Pro Bono Spotlight 2023

Staff Report//November 10, 2023//

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Most lawyers didn’t go to law school just to mark off how much they’re charging every six minutes. Money, of course, is an important and inescapable part of the legal profession. But sometimes lawyers feel called to offer their services just because they can.

In this special section, Missouri Lawyers Media salutes some of the most significant pro bono attorneys in the state. These are lawyers who have given their time and talents to worthy clients and causes, either for free or at a severely reduced rate.

Some engaged in headline-catching projects, such as freeing the imprisoned from a wrongful conviction. Others engage in the quieter but no less important roles as champions of children, advisors to artists or counselors to the criminally accused. They have improved innumerable lives and taken cases that no one else could or would — all while carrying the full load of their normal practices.

The term “pro bono” is from the Latin phrase pro bono publico, which means “for the public good. The law, of course, is littered with such terms, most of which mean little or nothing to non-lawyers. But tell someone you are doing pro bono work, and they won’t need to speak a dead language to know that you are, quite literally, doing good.

Click here to view the Pro Bono Spotlight digital edition

Danielle Atchison

Robert J. Hoffman

Matthew Jacober

Amy Rebecca Johnson

Kelli Meilink

Matthew G. Minder