Some Lawyers Just Help Their Fellow Man Opinion by Liam Hegarty Most people get their ideas of what a lawyer is and does from television. They don t realize most lawyers are not like Court TVs talking hairdos pontificating about the latest media event. Listening to them, it's easy to understand why there's a public perception that a lawyers job is to somehow cynically pervert the truth so that a guilty person can "get off". Once that's done, the successful lawyer can reap the benefit of some mega book deal. The fact is, the most important legal work is done far away from klieg lights and court rooms. Real legal work is not winning glamorous trials. It is the rather humdrum task of making sure the trial never happens. Real legal work is the well-drawn contract that makes a deal possible. It is crafting a personnel policy to prevent costly litigation rather than create it. It is not winning a landmark environmental case, it is making sure regulations are obeyed so there is no case to begin with. This is the kind of work that keeps our commerce flowing instead of disintegrating into a morass of finger-pointing and lawsuits. For this reason, corporations have built large staffs of attorneys. But it is invisible work. If nothing happens, who cares? You don't see panels of snappily dressed corpomte attorneys debating the merits of a particularly tricky clause in a procurement contract on Court TV. Similarly, not every lawyer is looking to play all the angles. Sometimes, they just want to help their fellow man. "Pro bono" is short for the Latin phrase "pro bono publico." Loosely translated, it means "for the public good or welfare." To lawyers, pro bono work is legal work done for those who can not afford it. This doesn't mean grudgingly representing that no-good cousin Albert in his third DWI. Rather, it could be a high-powered Wall Street law firm taking on the appeal of some poor fellow sentenced to die. It could be helping staff a legal clinic that helps tenants in disputes with landlords. But that is the visible, exciting side of pro bono work. There is also the more basic job of making sure our safety net keeps functioning. Naturally, who is better suited to fill that void than corporate attorneys? The non-profit Pro Bono Partnership was founded a year ago by the Corporate Bar Association to do just that. The association's members are drawn from the corporate ranks of both Westchester and Connecticut's Fairfield County. Instead of directly helping the needy, the partnership does what it does best: helps organizations that help them. It matches up a volunteer corporate lawyer with non-profit organizations that need his or her services. Non-profits often have problems similar to corporations, although they may not have the means or ability to deal with them properly A lawyer from the partnership can help them do such things as update bylaws, develop personnel policies and enforce them, and the like. Problems can arise any time. In the course of a telephone interview late in the afternoon the day before Thanksgiving, the partnership's executive director, Richard S. Hobish, excused himself to take a call. When he called back he explained it was a charity that had improperly done its taxes some years ago (before the Partnership). Now the IRS wants $10,000 and the charity is in a panic. Hobish will find someone from a corporate tax department to help them. It appears to have been successful. So far, in its first year, 81 lawyers have assisted 70 different local non-profit organizations. Still, Hobish and the president of the organization, Robert E. Healing, say there is much inore to be done. Healing, who is also the corporate counsel for General Electric, was the driving force behind getting the organization off the ground, Hobish said. There are a total 800 non-profits in the two counties, they said. Healing hopes the Partnership will serve as a model for other areas across the nation to begin similar programs. Them are rewards beyond just doing good, Healing said. "It definitely provides a broader perspective an inside counsel can use in all decisions. It helps them have a broader understanding of the world at large." This perspective helps enhance a lawyer's skills, he said. Also, helping people outside the business can help the business itself. "It doesn't hurt to get to know the people on the juries deciding cases against our clients. You don't meet them at luncheons or the company cafeteria," Healing said. Lawyers interested in volunteering their services or non-profits needing them may call the Pro Bono Partner-ship at 914-328-0674. Reprinted by Permission of Fairfield County Business Journal.