The Meaning of Pro Bono

Institutional Variations in Professional Obligations among Lawyers

Bibliographic Data

ID7907176
AuthorsRobert Granfield (University at Buffalo, State University of New York, corresponding author)
Year2007
Volume41
Issue1
Pages113-146
Publication date2007-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueLaw & Society Review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0023-9216 • E-ISSN: 1540-5893
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1111/j.1540-5893.2007.00293.x
OpenAlexW2106497709
LanguageEN
Citations received12
References cited39

Recent data on lawyer participation in pro bono have suggested that such work flows from the intrinsic value one derives from volunteering as well as from workplace characteristics of those who provide pro bono service. This finding would imply that pro bono emerges not merely from individual personality traits but that the workplace environment structures motives and incentives for pro bono work. Such a finding points to a need to disentangle the effects of diverse workplace settings on the construction of different vocabularies of motive for engaging in pro bono work. In this article I employ an institutional framework to examine the impact of the workplace environment on participation in pro bono work among lawyers. Survey data were collected from 474 lawyers who graduated from three law schools that have mandatory pro bono requirements. Results indicate that lawyers' meanings of pro bono as well as their motivations for doing such work and the benefits they attribute to such work vary across workplace settings. These results are discussed in relation to institutional theory

Business · Economics · Incentive · Meaning (existential · Personality · Political science · Public relations · Service (business · Sociology · Value (mathematics · Work (physics · Law, Economics, and Judicial Systems · Marketing · Nonprofit Sector and Volunteering · Psychology · Regulation and Compliance Studies · Social Psychology

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