Pro Bono in a Pandemic

Get Involved in National Celebration of Pro Bono Week

BY BILL CHRISTIAN

There is no better time to volunteer your services as a lawyer than now. The COVID-19 pandemic has left many Central Texans, who lack access to an attorney, facing immediate needs for legal help.

Each year, the American Bar Association celebrates pro bono during the last week in October. This year’s National Celebration of Pro Bono week is Oct. 25-31. It is a time both to celebrate the contributions of legal professionals who serve the poor and vulnerable in our community and to encourage all of us to do more to further access to justice. We lawyers should all use this opportunity to find new and different ways to give back to our community during this crisis.

One area of particular need is landlord-tenant law. Beginning in March, residential eviction proceedings have been suspended or limited by a combination of provisions of the CARES Act, orders from the Texas Supreme Court, and executive decrees by local governments. But those various restrictions either have or will expire soon. Once they do, a wave of delayed eviction proceedings

is likely to hit our local court system all at once. As a result, many Central Texans who have lost their jobs are also in danger of losing their homes and unable to afford the services of a lawyer to represent them. Volunteer Legal Services has created a COVID-19 eviction task force to help address this problem, seeking to recruit attorneys to provide advice over the phone or to take eviction cases with the help of a mentor attorney experienced in landlord-tenant law.

Other areas of increased need for pro bono legal services as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic include claims for unemployment benefits; family law, such as divorce and child-custody proceedings; and guardianships. VLS needs volunteer lawyers to help in these areas as well.

Many other opportunities exist for lawyers to put their skills to use in their specialty area or to help in a new area of the law with support from online resources and attorney mentors. The Austin Bar Association needs attorney volunteers for its monthly free legal advice clinic for veterans. Texas C-Bar matches transactional attorneys

with nonprofits needing legal assistance. And many other local organizations are recruiting new attorney volunteers to further their missions. The State Bar maintains a website at probonotexas.org, a “one-stop hub” for helping Texas attorneys find volunteer organizations across the state to fit their experience and interest. Getting involved in pro bono—even as most of us continue to work remotely—has never been easier, thanks to resources like these.

The COVID-19 pandemic has left many Central Texans, who lack access to an attorney, facing immediate needs for legal help.

As the preamble to the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct states: “Every lawyer, regardless of professional prominence or professional workload, should find time to participate in or otherwise support the provision of legal services to the disadvantaged. The provision of free legal services to those unable to pay reasonable fees is a moral obligation of each lawyer as well as the profession generally.”

National Celebration of Pro Bono week is a time to remind us of that obligation and the role we, as lawyers, can play in helping our community overcome the many challenges it is facing during this crisis. AL

Bill Christian is a shareholder at Graves, Dougherty, Hearon & Moody, and is co-chair of the Austin Bar’s Pro Bono Committee.