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from PART III - FASHIONING A REFORM AGENDA
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 May 2016
Given that Americans of average means cannot afford the average hourly rate that most attorneys charge, Luz Herrera discusses how lawyers can realistically offer “low bono” fee arrangements, charging clients of limited means significantly lower hourly rates. She discusses how law schools, bar associations, legal aid organizations, and courts can help promote low bono models.
In order to address the unmet legal needs of individuals in our country, the legal profession must advance an affordable legal services agenda that includes lawyers who provide competent legal services at reduced or “low bono” rates. Low bono fee arrangements are a system of billing that takes into account the financial constraints and the legal needs of average-means Americans. In a low bono fee arrangement, a lawyer agrees to charge her client a lower rate for her services.
UNDERSTANDING LOW BONO
Although the term “low bono” may be new, the practice of offering reduced legal fees is not. The concept of low bono is memorialized in ABA Model Rule of Professional Conduct 6.1(b)(2). This particular subsection states that in addition to aspiring to provide 50 hours of free legal services each year, lawyers should also “provide any additional services through … delivery of legal services at a substantially reduced fee to persons of limited means.” Comment 7 of ABA Model Rule 6.1 explains that lawyers who offer “a modest fee for furnishing legal services to persons of limited means” comply with the rule despite the stated preference for pro bono services. Today, most states recognize reduced fees, or low bono, as an alternative expression of a lawyer's public service commitment.
The practice of lawyers offering “low bono” rates is not fully embraced by all who support offering more affordable legal services. Some object to describing the practice of reduced rates as low bono because the word “low” communicates an inferior priority that can discredit the practice. Others caution that the problem with low bono is that the economic benefit is on the backs of the lawyers who are usually not always in the strongest economic position to subsidize legal fees. Those who understand the plight of solo and small firm lawyers, therefore focus on advancing an agenda for affordable legal services primarily through limited scope representation at market hourly rates.
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