‘Your little bit of good’

Approximately 20% of the Class of 2025 earned the school’s pro bono certificate, a recognition of the recipients’ commitment to service. Collectively, they contributed more than 4,000 hours of service.

“These hours represent the determination of our clinical students to not just ‘peace out’ at the end of the semester, but to continue working on the cases in which they had invested so much of themselves,” said Tara Casey, director of the Carrico Center for Pro Bono & Public Service.

Graduates who earned the certificate dedicated at least 120 hours to pro bono work during law school.

Sarah Bennett Bures, L’15, pro bono director at Troutman Pepper Locke, told recipients at a ceremony that pro bono work offers them skill development, legal experience, and sometimes business development. “But lawyers shouldn’t do pro bono because there’s something in it for them,” she continued. “Lawyers should do pro bono because it’s part of their professional responsibility.”

Casey summed up her thinking with a quote often attributed to South African Bishop Desmond Tutu: “Do your little bit of good where you are. It’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.”