Elizabeth Putfark
I came to law school desperate to do some good in the world, so I signed up for a pro bono project during the first week of 1L. At first, I thought I’d made a massive mistake. The assignment was an asylum brief for a woman fleeing violence in Central America. As I read her story, I was struck dumb by the feeling that I didn’t know enough about law to do this kind of good. But for all we learn about law as a concept, it’s functionally a tool. And the thing about a tool is, you can’t really know it until you try to use it. Once I started writing, I realized I had what I needed—the abilities I brought to law school, plus resources available through my supervising attorney and the Pro Bono Program. I completed the brief. And it was the most meaningful part of my semester.
Pro bono has given me opportunities to do good while simultaneously growing my skillset. In addition to more asylum-related work, I took on projects within my practice area of environmental law, volunteering with organizations like the Chesapeake Legal Alliance, Advocates for the West and the Southern Environmental Law Center. Each pro bono assignment grounded my understanding of abstract legal doctrine in the realities of practicing law. I stopped thinking so much about outlines and started asking, “Wait, how does this theory actually work?”
Ultimately, for me, pro bono is two things. Pro bono is a lifeline for everyone who comes to law school to do good, then walks out of their first doctrinal class wondering, “Am I in the right place?” You absolutely are, and you can start through the Pro Bono Program. Second, pro bono is a way to tether the cerebral inquiries that make academia fun and stimulating to the real world outside — real people, real work environments and real-world problems that law can address or exacerbate. Whatever you’re trying to be, pro bono can make you better.