WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Law Firm Pro Bono Project initiative of Pro Bono Institute (PBI) has released its 2025 Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge® Report based on 2024 data from reporting law firm Challenge signatories. The 2025 Challenge Report comes amid the 30th anniversary of the Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge initiative, and at a time when law firm pro bono faces unique challenges.
BACKGROUND
- The 2025 Report examines the pro bono performance of Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge signatories during the 2024 calendar year.
- The Challenge is the industry standard for pro bono participation in law firms with 50 or more attorneys.
- Challenge signatory firms have committed to a goal of contributing 3 or 5 percent (or 60 or 100 hours per attorney) of their annual billable hours to pro bono activities as defined by the Challenge and to report their performance to PBI each year.
“30 years ago, Esther F. Lardent, PBI Founder, and other visionary leaders in the legal community, founded the Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge initiative as a way to embrace pro bono as a core value for law firms,” said Eve Runyon, PBI President and CEO. “The release of the 2025 Challenge Report coincides with a need for a renewed commitment and creativity exhibited by the early cohort of leaders who invested in pro bono. The report’s findings provide critical context for understanding the evolution of pro bono and navigating the opportunities and challenges ahead to promote access to justice for all.”
There are some positive indicators that certain pro bono metrics may trend back up, emerging from their post-pandemic lows in 2021. The 2024 data reflects a modest 1.6% increase in pro bono hours from 2023, up from 54.7 hours in 2023 to 55.6 hours, with six fewer firms reporting. In 2024, 114 reporting firms contributed about 4.93 million hours of pro bono service. This represents a stronger performance, on average, compared to pro bono hours in 2023 when 120 firms reported about 5.1 million hours. However, other key metrics have remained stable or have slightly declined.
Additional key information from the newly issued Report includes:
- Pro bono hours represented approximately 3.71% of total client billable hours in 2024 – a 1.33% decrease from 2023.
- The percentage of partners participating in pro bono decreased to 62.9%, compared to 63.8% in 2023.
- The percentage of associates participating in pro bono increased slightly to 84.1%, compared to 84% in 2023.
- For firms reporting on their employment of law students, 97% reported involving them in pro bono.
- Law firms reported performing nearly 3.4 million pro bono hours for those of limited means and organizations serving them, representing 73.4% of their total pro bono hours.
- In this first year surveying signatories on the adoption of technology such as automation and generative AI tools, 67% of responding firms reported using such technology in their pro bono practices, and 62% had plans to start or increase their use.
View the full Report, including the executive summary, data analysis, and reflections.
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About Pro Bono Institute
Founded in 1996, PBI is a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit organization. With an unparalleled depth of knowledge, resources and expertise, PBI is the respected resource for all things pro bono. Through our work with law firms, in-house corporate legal departments, and public interest organizations, PBI is the global thought leader in exploring, identifying, evaluating, catalyzing, and taking to scale new approaches to and resources for the provision of legal services to the poor, disadvantaged, and other individuals or groups unable to secure legal assistance to address critical problems.