Schmedemann on Pro Bono Volunteerism Ethos in Law and Elsewhere

Posted by Alan Childress

Deborah Schmedemann (Wm. Mitchell–Law) has posted to SSRN her article, “Priming for Pro Bono Publico: Inculcating a Norm of Public Service in New Lawyers.”  Here is her abstract:

The paper explores pro bono by newlawyers as a form of professional volunteerism, relying on datagathered from 1,000 law students and lawyers. The paper first presentssocial science insights into volunteerism outside the law, includingthe psychology of helping, sociologists’ insights into the socialcontext of volunteering, and economists’ analysis of conscience goods.The paper then presents data from two major surveys: recent law schoolgraduates and students in Professional Responsibility courses. Thestudy includes (1) individual attitudes, including approaches to moralreasoning, attributions related to poverty, and community orientation;(2) the impact of law school, including skill building and comparisonsto family and religious influences; and (3) the role of the profession,including the impact of professional responsibility rules andinvitations to participate.