Wherever there’s a frivolous lawsuit, there’s a light bulb joke to fit: “How many lawyers does it take to change a light bulb? Three: one to sue the power company for the surge that blew the bulb, one to sue the electrician who did the wiring and one to sue the bulb manufacturers.”
But behind the punch lines, lawyers aren’t laughing.
“We’ve gotten a lot of bad press locally and across the country for cases we have nothing to do with,” says Gary Rosen, a partner at Goldman & Rosen Ltd. in Akron.
Disheartened by stereotypes, Rosen says that if people would look past the labels and look within their communities, they’d see attorneys as more altruistic than materialistic. Besides being a vital part of business, they’re giving their time and talents to many charitable causes.
“When you think of the skill set lawyers can bring to an organization, that’s what we do — we bring our expertise to the charitable stuff we do,” says Rosen.
The American Bar Association’s Pro Bono Challenge urges law firms to volunteer 3 percent to 5 percent of their annual total hours worked as pro bono services. Similarly, an executive order by Gov. Bob Taft encourages Ohio lawyers to devote at least 50 hours annually of pro bono service.
“Most of us exceed that,” says Rosen. “Regrettably, lawyers don’t receive much credit for what they give back to the community as professionals.”
While Ohio has no official reporting system for legal volunteerism, the Ohio Legal Assistance Foundation (OLAF) tallied about 250,200 volunteer hours for Ohio attorneys in 2001. But according to Dave Ball, OLAF’s associate director, this represents volunteer hours reported by less than 10 percent of the Ohio State Bar Association’s active members who are involved in organized pro bono programs.
Last year in Summit County, Community Legal Aid Services recorded 1,154 volunteer attorney hours through its Volunteer Legal Services Program. The program’s director, Elayne Siegfried, notes that less than 7 percent of Akron Bar Association’s active members reported their volunteer hours.
In Stark County, 1,063 volunteer hours were reported through the program, representing about 11 percent of the Stark County Bar Association’s active members.
But those number aren’t evidence that only about 11 percent of attorneys volunteer their time, because most attorneys don’t report their pro bono efforts. Why not? In the words of one lawyer who chooses to remain nameless, “I’d rather do this without getting credit for it.”
The bottom line is, for whatever reason, many counselors at law don’t get credit for the hours they contribute to their communities. And it’s not just in terms of serving on committees for the bar association, says Rosen’s partner, Irv Sugerman.
For starters, local attorneys serve on the boards of social service agencies, nonprofit organizations, professional clubs, and charitable and religious groups.
“This profession is probably more represented than any other on most of the boards in this community,” says Sugerman. “That’s because a lot of organizations look to lawyers for leadership.”
You’ll find attorneys serving meals at homeless shelters and offering their legal expertise to victim assistance, battered women’s shelters and relief organizations such as the Red Cross.
“A lot of lawyers do what we do, spending our free time serving as volunteers and giving advice, time and sweat equity to organizations in our communities,” says Rosen.
In conjunction with the Ohio Association of Nonprofit Organizations, OLAF has a program that links corporate attorneys with small nonprofits that provide services to impoverished Ohioans. Through the Charitable Organizations Representation Project, corporate counsel voluntarily helps these organizations with legal issues from leases to employment matters and tax problems.
Other pro bono programs include the Disaster Legal Services Program, which provides services following natural disasters, and the Equal Justice Foundation, which undertakes complex litigation across the state.
“Private attorneys also accept clients who are not referred to them from the Volunteer Legal Services Program on a pro bono basis,” says Siegfried, director of the program.
Party of the first part
Marc Merklin serves as board chairman for the Akron Community Foundation, vice chairman of the board for United Way of Summit County, and trustee for organizations including Child Guidance Centers of Akron, Family Solutions, Jerome Lippman Jewish Community Day School and Akron Bar Association Foundation. He’s also president of the Jewish Community Board of Akron Inc., but he doesn’t do it all to enhance his image.
“I’ve never had a Fortune 500 company say, ‘You’re the guy we want to represent us because you’re so involved in the community,'” says Merklin, a partner at Brouse McDowell in Akron. “In terms of business development, I would do far more for myself if I learned to play golf.”
