ABA's Barash outlines the value of public service
Former Greenville executive speaks at Charleston School of Law

ABA Center for Pro Bono Director Tony Barash addressed students at the Charleston School of Law on Thursday, Sept. 27, to highlight the importance of public service. To download a high-resolution version of the photo above, click here.

SEPT. 27, 2007 - - Former Bowater senior executive Tony Barash's message today to students at the Charleston School of Law was crystal clear:

"Commit to pro bono public service now and for your entire professional life, and you will get more out of it as a professional than you will ever give."

Barash, who now directs the American Bar Association Center for Pro Bono, told first-year law students that their school was remarkable because of its commitment to public service. Students are required to do at least 30 hours of pro bono, or free, public service to graduate.

"This is a special place, a special law school," said Barash, who became Bowater's general counsel and senior vice president of corporate affairs in Greenville in 1996. "Pro bono service is going back to our communities and serving those who cannot afford the advocacy, representation, advice and counsel that you will be able to provide to them.

"Everything you do during your time at this law school will give you those tools to help people who need help," said Barash, who was the first scholar-in-residence at Furman University's Riley Institute in 2005.

Barash got his first taste of public service in 1968 while in law school at the University of Chicago. At that time, the country was undergoing civil unrest after the assassinations of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Sen. Robert F. Kennedy. During part of the strife, law students were asked to help indigent people arrested in civil disturbances.

"I learned that more often than not, innocent people are caught up in situations beyond their control and without professional assistance, they are lost," Barash recalled prior to speaking to two gatherings of law students in Charleston.

Barash encouraged budding lawyers to continue public service after their time in school. In South Carolina, he said, all lawyers are encouraged to donate at least 50 hours of pro bono service to their communities.

The ABA Center for Pro Bono is a national resource and support center that provides technical assistance, policy and planning advice to pro bono advocates as they endeavor to fulfill the promise of equal access to justice for those who cannot afford paid counsel.