Partner Jonathan Baum Quoted in Chicago Daily Law Bulletin on New Association of Pro Bono Counsel

Jonathan Baum, a firm partner as well as its Director of Pro Bono Services, was quoted in a recent Chicago Daily Law Bulletin article about the formation of a new national group that is intended to organize full-time pro bono attorneys at U.S. Law firms. Mr. Baum made Katten the first law firm in Chicago to employ full-time pro bono counsel when he joined the firm in 1993. In the article, Mr. Baum notes that, "Probably the most common problem is how do you motivate the attorneys in your firm to do more pro bono work?" He says that a national group of attorneys who all share this mission at their respective firms is helpful in identifying what works and what doesn't. For example, Mr. Baum says, he and his peers at other firms have found that what's most effective in placing pro bono matters with firm attorneys is "to develop email lists of attorneys in certain kinds of cases based on their survey responses and then to forward to them emails that I get from pro bono organizations seeking assistance on particular matters," ("Pro bono counsel have new way to get organized," March 5, 2008).