With all the volunteer hours he puts in, Merklin is frequently asked why he’s not at home, spending time with his kids.
“I’m doing this for my kids, because hopefully, I’m teaching them the importance of making your community a better place to live,” he says.
Robert Friedman, an idealist who believes a community mirrors its citizens, says his professional training makes him a problem-solver who must give of his time and talents.
“My legal training is helpful in bringing people together and in promoting the social agenda within the community,” says Friedman, a partner at Black, McCuskey, Souers & Arbaugh LPA in Canton.
Besides serving on numerous boards and committees, Friedman is former chairman of Leadership Stark County and prior president for organizations including Interfaith Campus Ministry, Canton Jewish Community Federation and Temple Israel.
“In volunteering, I get a sense we’re helping create a better community we can all be a part of,” Friedman says, “and if we do this in our own community, we’re all moving toward a better world.”
“Giving back is critical to who and what you are — that’s how I was raised, and that’s why I do it,” says Rosen of Goldman & Rosen Ltd. in Akron. “I wouldn’t know how to do what I’m doing without being involved with community work.”
Rosen and Sugerman devote much of their time to faith-based causes. Sugerman is secretary of Ohio Jewish Communities (a statewide lobbying/public policy organization), trustee for the Jewish Community Board of Akron, and past-president of the Jewish Community Center. And when he’s not racking up pro-bono hours on the Akron Bar Association’s Lawyers Assistance Committee, he coaches the Revere Baseball U-12 travel team and youth soccer and basketball teams.
“I’m grateful I’m in the type of business where I can take time out to give back to the community,” says Sugerman.
Besides lecturing at universities, law schools and high schools on bankruptcy and commercial law, Marc Gertz, also a Goldman & Rosen partner, has served as president of Western Reserve Human Services, chairman of Akron Bar Association’s Bankruptcy & Commercial Law Section, president of Jewish Community Center, and trustee for Akron Jewish Community Federation, among others.
“My days go 150 miles an hour at breakneck speed, and if you don’t stop occasionally, breathe and think about what you’re here for, life will pass you by,” says Gertz. “I find that community activity grounds me, slows things down a bit and lets me think about other issues besides bankruptcy law, which can be pretty depressing.”
Nonadversarial positions
Although Larry Vuillemin deals with trial law issues as a partner with Mentzer, Vuillemin and Mygrant Ltd. in Akron, he’s better known as the counselor at law who brings human issues into the workplace.
“Years ago, Larry decided there was room to think about who we are and what we do, and room to bring our spiritual and religious values into the workplace,” says Rosen. “His groundbreaking work goes beyond the more traditional involvement the rest of us have had in volunteerism.”
After suffering a stoke in the courtroom during a highly publicized case, Vuillemin, then 35, had an epiphany.
“In this adversarial system, you become a trained gunfighter, and I had this attitude, ‘Look what this profession is doing to me,'” says Vuillemin. “I almost quit, but then I realized, ‘Larry, the problem ain’t your profession, the problem is you — is this profession here to serve you, or are you here to serve your profession?'”
In 1990, together with the Rev. Norman Douglas, Vuillemin co-founded Heart to Heart Communications — a nonprofit organization that serves as a catalyst to strengthen the connection among a person’s inner spirit, ethical values and daily work.
“Although that might have been a new endeavor for me, I’m not so sure I was doing anything new,” says Vuillemin. “A lot of fine people who call themselves lawyers have always integrated their values and ethics in what they do.”
Besides sprouting vocational reflection groups for doctors, lawyers, teachers, mental health professionals and others, Heart to Heart creates workplace curriculum and programming on topics ranging from ethical leadership to renewing spirit at work. FirstEnergy Corp., Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. and Akron General Medical Center are a few client companies.
“It’s vital for me to continue this because it blesses me,” Vuillemin says. “It’s not so much what I’m giving, but what I’m getting for my own sense of meaning and purpose in the profession — and for my very wellness.” How to reach: Goldman & Rosen Ltd., (330) 376-8336; Mentzer, Vuillemin & Mygrant Ltd., (330) 376-7500; Brouse McDowell, (330) 535-5711; Black McCuskey Souers & Arbaugh LPA, (330) 456-8341
