I see a lot of people on the Internet implying that there are plenty of lawyers just sitting around waiting for interesting and potentially high profile cases to take on for free. I've never seen any evidence of this, and I suspect there are very few.
Major pro bono matters, or smaller cases with great
human interest, are far more likely to receive extensive
coverage. Holland & Knight, for example, received highly
favorable and extensive coverage of its work in the
Rosewood case, including a glowing front page, above the
fold, article in the Wall Street Journal and People.
Hogan & Hartson, similarly, received a great deal of
play in the media concerning its representation of
African-American plaintiffs alleging that Denny’s
restaurants had discriminated against them. In both
instances, the firms undertook these time-consuming,
controversial cases because it was the right thing to
do. However, their creative, successful lawyering
became a front-page story.
