Pro Bono or Pro Bank-o?
If attorneys get paid for pro bono work, is it still pro bono? Absolutely NOT!
Lawyers at Davis Wright Tremaine didn’t charge a parent group for seven years of work on a U.S. Supreme Court case against Seattle Public Schools: They took the case pro bono.
But now that the firm is trying to collect $1.8 million in legal fees from the school district, several national legal experts say the term — technically, “pro bono publico,” meaning “for the public good” — may no longer apply. Seattle Times
Already financially burdened school districts shouldn’t have to fork over millions of dollars to line the pockets of law firms.
Let’s turn the lil’ law book around and look at it a different way. Let’s say, the kind public concerning law firm, Davis Wright Tremaine, was representing the school district in this case(pro bono of course), and won. In other words, the parents of these students lost. Case closed and we all go back to our daily lives. WRONG! These fine lawyers from Davis Wright Tremaine need to go collect the $1.8 million it costs then for defending their clients, (defending their clients pro bono of course). Right?
(Side note: in researching Davis Wright Tremaine, I became aware of our former governor Gary Locke’s partnership in this firm. eww.. do I smell a DimoRAT in the firm or what)
