Minnesota Lawyers' Dedication to Pro Bono Work Has Made the State a National Leader

"On death row in Alabama and Louisiana. On a border crossing in California where refugees seek asylum. In a housing court in Minneapolis where tenants try to expunge evictions from court records to get decent apartments.

The settings, while different, share a common bond: Minnesota lawyers, stepping up to do pro bono work — lots of it — for low-income clients in the Twin Cities and across the country.

Minnesota lawyers’ dedication to pro bono, or free, legal work, has made the state a national leader and, recently, an award winner.

In late May, Faegre Baker Daniels was one of two U.S. firms to be honored for outstanding contributions to pro bono work at the annual convention of the American Bar Association (ABA) in August.

“There is a great need for lawyers for low-income people who can’t afford them,” says Jodie Boderman, one of Faegre’s pro bono managers..."

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