A twit came across the screen the other day about a criminal defense lawyer from down New Orleans way, where he had some extra time on his hands, could use some extra business, and so he found his way to a website called LawQA.  There’s no link to it, as there’s nothing worthy there to see.

One of the basic draws of the site for non-lawyers is the promise of free answers to legal questions.  You know how much people love free.  Naturally, the questions are too imprecise, even assuming they aren’t deliberately framed to obtain the answers desired, to be of any value.  Why bother with the searching questions that lawyers use to get to the heart of an issue when you can ask simplistic questions that guarantee no worthwhile answer.

And then there are lawyers, hoping to endear themselves to a questioner, who will then be so enchanted with a response that they will feel immediately compelled to put their hand in their pocket and pull out wads of cash.  Forget jurisdiction. Forget critical details. Forget all the nasty little things that distinguish legal advice from what Aunt Selma will tell you on the street corner.  Just be kind and empathetic, and maybe your phone will ring.

So the NOLA lawyer answered questions, except he seemed like a well-intended guy with a little too much time on his hands.  He thought he was doing a mitzvah, the New Orleans word for good deed.  He was trying to help people who needed help.  Is that a bad thing?

It can be, when it supports a concept that inherently unhelpful and potentially dangerous.  Half-baked questions, evoking quarter-baked legal advice, even when well-intended, can lead people to making very bad decisions.  Not only is no one helped by bad advice, but they can find themselves in far worse positions as a result.  To any lawyer who cares, this isn’t what they want to see happen as a result of their good deed.

After some discussion about the nature of these sucker come-on websites, using lawyers to bolster their advertising revenue and “premier” (meaning, paid-for) services to sell lawyers like laundry detergent, the question was posed:  So if this is bad, then what is good?

Pro bono.

Many lawyers these days find themselves with extra time on their hands and a desire to use it in both a meaningful way, and a way that might lead to a few more interesting phone calls.  There’s nothing wrong with hoping the phone will ring with a person on the other end who has both the wherewithal to obtain counsel and a case that will be both interesting and enlightening.  Nothing wrong at all.

At the same time, there are people out there, human beings, who aren’t capable of covering the freight for desperately needed legal services.  It’s not that they’re looking for a free ride, as much as there being no other ride available to them.  They need a lawyer.  You are a lawyer. They have a fascinating case. You could use a fascinating case. What could possibly be done with these fortuitously fitting circumstances?

Taking a matter on pro bono can be an opportunity to show your chops, both to the client, his family and friends, as well as the court and prosecutors.  No, it’s not invariably perfect, with some people failing to appreciate the gift as given.  But most of the time, pro bono is seen as a noble effort, an act of compassion toward others.  This is a good thing.

True, the obligation assumed in pro bono representation can end up being very time consuming, more so than the free time you have available, or the free time you’re willing to give up.  It’s certainly more onerous than dashing off a half-baked answer on some scam website for some cheapskate.  Once you’ve undertaken the representation of another, regardless of whether you’re well-paid or doing it for love, your duty is to do so with the same degree of excellence and to see it through to the end.  That’s the life of a lawyer.

At least you get to select a person/case deserving of your efforts with pro bono, and can enjoy the sense of doing something worthwhile with your time rather than just mercenary.  And don’t neglect the potential of karma.  Whether or not you see any direct benefit accruing from pro bono representation, good things tend to find their way to people who do good for others.  It’s just how things happen.

So you have too much time on your hands?  This is my solution, for whatever it’s worth.