Some
practice
areas
easily
lend
themselves
to
pro
bono
work.
Criminal
defense
lawyers
can
step
up
for
indigent
defendants
and
commercial
real
estate
attorneys
can
help
a
non-profit
organization
find
a
new
headquarters.
It’s
a
bit
tougher
to
figure
out
what
a
40
Act
lawyer
is
going
to
do.
While
the
biggest
barrier
to
pro
bono
service
will
always
be
professional
apathy,
don’t
overlook
the
problem
of
willing
lawyers
who
feel
lost
and
unqualified
about
the
particulars
of
pro
bono
work.
That
feeling
is
even
more
pronounced
among
law
students
who
don’t
really
know
how
to
do
anything
yet.
But
a
new
partnership
aims
to
help
law
students
get
the
specific
training
they
need
to
help
the
community.
Pro
bono
management
platform
Paladin
and
the
Practising
Law
Institute
just
announced
an
initiative
designed
to
integrate
PLI’s
training
programs
directly
into
Paladin’s
law
school
pro
bono
platform.
The
idea
is
straightforward:
when
a
law
student
signs
up
for
a
pro
bono
matter
through
Paladin,
they’ll
also
get
access
to
targeted,
skills-based
PLI
training
tailored
to
that
specific
type
of
work.
We
talk
a
lot
about
the
gap
between
what
law
school
teaches
and
what
practice
demands.
It’s
practically
a
genre
of
legal
commentary
at
this
point.
But
pro
bono
work
presents
a
uniquely
thorny
version
of
this
problem.
When
a
first-year
associate
shows
up
at
a
Biglaw
firm
not
knowing
how
to
draft
a
motion,
the
firm
should
have
every
financial
incentive
to
train
them.
For
all
the
rosy
talk
about
pro
bono
commitments,
they
aren’t
as
eager
to
burn
time
on
training.
Unless
they’re
still
trying
to
cover
the
pro
bono
payola
they
gave
the
Trump
administration.
Law
students,
meanwhile,
are
doing
a
staggering
amount
of
pro
bono
work.
The
class
of
2025
contributed
more
than
5.1
million
hours
of
legal
services,
amounting
to
over
$178
million
worth
of
work.
With
their
souls
still
somewhat
intact,
law
students
are
a
motivated
population
and
could
do
even
more
if
we
cut
down
the
millions
of
opportunities
for
undertrained
students
to
find
themselves
worried
that
they’re
in
over
their
heads.
Opportunities
to
assist
asylum
intake
clinics,
perform
guardianship
casework
for
children,
engage
in
innocence-related
research,
or
simply
help
the
elderly
navigate
benefits
claims
are
all
available.
The
skills
gap
between
“I
just
finished
Civ
Pro”
and
“I
need
to
interview
a
detained
asylum
seeker”
is
vast
but
not
insurmountable.
Like
a
lot
of
pro
bono
challenges,
it’s
a
matter
of
bringing
the
resources
to
bear.
Paladin
CEO
Kristen
Sonday
framed
the
partnership
in
terms
that
should
resonate
with
anyone
watching
AI
reshape
associate
work:
Integrating
legal
training
with
hands-on
pro
bono
experience
is
the
future
of
legal
education.
Especially
with
the
advancement
of
AI
and
associates’
work
changing
so
rapidly,
there
is
no
substitute
for
real-world
pro
bono
experience.
Artificial
intelligence
isn’t
going
to
replace
lawyers,
but
it’s
going
to
reduce
the
number
of
lawyers
it
takes
to
get
things
done.
It’s
a
distinction
that
won’t
matter
to
the
person
left
unemployed,
but
it
should
inform
how
law
students
approach
their
future
careers.
When
firms
don’t
need
as
many
bodies
to
perform
bottom
rung
tasks,
the
people
who
keep
their
jobs
will
be
the
ones
already
ahead
on
developing
the
higher
level
reasoning
and
client-facing
tasks.
And
pro
bono
work
offers
a
time-honored
avenue
to
developing
those
skills
early.
Paladin
launched
its
law
school
platform
last
summer
in
collaboration
with
30
schools,
and
since
then
law
students
have
signed
up
for
over
5,600
pro
bono
cases
through
the
platform.
Adding
PLI’s
training
resources
to
that
pipeline
delivers
practical,
on-demand
training
led
by
expert
faculty
at
no
cost
to
students.
PLI’s
Kirsten
Talmage
pitched
the
partnership
as
building
a
pipeline:
This
initiative
will
help
schools
deliver
trusted,
experiential
training
that’s
practical
and
meaningful,
while
building
a
stronger
pipeline
of
law
students
who
will
carry
pro
bono
forward
into
firms,
in-house
teams,
and
every
corner
of
practice.
Even
though
this
is
directed
at
law
students,
the
impact
promises
to
carry
over.
Giving
eager,
service-minded
law
students
real
learning
and
genuine
experience
can
give
them
the
confidence
to
keep
doing
good
work
when
they
graduate
and
start
drafting
purchase
agreements
to
acquire
orphanages
to
work
the
client’s
coal
mines.
Lawyers
who
develop
pro
bono
habits
in
law
school
are
far
more
likely
to
continue
that
work
in
practice.
But
lawyers
who
had
a
bad
pro
bono
experience
—
either
because
they
felt
unprepared,
unsupported,
overwhelmed,
or
all
three
—
tend
to
quietly
opt
out
once
they
have
the
option.
If
the
current
generation
of
Biglaw
partners
won’t
stand
up,
maybe
training
the
next
generation
to
actually
know
what
they’re
doing
when
they
volunteer
will
produce
lawyers
with
both
the
skills
and
the
spine
to
do
the
work
that
needs
doing.
Joe
Patrice is
a
senior
editor
at
Above
the
Law
and
co-host
of
Thinking
Like
A
Lawyer.
Feel
free
to email
any
tips,
questions,
or
comments.
Follow
him
on Twitter or
Bluesky
if
you’re
interested
in
law,
politics,
and
a
healthy
dose
of
college
sports
news.
Joe
also
serves
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a
Managing
Director
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RPN
Executive
Search.