Pro Bono Publico: Issues and Implications

The lawyer is standing at the gate to Heaven and St. Peter is listening to his sins. .. the list goes on for quite awhile. The lawyer objects and begins to argue his case. He admits all these things, but argues, "Wait, I've done some charity in my life also." St. Peter looks in his book and says, "Yes, I see. Once you gave a dime to a panhandler and once you gave an extra nickel to the shoeshine boy, correct?" The lawyer gets a smug look on his face and replies, "Yes." St. Peter turns to the angel next to him and says, "Give this guy 15 cents and tell him to go to hell."' I. INTRODUCTION Lawyer bashing is a common activity of the Nineties. The profession is seen as a "dour and greedy [one] that enriches itself through legal subtleties [which lawyers] have created.", 2 Although anti-lawyer sentiment and distrust of lawyers as a class was present even in colonial America, 3 the public perception of the legal profession today is probably at its nadir. For example, a recent survey by the American Bar Association ("A.B.A.") revealed that lawyers had a favorability rating of only forty percent. 4 Only stockbrokers and politicians tested lower, with approval ratings of twenty-eight percent and twenty-one percent, respectively. 5 In fact, the approval rating for lawyers was higher among people who were the least likely to come into direct personal contact with them, while their approval rating was lowest among those who were most likely to come into contact with