Beyond Biglaw: We Can All Help (Part 1) -- Measuring Impact
Whether we give money or our time is immaterial -- we help ourselves by helping others.
One of the standbys of end-of-year newspaper financial reporting is a column on steps regular people can take to minimize their tax burden by doing things like giving gifts or maxing out their contributions to health savings accounts, for example. Another key piece of advice in these columns is to consider accelerating your charitable donations, one of the two cardinal deductions available to higher-income people along with the mortgage interest deduction. While this advice is worthwhile year-round, for many it takes on a special relevance during the holiday season, when it seems that people are more inclined to indulge their charitable instincts.
On these pages, and in firms around the country, the talk is also of a financial sort. Bonuses, special bonuses, and super-special bonuses are all part of the legal profession’s year-end compensation drama. Partners at firms of all sizes are reviewing their year-end performance, hoping to collect a few more outstanding client dollars, while wondering what they can do to minimize the firm’s tax burden heading into the new year. Associates are wondering if they are being compensated appropriately for their hard work, even if they are already considering 2017 as the year when they find a new home, or leave legal practice altogether. Everyone is thinking of their wallet, for good reason — which makes it the appropriate time to discuss charity, as well. The more we remember of our capacity to help others, and actually act on that impulse, the more satisfied we feel with our own blessings.
I do not need to recount the manifold benefits of charitable giving, particularly when such giving is motivated by a truly charitable spirit and informed by feelings of gratitude for one’s bounty and concern for the less fortunate. Even when someone gives charitably for selfish reasons, such as to only get that tax deduction, there is undeniable benefit to both the giver and the recipient. As stewards of the rule of law, lawyers have proven to innately understand the need for charitable contributions, and many recognize that lawyers and firms are often at the forefront of giving to worthy social and charitable causes.
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At the same time as the year-end tax-advice articles are released, there is almost always an article that actually takes a look at how best to measure the impact of charitable giving. One recent Wall Street Journal piece presented an interesting question in this vein, asking whether the doctor who donates cash to Doctors Without Borders makes a broader impact than the one who actually foregoes a cushy physician’s living to actually work for Doctors Without Borders for much less pay.
My take on the issue is that measuring relative impact is actually a subjective exercise. True, the wealthy doctor who makes a cash contribution makes a broader impact, since the money will be used to provide care to more patients than the doctor employed by the organization can ever service on his own. But there is also an argument that the doctor who effectively volunteers for the organization (based on the subsistence pay they receive) actually makes a deeper impact — especially on those individual patients that they will personally treat, as well as by setting a worthwhile example of service for others to emulate.
Of course, worthwhile charities and organizations deserve contributions that make an impact both broad and deep. Turning back to lawyers, I will use my personal favorite legal-oriented project as an example. The New York Family Court Self-Represented Litigants Program (yes, a catchy acronym has proven elusive) is a pioneering volunteer legal services program that provides crucial advice to self-represented (i.e., the vast majority of) litigants trying to navigate their way through the hectic and emotionally-charged Family Court system. The program started in 2006 providing services to Brooklyn, and has since expanded to all five New York City-boroughs with volunteers also providing technology-enabled tele-consultations to litigants in upstate New York. The roster of volunteers includes a host of Biglaw firms, corporate legal departments, small firms, and solo practitioners. Its success has been nothing short of miraculous.
So let’s assume that a fellow lawyer agrees that this program is a worthy charitable endeavor. As an example of a public-private partnership, with the Family Court providing the facilities and staff to run and manage the program, and the private sector lawyers acting as volunteers, there is always a need for more resources. For one, if there were additional private-sector cash investment into the program, perhaps the tele-consultation equipment could be upgraded, or additional court staff added to allow the program to go live in more locations or on more days. So our erstwhile charitable lawyer could undoubtedly make a potentially broad impact by providing a cash donation (I am not sure this particular program is set up to take donations, so this is hypothetical) to the program. Maybe the money will be used to host recruiting events for more volunteers, or to increase awareness in the local communities that such help is available. There are innumerable ways that the money could be put to good use.
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Ultimately, we make an impact every time we rise above the demands on our time and wallet to give to others. Measuring the impact we make is worthwhile to the extent it spurs us to do more, or sets a good example for others to emulate. Whether we give money or our time is immaterial — we help ourselves by helping others. Next week, I will discuss one of the important character traits that we can develop as lawyers when we actually take the time to work with the less fortunate directly. In the meantime, happy holidays.
Please feel free to send comments or questions to me at gkroub@kskiplaw.com or via Twitter: @gkroub. Any topic suggestions or thoughts are most welcome.
Gaston Kroub lives in Brooklyn and is a founding partner of Kroub, Silbersher & Kolmykov PLLC, an intellectual property litigation boutique. The firm’s practice focuses on intellectual property litigation and related counseling, with a strong focus on patent matters. You can reach him at gkroub@kskiplaw.com or follow him on Twitter: @gkroub.
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