Iowa City Attorney Allison Werner Smith says she takes on pro bono family law cases because people don’t have the option of a court appointed attorney in those cases and it would be tough for a working parent to navigate the court system on their own.
“I have had several pro bono family law matters where a parent needed assistance getting a custody order or child support established,” Werner Smith said.
Werner Smith is just one out of more than 7,000 attorneys in Iowa being recognized as part of “Pro Bono Legal Services Week” for contributing their time to provide legal assistance to those who can’t afford it.
The week is part of a national celebration coordinated by the American Bar Association to showcase the difference lawyers make to the nation, the system of justice, its communities and clients they serve by providing free legal assistance.
In 2009, the number of hours donated was more than 17,000, Brett Toresdahl, executive director of the Iowa State Bar Association Public Service Project. The value of that time was about $2.3 million. About 2,900 lawyers donated at least some of their time to individual cases through organized pro bono efforts.
Werner Smith said she handles 10 to 12 pro bono cases a year, which would be an estimated amount of 7 to 10 hours per case.
“The judicial branch just issued a recommendation this week that all attorneys aspire to at least 50 hours of pro bono work a year,” Werner Smith said. “If all attorneys made that commitment, it would be a huge leap in the ability to provide legal services to low income Iowans.”
Werner Smith said 50 hours is reasonable because most law firms encourage attorneys to take on 2,000 hours per year as a rough goal.
“For newer attorneys, pro bono work is a great chance to get some courtroom experience, and also learn more about the community they live in,” Werner Smith said.”Doing pro bono work can be very rewarding as the clients are simply at a financial disadvantage, even if they have very legitimate legal claims.”
