pro bono
adjective
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In Latin, pro bono publico means "for the public good;" in English we generally shorten the phrase to pro bono. Donating free legal help to those who need it has long been a practice of American law firms; the American Bar Association actually recommends that all lawyers donate 50 hours a year. Pro bono work is sometimes donated by nonlegal firms as well. For example, an advertising firm might produce a 60-second video for an environmental or educational organization, or a strategic-planning firm might prepare a start-up plan for a charity that funds shelters for battered women.
Examples of pro bono in a Sentence
Olga R. Rodriguez, Los Angeles Times, 24 May 2026
That’s partly because San Francisco, with its vast network of pro-immigrant organizations and pro bono or low-cost legal services, had one of the country’s highest rates of legal representation for immigrants.
—ABC News, 22 May 2026
Loevy then represented the Globetrotters pro bono, in their first effort to unionize.
—Bob Goldsborough, Chicago Tribune, 22 May 2026
Public Counsel, a pro bono law firm in Los Angeles that works with low-income communities and vendors, is also working with coalitions and the city of Inglewood to ask that vendors be included in economic opportunities at the games and people in the area without legal status be protected.
—Marlene Lenthang, NBC news, 18 May 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Pro bono.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pro%20bono. Accessed 4 Jun. 2026.
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