Lawyers required to render 60-hour pro bono service

The Supreme Court (SC) has approved the Unified Legal Aid Service (ULAS) rules, requiring all covered lawyers to render 60 hours of pro bono legal service every three years to indigent Filipinos who cannot afford legal representation.

- By CHRISTINE BOTON

Under the new rules, any person unable to pay for adequate legal services, as assessed by a covered lawyer according to guidelines to be issued by the ULAS board, qualifies for free legal aid.

"The legal service itself will be free for such qualified beneficiary and the necessary expenses for the rendering of the service will be borne by the Court through the ULAS fund, which will be set up for this purpose,” the high court said in a news release yesterday.

Pro bono legal aid services include court representation, legal advice, preparation of legal documents, developmental legal support and involvement in legal outreach initiatives.

The ULAS rules allow lawyers to substitute up to 50 percent of their required pro bono hours with financial contributions to the ULAS Fund. Law firms and organizations may also aggregate their lawyers’ hours to fulfill the compliance requirement, provided each lawyer personally completes at least 25 percent of their required hours.