For busy attorneys who cite time as the most significant barrier to pro bono service, Rodney Holaday, a partner at Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease, and chair of the firm’s pro bono committee, offers an idea. Holaday likens volunteering to saving. “If you build it into your schedule first and roll into it, you can eliminate the struggle to ‘find time to fit it in,’” he said. “It becomes something that is part of what you do.”
With this philosophy in mind, Holaday leads Vorys’ pro bono committee in connecting pro bono opportunities that offer something for everyone. For attorneys who are passionate about a specific topic, Holaday and the committee help align the firm’s resources to achieve service goals. For attorneys who want to contribute but are unsure of how to get started, the committee seeks opportunities with defined parameters and built-in training.
Vorys’ approach is clearly working. The firm reported nearly 6,500 pro bono hours on the Supreme Court of Ohio and the Foundation’s annual Pro Bono Survey, a result that ranked among the top firms statewide for 2024. Holaday attributes the results to a great firm culture that starts from the top down.
“Firm management appears at pro bono events without fanfare to volunteer, which reflects our values in practice, not just on paper.”
Vorys is so open to supporting attorneys’ interests that it recently learned the firm will receive the Exceptional Service Award from the American Bar Association’s Death Penalty Representation Project despite having no criminal practice. The award is the culmination of thousands of hours of pro bono work by Vorys attorneys in two death penalty cases, one of which has included representation for decades.
“In the most recent case, the client sent a note, now in a frame, that reads, in part, ‘you helped me keep hope alive,’” Holaday said. “It’s that kind of gratitude that has triggered many of our attorneys to expand and extend the scope of their volunteer work beyond their original commitment.”
Vorys also recently received the Outstanding Pro Bono Commitment award from Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Washington (D.C.) for its pro bono work in immigration legal services.
“Awards are fun, but pro bono is all of the small things. It’s the people who may not remember your name, but they were just happy that you were there to hold their hand on the day they were subject to eviction or other difficult life moments. They’re the most grateful people in the world for legal help, and there’s nothing more satisfying than that.”
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 2024 Pro Bono Survey results.