For the second consecutive year, pro bono hours declined at U.S. law firms, a new survey by Best Law Firms shows, as lawyers struggled to meet the legal profession’s minimum goals.
Law firms averaged 25.6 pro bono hours per lawyer, down from 25.9 in the previous year’s survey. That represents roughly half the 50 hours the American Bar Association’s Model Rule 6.1 urges U.S.-based attorneys to reach.
Each year, Best Law Firms, as part of its annual research and rankings process, collects pro bono data from thousands of U.S. firms. This year, nearly 5,800 firms from all 50 states and the District of Columbia participated in the survey. As part of the effort, firms ranging in size from solo practices to global megafirms are asked about their pro bono hours, policies and programs.
Overall, U.S. law firms performed an average of 2,005 hours of pro bono work in the 2026 survey, down 4% from the 2,078 hours they logged in 2025. Midsize firms of 50-149 lawyers experienced the sharpest decline, from an average of 2,350 hours in 2025 to 1,770 this year, a drop of 25%.
In one of the survey’s bright spots, average pro bono hours at firms with 500+ lawyers rose by 5%. While not enough to counteract the overall decline across all firms, the largest firms are critical because they account for two-thirds of the pro bono hours and 60% of the lawyers covered by the survey.
- Pro bono work declined for the second straight year, with firms averaging 25.6 hours per lawyer, about half the ABA’s 50-hour benchmark.
- Midsize firms saw the sharpest drop, while firms with 500 or more lawyers increased average hours by 5%.
- Smaller firms often lack coordinators, committees and billable-hour credit, creating practical opportunities to strengthen participation.
- Law firm leaders will find data-driven insight into workforce demands, political pressure and program structures shaping public-service commitments.
Median Pro Bono Hours Fall 23% in Three Years at Larger Firms
Because average hours may be affected by firms with unusually high or low pro bono totals, we also measured median performance. Here, too, the survey showed an overall decline.
The median firm with 20 or more lawyers devoted 890 hours to pro bono work, the data shows. In 2025, the median was 1,000 hours, and in 2024, 1,162 hours. Taken together, median pro bono hours at firms 20 or more lawyers have dropped 23% over a three-year period. At firms with fewer than 20 lawyers, median hours dropped from 124 to 100, a 19% decline year over year. Small and solo firms also posted 100 hours of pro bono time in 2024.
The declines matter most when measured against the ABA's 50-hour benchmark. Among firms with 20 or more lawyers, the median firm logged 11.5 pro bono hours per lawyer, less than a quarter of the ABA goal. In 2025, the median for this cohort was 12.5 pro bono hours per lawyer.
Firms with 1-19 lawyers logged a far higher per-lawyer median than their larger peers, 33.3 hours, down from 36 hours in 2025. Unfortunately, those firms account for just 8% of the total pro bono hours performed by firms in the survey.
How Law Firm Pro Bono Trends Compare With Other 2026 Reports
In general terms, the survey data aligns with other recent findings about pro bono participation—albeit across a much broader law firm dataset.
The American Lawyer, in its 2026 Pro Bono Scorecard—a measure of pro bono performance at 112 Am Law 200 firms released in July—found that firms handled 1.8% less work on average than the previous year. Overall hours were down 2.1%, the magazine said.
In a review of pro bono activity released in June, the Pro Bono Institute (PBI) reported that the number of lawyers participating in pro bono had declined 1% year over year. Average pro bono hours per attorney slipped 3%.
The PBI report, however, described the declines as “slight” and saw signs of stabilization in firms’ pro bono performance compared to the previous year. For instance, the aggregated total hours of pro bono work increased by approximately 4%, according to the organization’s data.
The PBI’s report focused on 116 firms with more than 50 lawyers that have signed onto the organization’s Pro Bono Challenge. The challenge encourages law firms to contribute 60 or 100 hours per attorney (3% or 5% of billable hours) to pro bono activities.
“Recent data show that law firm pro bono engagement remains in a period of adjustment after the pandemic and amid increased scrutiny of pro bono legal services and funding cuts to legal services organizations and nonprofit partners,” the PBI said in a media release accompanying its report.
Why Are Pro Bono Hours Declining? Client Demand and Political Pressure.
