The panel, which is considering welcoming the mandatory 50 hours pro-bono work culture of New York, also includes a retired state judge and a law student. If the requirement were adopted then New Jersey would also require prospective attorneys to complete stipulated hours of pro bono work before being allowed to join the state bar.
Judge Grant, in a letter written on Oct. 15, mentioned that 97 percent of small claims litigants and 99 percent of tenants in housing cases in New Jersey appear in court without a lawyer. Grant wrote, “These numbers, combined with the ongoing limits of resources for Legal Services of New Jersey, continue to cause concern about access for a considerable portion of those who could be most in need.”
However, according to Eve Klothen, the assistant dean for pro bono at Rutgers-Camden, one of the three law schools on the committee, 80 percent of students already finish enough hours of pro bono before graduation to qualify under New York's requirement. She holds that even if New Jersey adopts a similar rule as in New York, it would not make any significant differences in administrative or other costs. Only students would need to complete the mandatory pro bono hours, officially, before they appear for the bar, and there is enough opportunity to do that while studying at law school.
Judge Rabner has not yet set any timeline for the review or adoption of the pro-bono mandate.
