Archive for the ‘carmody’ tag
Bar: Pro Bono goes stagnant
We love Kelly Carmody. We really, really love Kelly Carmody. She has a way of getting people to talk. And then she has a way of getting them to listen.
This time, she has the rapt attention of the organized Bar. This article in The Florida Bar News should be required reading for every member.
“We had strong indications of some severe drops in pro bono activity in terms of number of hours and number of cases — the statistics were a little spotty, but it was pretty evident,” says Paul Doyle, who directs the Foundation’s Legal Services for the Poor grant funding program. “There was a growing concern that we were not paying enough attention to the pro bono delivery system — that we were failing to keep it vibrant and alive — just by what I would call benign neglect.”
The Florida Bar received national recognition for its pro bono program in the early ’90s and pro bono contributions increased. But it’s gone downhill since 2001. Since then, the report states, “Case-by-case attempts to revitalize pro bono programs have been generally unsuccessful.”