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Социальная ответственность российских адвокатов: факторы оказания бесплатной юридической помощи по назначению и pro bono
For the development of welfare state the critical issue is the equal access of all citizens to justice. In many countries, the corporation of lawyers provides free legal services to poor people so that they can protect their rights. This practice is essential for the protection of the basic humanistic principle of the equality before the law. In recent years, in Russia there were a number of debates about the necessity to develop free legal services, because not all citizens can pay for the work of professional lawyer. In this survey, we consider the factors that affect the involvement of attorneys in the provision of two different types of free legal services: work in a criminal trial according to the appointed of the court (under Art. 51 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation) and the provision of the «pro bono» legal services. 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 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 and social capital of lawyers as well as their ethical values. Based on the results of this study it can be assumed that the extension of “organized core» of the legal community could promote «pro bono» practices and increase the value of social responsibility in the law environment system in general. To achieve this goal the legal community should overcome the internal heterogeneity, to raise barriers of the entry into the profession, to bridge the gap between lawyers specializing in work at court appointments and the rest of the community.