Posted June 1, 20118:20 am
Data submitted to the Ohio Supreme Court shows 5,543 attorneys statewide provided almost 140,000 hours of free (pro bono) legal services during 2010, the largest number of hours since a voluntary, anonymous reporting system was initiated three years ago.
A report from the Ohio Legal Assistance Foundation estimated the dollar value of the services at $18.8 million, based on a rate of $135 per hour.
"Using the same average hourly rate, the dollar amount for 2010 represents a $5.8 million increase over 2009 in the contribution of legal services to low income Ohioans," the OLAF said in its report to the court.
The association, working with Supreme Court administrators, implemented an electronic opportunity in January 2009 for active lawyers with an email address on file to report pro bono activities and financial contributions to legal aid programs.
For calendar year 2008, 12% of attorneys chose to participate. In 2009, there was a 7% response rate. For 2010, the participation rate rose to 14 percent.
A change in the reporting process for last year permitted representatives of law firms to list pro bono activities on behalf of all their members. As a result, 95 firms submitted data on behalf of 4,466 of their attorneys. In addition, 1,077 individual lawyers around the state reported.
"The largest percentages of both individual attorneys and firms participating in voluntary pro bono reporting indicated they either lived or were located in northeast Ohio (24.1%). Central and southwest Ohio were second and third, respectively," the OLAF said.
The report said the Supreme Court sent 38,599 emails to attorneys on Jan. 10, 2011 seeking information about their 2010 pro bono activities. The OLAF is not permitted to send the emails because the court protects the addresses as confidential information.
Information collected showed:
The average number of pro bono hours reported per individual attorney was 66, and the average per firm attorney was 15.3.
Pro bono lawyers in Ohio volunteering for the legal aid delivery system handled 13.6% of the cases closed in 2010, 1.6% above the national average.
Ohio's legal aid delivery system closed 71,379 cases in 2010, 9,764 of which were pro bono cases.
The OLAF said it believes continued investment in law firm reporting may produce additional gains in participation. The group hopes for a 10% increase in firm participation this year.
"The data collected will enable the legal aid delivery system to better serve Ohio's low income population and private attorneys who volunteer to provide legal services," the association said.
The Legal Aid Society of Cleveland boasts a Volunteer Lawyers Program (VLP) of 1700 volunteers. To learn more or to volunteer, check out Legal Aid's VLP page.