Commentary: Pro Bono: Making a practice of doing good

Barbara Bakal Greene made a new career out of her pro bono work.

Representing clients through a variety of local legal aid groups allowed Greene, who had spent more than two decades as a business and technology lawyer, to open her own criminal and family law practice in Towson four years ago.

"By volunteering, I started building up my experience," said Greene. "It's a nice way to try new things."

Greene, 53, will be honored Thursday with the Baltimore County Bar Association's annual pro bono award during Law Day festivities. Towson-based Levin & Gann P.A. also will be honored for its pro bono work by the bar association.

Greene was selected for her willingness to take a number of pro bono cases every year even though she is self-employed, said Daniel V. Schmitt, chairman of the bar association's pro bono committee.

"The committee was impressed she showed that kind of consistency even though she's a solo practitioner," he said.

Greene represents tenants in landlord disputes and children appealing school suspensions through Maryland Volunteer Legal Services. She takes cases through the Baltimore County Legal Aid Bureau. She mentors high school students and invites them and some of her former clients to court to see what lawyers do. In September, Greene organized a health care symposium as part of the Bar Association of Baltimore City's monthly Milton Talkin Lecture Series. And she remains active with the University of Baltimore School of Law's alumni association.

Asked how she can do so much and still maintain her practice, Greene laughed.

"I work all the time," she said, adding that her office is near her home and two children in Lutherville.

Greene graduated from Woodlawn High School and attended Washington University in St. Louis. Her legal career began in contract law with Westinghouse and then Northrup Grumman. She moved with her husband, David, to Boston in 1987 and did technology licensing at MIT. Greene then served as counsel for a software company started by a group of graduate students, which she turned into a job representing other businesses for software licensing and purchasing contracts.

The family moved to Maryland in 2001. Greene kept some of her Boston clients and added new ones in Baltimore, including Johns Hopkins for contract licensing.

"It really doesn't matter what city you're in as long as you have an e-mail address," she said.

That was one of the main reasons she decided to switch practice areas.

"You don't talk to people frequently," she said. "I really wanted to practice in court, so I decided to try criminal law."

Greene took continuing-education classes at the public defender's office and sat in on court hearings. She handled pro bono cases and in the process "got a feel" for different legal organizations in the Baltimore region. If she ever needed inspiration, she remembered tenured faculty members at MIT she saw passionately and successfully venture into fields outside of their areas of expertise.

"It's very liberating," she said.

Greene continues to find her pro bono work rewarding, particularly when there's nothing stopping her clients but the lack of money to hire a lawyer.

"It's nice when you can solve something that would otherwise bog people down," she said. "I think people just need an advocate sometimes."

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