A Stitch in Haste

A quick John Edwards observation, courtesy of the Washington Times:

During his career of allegedly championing the helpless, he took no pro bono cases.

Here is the ABA Model Rule on pro bono service.

RULE 6.1 VOLUNTARY PRO BONO PUBLICO SERVICE
Every lawyer has a professional responsibility to provide legal services to those unable to pay. A lawyer should aspire to render at least (50) hours of pro bono publico legal services per year.

As for North Carolina, it appears that while law school students are required to satisfy a pro bono activity, admitted attorneys are not (there's not even an official suggestion regarding pro bono in the North Carolina ethics code).

Still, it's not like Edwards couldn't afford to take some time off:

In his 20 years as a lawyer, Edwards has a number of trophies he can boast. In at least 63 big cases, he won more than $152 million. His performance earned him an induction into the Inner Circle of Advocates, a society of 100 of the nations best lawyers (all of whom have won at least one case with an award worth $1 million) and a mention as one of Lawyer Weekly USA's "Lawyers of the Year" in 1996. His great fortune, earned from the cases he won, and a cornucopia of professional contacts that he amassed during his career permitted him to make his unexpected jump into the political realm. Source.

Maybe Balko could add this to his list of questions for Edwards.

Meanwhile, here's Halliburton's website regarding community service, corporate giving, etc.

UPDATE #1: The good folks at Overlawyered.com, whom I respect tremendously, point to a New York Times article that suggests that in fact Edwards "handled no notable pro bono cases." On the other hand, we have freerepublic.com pointing to this site which asserts "no pro bono or civil rights litigation."

And of course, searching www.johnkerry.com for "pro bono" returns a bit fat zilch.

I find it hard to believe that, had Edwards had done any pro bono work, he wouldn't have let us know by now. Still, if the Washington Times turns out to be wrong, I will certainly announce it here.

UPDATE #2: Elizabeth Edwards' speech mentioned quite a litany of volunteer activities by her husband as well as his 20-year legal career of "championing" the disadvantaged.

(Sidebar: Can we please dispense with this nonsense that taking cases on contingency is pro bono work? See Page 8 of PDF link.)

Edwards himself talked a lot about Kerry's volunteering for Vietnam and (very) briefly about his own law career.

Since nothing was said by either Elizabeth or John Edwards about any pro bono work, I consider the matter closed.