Robinson+Cole pro bono volunteers who made the time to help a veteran stave off an eviction, a child stay in the United States, a victim of domestic violence obtain a restraining order, or a prisoner assert his or her statutory rights, and generally provide legal counsel to an individual or organization that would not otherwise have an attorney. By that measure, it’s been another very successful year!

Peter Knight
Partner, Chair Pro Bono Committee