Pro Bono Publico (for the common good) has become a well-established Indiana legal tradition. Throughout Indiana, hundreds of private attorneys volunteer their time to help low income residents in their community. However, despite these efforts, many Indiana residents are still denied justice when their civil legal cases go unrepresented due to a shortage of participating attorneys.

Thankfully, law is a profession unlike most, where its members take a pledge to defend the weak, the unpopular and the defenseless, regardless of their ability to pay. Many lawyers regard it as a personal, as well as, professional obligation. Society regards pro bono as a noble and fundamental contribution. When a citizen's access to justice is thwarted by an inability to pay a legal fee, the very fabric of our free society suffers.

We as Indiana lawyers are obliged under Rule 6.5 of the Indiana Rules of Professional Conduct to use our best efforts to see that the economically disadvantaged receive adequate civil legal services. If we as a profession can devise affordable, efficient and effective ways to provide access to justice to the many faceless individuals in our local communities who have been denied access because of their financial status, it will be for the good of your practice, your community and your profession.

Please get involved today by taking the pro bono pledge.