Pro bono statistics tell the real story about American lawyers

"A Report on the Pro Bono Work of America's Lawyers" recently published by the ABA Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service (August 2005) has some very encouraging news:

• 66 percent of lawyers do some level of pro bono to people of limited means or to organizations serving the poor.
• Pro bono work averages 39 hours a year.
• Beyond pro bono, lawyers average another 38 hours of work for civil rights groups, community organizations and other non-profits.
• 46 percent of lawyers say they provide at least 50 hours of pro bono.
• 14 percent say they had not done any pro bono activity.
• Older lawyers were more likely to work pro bono than younger lawyers.
• The prime motivator to work pro bono is the combined sense of professional duty and personal satisfaction.
• The greatest factor discouraging pro bono work was lack of time.

(From Robert Ambrogi's Lawsites). This is a very good start.