Originally posted on Daily Business Review on March 7th, 2025.
Legal aid is not a handout to those who can’t afford representation, nor is it checking the pro bono box in pursuit of good-standing status or required continuing legal education credits. Rather, as the exclusive provider of representation to those who otherwise cannot access it, legal aid is at the core of the profession’s commitment to the community.
By Jeffrey D. Harvey
In Florida, if the voluntary bar is the heart of the legal community— promoting professionalism, training and mentoring lawyers, investing in the community—then legal aid is its conscience. Let me explain. Legal aid is not a handout to those who can’t afford representation, nor is it checking the pro bono box in pursuit of good-standing status or required continuing legal education credits. Rather, as the exclusive provider of representation to those who otherwise cannot access it, legal aid is at the core of the profession’s commitment to the community. It creates efficiency in the judicial system and government bureaucracy, provides career growth and development for attorneys and strengthens communities across the state. It is a smart system whose impact and worth go far beyond simply “doing the right thing.”
The Constitution is the basis for our country’s founding. From basic issues such as marriage licenses and traffic violations to complex matters involving sophisticated financial transactions and criminal activity, the U.S. legal system enables our country to function. It undergirds both our economy and our social fabric and is essential to everyday life. It’s the common denominator that should unite all Americans. Legal aid, whether through pro bono counsel or via organizations like the one I lead, is a critical component with impact that benefits everyone, regardless of their place on the political spectrum. This idea of a nationally shared responsibility and common benefit is what I call “Big America.”
Legal Aid Reduces Burdens for State Agencies
We can all understand that providing representation for those who could not normally afford it immediately benefits that client. Matters such as evictions, debt collection and family law disputes often lead to issues like homelessness, poverty, crime and illness. What we may not realize is that for the veteran or spousal abuse victim who receives help navigating those issues, legal aid helps them avoid dependence on a wide range of taxpayer-funded assistance programs, including welfare, housing and health care. Legal aid also helps reduce the frequency of self-representation, eliminating costly inefficiencies in administering justice. It
helps resolve common issues such as access to child support that, if not addressed early, quickly gain complexity and require a far greater degree of state involvement.
Pro Bono Work Creates Professional Balance for Attorneys
Legal aid not only helps reduce costs for the state; it also benefits a disproportionately stressed profession. According to the 2024 ALM and Law.com Compass Mental Health Survey of the Legal Profession, 47% of lawyers said they felt a sense of failure or self-doubt, 52% have lost motivation, 52% felt increasingly cynical and negative and 57% had decreased satisfaction and sense of accomplishment. In that same study, 79% said they believe their workplaces contribute to those feelings. These staggering rates indicate an unhealthy profession that far too often emphasizes billing and business development over the craft of lawyering, client service, intentional professional growth and job satisfaction.
Pro bono work offers attorneys a structured path to fill in gaps that the grind of firm life may obscure or eliminate. For early- to mid-career lawyers especially, pro bono provides exposure to areas of the law that may not be on their prescribed partner track. The opportunity to work alongside and observe more senior counsel in new practice areas is incredibly valuable. Pro bono is an excellent way to network and expand one’s professional (and personal) connections. These attributes may
seem obvious but are clearly lacking in a profession where, according to a report by U.S. News, almost 70% of respondents in a Law School Admission Council survey indicated social justice and the opportunity to help others and uplift communities were their prime motivators for going to law school. Pro bono via legal aid allows attorneys to pursue those ambitions and provides the balance and job satisfaction so often lacking in the field.
Legal Aid’s Ripple Effect Bolsters Communities
Far from a handout, legal aid strengthens and enhances the social fabric of communities. Day in and day out, we help clients navigate and resolve legal matters that could prevent their ability to build productive and contributory lives for themselves and their families.
For example, we took on a client who had provided care for an elderly woman. After the woman left her home for a nursing facility and eventually died, her house sat abandoned and unclaimed by her heirs. Our client, who had nowhere to live, moved in. For 13 years she made improvements to the house and paid property taxes. She came to us believing (correctly) that under the law, she was entitled to the house and needed our help. After a year and a half, we were able to successfully
navigate a highly skeptical court, securing a deed in the client’s name. As a result—and most importantly—our client is housed. She prevented a home from falling into ruin, becoming an eyesore for the community and falling into the hands of absentee investors for merely the taxes owed. She has an asset to leave to her children, helping secure their futures. She continues to pay property taxes. Her ability to build equity and make improvements to the property has helped keep her historic community well maintained and intact. The impact of this relatively simple matter far extends from its original scope.
Our Legal System Requires a Foundation of Trust
United we stand, divided we fall. In today’s environment, the nonpartisan thing we can all agree upon is that words once exchanged in healthy debate have become weaponized in headlines and back-and-forth social media exchanges. As this spreads division within our communities, the belief in the American Dream seems to be fading along with the concept of “Big America,” which was the national recognition and unifying vision of the value of our communities, their structures and the vital role a stable legal system plays in our society.
Our primary goal is client satisfaction, not just with our organization but with a legal process that’s our clients’ inherent right. We help maintain and restore people’s faith in a legal system that is of, by and for the people. As providers of legal aid – and as the conscience of the profession – when we do our jobs correctly, we eliminate waste in the legal system and dependency on taxpayer-funded services; we expand career satisfaction, opportunity and growth for practitioners; and we
strengthen communities, enabling them to make positive economic and social contributions to society. We cannot achieve our goals, however, without the help of all of the legal profession. Your participation, just like that of those we serve, is essential to the rule of law and the concept of a Big America.
Jeffrey D. Harvey, is the chief executive officer of Community Legal Services, a full-service civil legal aid law firm serving the Central Florida community. He is a 24-year veteran of the U.S. Army and recently completed a master’s in strategic studies at the U.S. Army War College.