Doctoral Dissertation Research: Pro Bono Publico, The Large Law Firm, and Social Movements: A Relational Approach to the Study of Cause Lawyering

在过去的几十年里，大型律师事务所的公益实践经历了戏剧性的变化。这项研究从两个方面考察了大型精英律师事务所的公益业务。首先，这项研究分析了美国最大的200家公司在1993至2005年间的大公司承诺时间。具体地说，这项研究试图了解组织和社会因素，这些因素预测了一家公司在公益实践中投入了多少时间。其次，本研究分析了公益代理的范围。通过对大公司及其公益客户之间的组织间关系的横断面分析，本研究将解决所代表的原因类型以及预测这些关系的组织因素。对大型公司管理人员的定性访谈将补充定量分析，以便了解当代公益活动的背景。本研究还旨在分析来自大型公司律师事务所的精英律师在社会运动事业中所扮演的角色。以前的学术研究在很大程度上忽视了精英律师对社会运动活动的贡献。这项研究还将通过审查大型律师事务所公益实践的组织结构来为法律学术做出贡献，这在很大程度上是在个人层面上进行的审查。此外，这项研究旨在通过将社会科学方法引入公益事业的研究，为法学学术做出贡献。本研究也有可能对大公司内的公益事业实践提供帮助。以前的研究认为，大公司无偿服务目前是向穷人和其他边缘化群体提供民事法律援助的最大提供者。随着联邦政府对穷人的法律援助持续下降，这种情况不太可能改变。因此，对促进大公司无偿发展的组织因素的研究对于向边缘化个人提供法律援助以及确保美国社会中最脆弱的成员获得平等诉诸司法具有重要意义。

Large firm pro bono practice has undergone dramatic changes over the last few decades. This study examines large elite law firms' pro bono practices along two dimensions. First, this study analyzes large firm commitment in terms of hours between 1993 and 2005 for the top 200 firms in the United States. Specifically, the study seeks to understand the organizational and social factors that predict how much time a firm commits to its pro bono practice. Second, this study analyzes the scope of pro bono representation. Through a cross-sectional analysis of the interorganizational relationships between a sample of large firms and their pro bono clients, this study will address the types of causes that are represented and the organizational factors that predict these relationships. Qualitative interviews with large firm managers will supplement the quantitative analyses in order to contextualize contemporary pro bono practices. This study also aims to analyze the role that elite lawyers from large corporate law firms play for social movement causes. Previous scholarship has largely overlooked the contribution of elite lawyers to social movement activity. This study will also contribute to legal scholarship by examining the organizational structure of large firm pro bono practice, which has largely been examined at the individual level. Furthermore, this study aims to contribute to legal scholarship by bringing social scientific approaches to the study of pro bono.This study also has the potential to assist in the actual pro bono practices within large firms. Previous research has argued that large firm pro bono is currently the largest provider of civil legal assistance to the poor and other marginalized groups. This is unlikely to change as federal legal assistance to the poor continues to decline. Thus, a study of the organizational factors that facilitate the growth of large firm pro bono has important implications for the delivery of legal assistance to marginalized individuals as well as ensuring that the weakest members of American society are ensured equal access to justice.