I’m a huge fan of pro bono work, for law students and lawyers, for many reasons. But let’s get down to brass tacks: Can pro bono work help you find a paying law job? Happily, the answer is “Yes.” 

4 Ways Pro Bono Work Can Help You Find a Paying Law Job

Here are four ways doing pro bono work — in law school or as a newly-admitted attorney — can help you find a paying law job:

1. You get real-life experience working with actual clients. New lawyers are in a bind — they need experience to get a job, but they need a job to get experience. Hum…what can help with that dilemma? Oh, right, pro bono work! If you start doing pro bono work in law school, you’ll graduate with valuable hands-on experience, typically working directly with clients. This experience is invaluable, particularly for small firms and organizations which don’t have a huge training budget. If you handled several pro bono divorce cases as a law student (with supervision, of course!) and want to work in family law, you’ll be way ahead of applicants who’ve only read about family law in a textbook.

1. You can experiment with different types of law and see what you enjoy doing. When I left my BigLaw job, I thought I was going to open a solo practice doing family law work. It seemed so meaningful! I’d make a living helping couples resolve their differences amicably, moving on to better places in the sunset, and so on. Luckily, I took a pro bono divorce case, which opened my eyes to the reality of what I’d be getting into! Constant conflict and fighting, people on their worst behavior, overburdened courts trying to make impossible decisions. None of this seemed particularly appealing as a long-term prospect! Far better to realize that…before hanging out the shingle. If you’re considering several different areas of legal practice, try to do some related pro bono work and see what resonates. Do you like drafting contracts for a struggling small business and hate the stress of going to court? Well, corporate practice is probably a better option than litigation! In retrospect, it seems obvious to many people that they started off in the wrong type of practice, but it’s hard to know that without trying things out.  Pro bono work can be a great opportunity to experiment!

1. You’ll get training. Any pro bono project worth its salt is going to train you before turning you loose. Why? Because you’re probably covered by their malpractice insurance, and they don’t want you to commit malpractice! Most have at least some in-person training, and they’ll also leave you with detailed instruction manuals that can be very helpful (for your pro bono work and also as a reference for later paid work). As a bonus, if you’re a practicing attorney, you can typically get free CLE at these trainings. Win! (Especially if you’re unemployed and still have to complete your CLE requirements, which can get expensive.)
2. You’ll have willing mentors. In addition to basic training, most reputable pro bono programs provide ongoing mentorship resources — typically practicing lawyers who’ve agree to help with questions that weren’t covered in the training. These mentor lists are networking gold! If you want to break into a new area of law, taking a pro bono case and reaching out to a practicing lawyer for help can pay huge dividends. Of course, you can’t abuse this privilege (and need to actually want help with the case), but people who’ve volunteered as mentors have already indicated a willingness to be helpful…so use that resource. You never know, they might even have friends looking to hire an eager-beaver new attorney!