Joseph A. Sullivan
Joseph A. Sullivan

Joseph A. Sullivan is special counsel and director of pro bono programs at Pepper Hamilton LLP. Mr. Sullivan also is an adjunct professor/lecturer in law at The University of Pennsylvania Law School, where he teaches professional responsibility, and for many years has been co-chair of the Delivery of Legal Services Committee of the Philadelphia Bar Association, as well as co-chair of the Philadelphia Bar Association’s Task Force on Civil Gideon and Access to Justice. He is a board member of the Association of Pro Bono Counsel (ABPCo), a national and international organization of legal professionals working full-time as counsel and directors of pro bono programs at private law firms.

Columns by Joseph A. Sullivan
A Response to: “Forcing Lawyers to Perform Pro Bono Services”

Guest columnist Joseph A. Sullivan, special counsel and director of pro bono programs at Pepper Hamilton LLP, responds to Verdict columnist Ronald Rotunda with respect to his opinion on mandatory pro bono for lawyers. Sullivan argues that even if such a requirement to practice law is akin to a tax, as Rotunda posits, it is a just tax, exchanged for the privilege of lawyers to practice law to the exclusion of non-lawyers.