D.C. Struggling to Maintain Legal Services: Providers say that lawyers--and not just their firms--need to pony up

Susan M. Hoffman, Crowell & Moring's Public Service partner who promotes, supervises and participates in the pro bono work performed by the firm's attorneys, was featured in the National Law Journal for a piece about charitable giving to legal services providers in the District of Columbia. According to Hoffman, the Raising the Bar campaign that sets revenue-based benchmarks for law firms (run by The Access to Justice Commission) is "a major force in encouraging giving because it set standards. Law firms tend to keep details of contributions closer to the chest than do other businesses, making it harder for firms to know whether their giving is on par with their peers. The campaign made it easier for firms to make sure they're being “a good community citizen."