Pro bono reporting requirement results in more pro bono & donations

Illinois lawyers are not required to provide pro bono services, but if they do provide them, they must report it on their annual registration forms. This reporting requirement was adopted in 2007 and since then Illinois attorneys have logged more than 6.5 million service hours and contributed $47.2 million, according to a recent report by the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission. The report states that the total of pro bono legal service hours provided improved by 2.1% from 2008 to 2009 and the total amount of financial contributions increased by 1% to a total of $14.9 million. The report is available here.