The legal system of the United States is a vital component of the country’s ability to keep its citizens safe and secure from harm and forms an essential link in its structure of civil institutions. That being said, the complexity of the system of law in the United States, complicated by the existence of both myriad devices for enacting regulations and laws and by the high preparedness on the part of both government agencies and private individuals for pressing their own legal agenda through civil and criminal means ensures that it can require a substantial allotment of both legal ingenuity and sometimes of finances to amass sufficient legal resources for navigating through the system to a successful and desired-for conclusion. An unfortunate, often noted reality of the American legal system is that often the people who are the most in need of legal resources are also those who have the least degree of ease in accessing legal resources, for disadvantages that can include limited financial funds and social prejudice. For this reason, an important legal resource that is, at least ideally, made available to such disadvantaged people in the practices of the United States legal profession is that of work which is performed “pro bono,” or free of charge.
The legal resources that can be furnished through the use of a “pro bono” service can include the preparation of essential legal documents to the provision of advice as is needed in the event of a criminal or civil trial. Advice in of itself is an essential legal resource and one that at under normal conditions can be the cause of a person facing a substantial bill. The array of legal procedures devised for dealing with the many cases that can arise may include too great a number to allow even the ingenious amateur to have much of a hope in comprehending its complexities. The legal resource of pro bono legal consultation is thus held by many observers of and practitioners in the legal field to be an essential component of ensuring an equitable legal system with a commitment to enacting measures aimed at promoting the cause of social justice. “Pro bono,” “for the good,” comes from the longer Latin phrase “pro bono publico,” meaning “for the public good.” Since the professionals who are training in furnishing legal resources to people in need possess ample opportunity through the practicing of such a function to be subject to substantial monetary compensation, the “pro bono” concept is intended to ensure that a degree of commitment to using legal resource services for overall well being remains a component of the legal resources profession. One sobering finding that has been made by the law student activist group Building a Better Legal Profession in the interests of providing law students with the means to exercise some degree of selectivity in their choice of which law firm would be best to join consists of the finding that large law firms fall short of offering this legal resource at recommended rates.