Two years ago, American Lawyer magazine (a sister publication of the Law Journal) found that during the fat year of 1999, the approximately 50,000 lawyers at the nation's 100 highest-grossing firms spent an average of eight minutes a day on pro bono cases, or about 36 hours per year, which is down significantly from an average 56 annual hours during the recession year of 1992.
In 1999, lawyers at the nation's highest grossing firms spent 36 hours per year on pro bono cases.