Law firms participating in the Best Law Firms survey were not asked to provide information about why their pro bono hours may have increased or decreased. But as the PBI suggested, a few factors may be to blame for stagnant or declining pro bono activity.
On the positive side for firms, unprecedented client demand for legal services may be one of them. The Am Law 200 posted a 13% revenue gain in 2025, according to The American Lawyer. And financial data collected as part of the Best Law Firms survey shows that small and midsize firms also posted exceptionally strong returns, with average revenue climbing 32% at firms with 2-19 lawyers and 29% at firms in the 20-49-lawyer range. In other words, lawyers have been busy, and hours spent on client matters may be cutting into the time they have to spend on pro bono.
Less positive is the political fallout, as firms reject pro bono matters they might have handled in another era. President Donald Trump’s attacks on major law firms have prompted several of them to avoid direct conflicts with his administration.
Indeed, a 2025 investigation by Reuters found that law firms had withdrawn from pro bono work “frowned on by Trump” to avoid “becoming the next target.” Analyzing court dockets, Reuters found that Big Law firms had retreated from litigation against the federal government. That’s a major change from Trump’s first term “when the nation’s firms were often involved in challenges to his directives,” Reuters wrote.
The chill on pro bono work has continued into 2026 as firms devote fewer resources to pro bono organizations and efforts. “Big Law firms remain cautious,” Law.com reported in July.
Smaller Firms Lack Pro Bono Programs, Coordinators and Incentives
While Big Law worries about political backlash, more prosaic issues may be hampering smaller firms’ pro bono efforts.
The Best Law Firms survey asked firms whether they had established formal programs to manage their pro bono work. Few firms under the 50-lawyer mark have done so. Just 20% of firms with 2-19 lawyers and 39% of firms in the 20-49-lawyer range have formal pro bono programs. That compares to 89% of firms with 150+ lawyers and 64% of firms with 50 -149 lawyers.
Not surprisingly, the bigger the firm, the more likely it is to have the infrastructure in place to handle pro bono activity. More than half of firms with 150 or more lawyers have a full-time coordinator on staff, and 69% have a pro bono committee. Among firms with fewer than 50 lawyers, 10% have a pro bono committee and 17% employ a pro bono coordinator.
Incentives for lawyers to perform pro bono work also tend to decline along with firm size. Consider: 37% of firms with 2-19 lawyers give lawyers billable-hour credit for pro bono work. Eighty-one percent of firms with 150+ lawyers do so.
On average, firms with 150 or more lawyers offer 93 hours of annual billable-hour credit for pro bono work. Firms with 50-149 lawyers offer 63 hours on average, and firms in the 20-49-lawyer range average 52 hours.
Law Firm Social Responsibility and Sustainability Programs
While pro bono is the most obvious way firms demonstrate their commitment to the public good, the survey also tracked other ways that law firms are pursuing broader social goals. Environmental, social and governance efforts—such as social responsibility and corporate sustainability programs—aim to help businesses reduce potential negative impacts on society and the planet.
The survey found that social responsibility committees and programs have been gaining modest traction at firms with 20+ lawyers. The percentage of firms with a social responsibility committee rose from 9% in 2025’s survey to 12% in 2026. Ten percent of firms now report having a formal social responsibility program. But few firms—just 2%—have gone as far as hiring a full-time professional to lead their social responsibility efforts.
Corporate sustainability has been slower to take hold. Just 6% of firms with 20 or more lawyers have established sustainability committees, a drop from 7% in last year’s survey. On the other hand, the share of firms with formal sustainability programs rose slightly from 4% to 6%. Only 3% offer sustainability awareness training. And just 14 firms reported having a full-time professional running their sustainability programs.
The Bottom Line on Law Firm Pro Bono
Measured against those figures, pro bono work remains the linchpin of law firms’ social commitments. Political questions and client demands may have slightly eroded the time lawyers are devoting to it.
But many firms, especially the largest players, have the structures in place to reverse course—and a chance to meet the profession’s aspirational goals.
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David L. Brown is a legal affairs writer and consultant, who has served as head of editorial at ALM Media, editor-in-chief of The National Law Journal and Legal Times, and executive editor of The American Lawyer. He consults on thought leadership strategy and creates in-depth content for legal industry clients and works closely with Best Law Firms as senior content consultant.