Message from Christopher Hughes and Soyeun Choi, Co-Chairs of the Business Law Section

For centuries, our profession has consistently stepped up to help low-income, underserved, and vulnerable populations gain access to the justice system.  We do it for the public good.  Over the last few decades, the State Bar has encouraged attorneys to contribute at least fifty hours of pro bono service annually.  The commitment to serving the public needs to be more than just aspirational. 

Starting this year, all California attorneys are required to annually report pro bono and reduced-fee legal service hours to the State Bar.  Reporting is straightforward: simply select a range of hours from zero to hundreds.  The data is confidential and will only be published in the aggregate.  For the first time, the data will disclose how we volunteer as a profession, illuminating where the gaps lie.  Ida B. Wells stated it plainly: “The way to right wrongs is to turn the light of truth upon them.”  The timing of this reporting requirement could not be more significant. 

Across the country, we have witnessed a troubling retreat from pro bono work precisely when vulnerable communities need it most.  The consequences for traditional pro bono clients have been severe.  Organizations that rely on certain firms’ pro bono partnerships are struggling to find representation.  Some firms now routinely decline pro bono requests involving immigrant rights, civil rights, and challenges to administration policies, in some cases without even providing a reason. 

Not every firm has capitulated.  Some have shown a willingness to stand up to injustice and continue their pro bono programs.  These firms and attorneys should be commended, and such behavior needs to be emulated.  They remind us that the rule of law does not defend itself.  We must fight against its erosion every single day. 

It is imperative that California attorneys raise the bar.  We step forward when others step back.  When it comes to providing pro bono services, where other firms and attorneys have faltered, the rest of us rise up – not once, not twice, but ten times more. 

As you complete your pro bono reporting this year, we invite you to reflect on the hours you have logged, the communities you have served, and also how to better serve the communities whose causes have been abandoned.  Then make a plan to increase the number of pro bono service hours for 2026.  If you were planning to commit 15 hours, consider aiming for 25.  If you were planning to commit 50 hours, consider aiming for 100.  Encourage partners and colleagues to make similar commitments.  Reach out to newer attorneys, learn about what they are passionate about, and help them sharpen their skills while also ensuring indigent and vulnerable populations have access to the justice system.  Join organizations that connect attorneys with communities in need of assistance.  All of us, working together, can reach monumental heights. 

2025 is behind us so as we look forward to 2026, we can ambitiously increase those numbers tenfold.  Track your hours, report them accurately, and, most importantly, keep doing the work.  Collectively, let us strive to shrink the justice gap instead of letting it continue to grow.  Our communities and the most vulnerable within our communities depend on us.  In this time of great challenge and upheaval, we owe them no less than our very best.

The views expressed herein represent those of the authors and not necessarily those of the authors’ firms or their partners or employees.