"The Future of Pro Bono in Maryland" article by Melinda Fithen published on May 15, 2018, in the Maryland State Bar Association's Bar Bulletin. Here is an excerpt:
There is a boom in the number of lawyers practicing in Maryland, according to the ABA National Lawyer Population Survey. Over the last decade, the number of lawyers in Maryland has increased by 84 percent to a total of 38,000 members of the bar. With so many attorneys, one would think that securing sufficient pro bono representation for Maryland residents in need would be no problem, right? Wrong. Statistics show that the majority of Maryland attorneys do not participate in pro bono work early in their careers. According to the Maryland Courts 2016 Pro Bono Report, 58 percent of full-time Maryland lawyers did not provide pro bono service in their first five years of being barred. It is during this critical time, when new lawyers are taking on a competitive legal job market and trying to establish themselves professionally, that pro bono work can be the most rewarding and fruitful.