Attorney Bill Freedman chose a career in law because he appreciates complexity, but his reason for donating hundreds of hours of pro bono service is quite simple: he loves it.
Freedman, who recorded a remarkable 1,200 hours of pro bono service in 2023 on the Supreme Court of Ohio and Ohio Access to Justice Foundation’s Pro Bono Survey, has applied his decades of experience as a partner at Dinsmore, plus his 20 years teaching and mentoring law students, to his latest endeavors: pro bono service at the University of Cincinnati Law School’s entrepreneurship clinic and to several Jewish organizations that are committed to the health and success of the Jewish community.
At the entrepreneurship clinic, Freedman calls upon his vast experience as an adjunct law professor, his technical expertise, and his techniques for training his former associates to guide law students as they help real clients with corporate and commercial legal matters. The students paired with Freedman get a crash course in drafting legal documents with a bonus of his enthusiasm for such work.
“They [the students] love it, and I love it, and they end up with a real-life experience,” Freedman said.
In addition to the hours he spends at the clinic, Freedman donates even more time to the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati and the Jewish Federations of North America, where he advises on benefit issues for retirement plans and health benefit plans, helps train people in tax and estate planning, and even helps congregants of modest means create a plan for legacy gifts.
While many attorneys may think of pro bono work as direct legal services for low-income clients, Freedman’s success demonstrates how an attorney might instead apply their skillset to serving a nonprofit organization directly. When he retired from Dinsmore, he sought to use his vast knowledge to advise organizations he cares deeply about. For attorneys interested in volunteering but hesitant to learn a new area of law, pro bono for a nonprofit might be an excellent fit.
“There are many ways you can use your skills to help organizations that desperately need that level of expertise but can’t afford it,” he said. “They don’t have the money. Even if they did have the money, every dollar they spend on legal advice is one less for their mission.”
When asked why he continues to give so much time when he could be sitting on the beach enjoying retirement, Freedman says that volunteering and solving complex business challenges are where his heart is.
“I keep active, I’m keeping my knowledge up, and I’m contributing valuable expertise,” he said. “And it’s so much fun.”
The Foundation partners with the Supreme Court of Ohio to gather information about pro bono volunteerism and financial contributions to legal services organizations in Ohio. View the 2023 survey results.