Social Responsibility of Russian Lawyers: Factors of Engagement into "Pro Bono" Work

In many countries, the community of attorneys provide free of charge legal services to those who are unable to afford them. This practice is essential for the protection of the basic humanistic principle of the equality before the law (according to our data, lawyers estimate that only 46% residents of Russia can afford an attorney). In recent years, an intensive debate started in Russia about the ways of the development of free of charge legal services. In current survey, we consider the factors of the engagement of Russian attorneys in the provision of two different types of free of charge legal help: work in criminal proceedings at the court appointment (according to the 51 article of the Code of Criminal Procedure the court must provide an attorney to the defendant who is unable to pay for this services) and working "pro bono publico". Based on the data from the representative survey of 3317 attorneys in 35 regions in Russia we conclude that work at the court appointments is economically determined practice for the lawyer. Lawyers with low experience, human and social capital are mostly involved in these practices. In contrary, "pro bono" services are often provided by attorneys with high human and social capital. They are also more reputation-oriented and less benefit-oriented. Thereby, we show that the engagement in different types of free of charge legal help depend on the status and the position of the attorney within the professional community, in particular, economic, human and social capital of lawyers as well as their ethical values.