Bonnie Kay Donahue woke up one morning six years ago and had a moment of epiphany. A successful bankruptcy attorney for Winston-Salem, N.C.-based Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, PLLC, Donahue's life was filled with complex reorganizations, high-powered negotiations and the hustle and bustle of the corporate insolvency world. But something was eating at her conscience.
"This thought just hit me over the head: 'Someday you're going to be dead, and no one will remember that you reorganized a big corporation. What will matter is that you've made a difference in someone's life,'" Donahue said, reminiscing.
Shortly after, at a dinner with the then-president of the North Carolina Bar Association, Donahue mentioned her eagerness to do pro bono work. The result: She was named chair of the state bar's pro bono committee in 1994. "I mean, he literally threw me out there and yelled 'Swim Kay! Swim!'" Donahue said.
And swim she did. Almost immediately - in conjunction with chairing the pro bono committee - Donahue was asked to serve on the board of Legal Services of North Carolina, an NCBA affiliate. That role thrust her into one of the most exhausting - yet fulfilling - pro bono projects of her career: a complete restructuring and streamlining of the LSNC. The reorganization took four years and was effective Jan. 1. 1999.
"It was the hardest work I ever have done. It was like plowing a field sometimes," Donahue said. "It was not happy work. It involved a lot of changes at an institution where there were a lot of turf issues and, understandably, pride in the program."
The work, consisting of approximately 1,000 hours or more over four years, consumed Donahue's professional life, but last year earned her Womble Carlyle's firm-wide pro bono award.
Still, Donahue is quick to point out that she merely was one member of a whole team of lawyers, consultants and professionals who helped this project come to fruition. "It is the project that deserves the attention, not my efforts," she insists.
Nearly the same time Donahue joined the LSNC board, Congress was making noise about cutting funding for the national Legal Services Corp., which provides funding for state-run legal services offices across the nation. From the first moments Donahue walked in the LSNC doors, her bankruptcy alarms went off. "It was obvious to me - from having done reorganizations, restructurings and bankruptcies - that if LSNC didn't get its act together, it was going to lose a lot of federal funding," Donahue said.
The reason: the LSNC, created as a confederation, was the only state legal services agency in the country that was run as 12 field programs registered as separate nonprofit organizations. While there was a central office for administration, the affiliation with the 12 field offices was a loose one.
Primarily, it existed as the federally funded grant recipient - the place that applied for, received and passed through grant funds to the field offices. It provided no economies of scale in back office operations. Each field office had its own accounting firm, separate audits and its own technological system. "There wasn't enough administrative authority to make sure the 12 offices were being efficient and accountable with their funds," said Melissa Pershing, the new executive director of LSNC.
Any funding loss to LSNC would have been devastating. It is the largest legal services organization in the state, serving 83 of North Carolina's 100 counties. Almost immediately, Donahue suggested the agency bring in an outside consultant to assess the situation. With funding from the state bar, a Philadelphia consulting firm was hired. That firm performed a two-month intensive investigation interviewing LSNC clients, board members, staff members, and professional associates.
"When they were done, the consulting firm basically said, 'We don't know how you even got dressed in the morning,'" Pershing said.
The result was a two-tiered task force formed by the NCBA. The first tier was a Working Coalition that took recommendations from the report and developed implementation plans. The second was a 20-member Leadership Commission comprised of former presidents of the state bar, law school representatives, judges from all levels and other well known names like Bill Friday and the head of the Winston-Salem foundation.
"We had some stellar people who gave so generously of their time. It made a real difference," Donahue said.
For Donahue, the work meant rolling up her sleeves with the rest of the team and visiting and interviewing each of the 12 offices. They examined office operations from the inside out - including everything from administration to front-line staff to clients. Each morning, Donahue rose at 5 a.m. and made the two-and-one-half-hour drive to LSNC to begin the process again.
"I had to really listen. Patiently. It is very easy to be in a large law firm and participate in this process and think you know what's best. And maybe you do. But you can't give that perception. You have to sit and listen with an earnestness that relays that you haven't already made up your mind," Donahue said. "I was astounded at the intense commitment and professionalism of these people who do so much with so little. These lawyers, paralegals, and secretaries all deal with migrant work issues, housing issues, clients who have tragic problems every day. They do such high-caliber work, it made me even more committed to making this organization survive - and to be financially sound and independent."
Meanwhile, around the same time, a new, more conservative, administration was ushered into Legal Services Corp. - requiring state agencies to cut costs and operate more efficiently.
"It was provident. Really, it was a miracle that we had already started this process because we were, in essence, almost halfway there," Donahue said.
The most challenging part was convincing the 12 offices that the implementation plans drawn up by the state bar task force were sound.
"The process would only work if we could convince all factions to pull together, and as I said, there was a great deal of pride and a sense of 'I know what these [indigent] people need' from each office. They had every right to be proud of what they did, but we had to look at the big picture," Donahue said. "Some days, though, I would get home and ask my husband 'Why am I doing this? Nobody there wants this.' It was heart-wrenching at times."
Last spring, the restructuring plan was completed and approved by the state bar, and then Legal Services Corp. A transition team was put into place. Last week, the agency filed an article of merger with the Secretary of State.
The new LSNC is leaner and efficient. There is one centralized office that handles the administrative work for its 12 field offices. In the audit and accounting process, the agency went from 20 people to four regional accountants - a cost savings of $140,000. Instead of a mass of separate insurance policies, the agency now has a few centralized policies - a cost savings of $40,000. What's more, as part of the first phase of the technology plan, all the offices were networked so they can communicate with one another.
As for Donahue, her role in the process was crucial, Pershing said. "During the past five years, you couldn't ask for anyone more loyal. She brought a real business perspective to LSNC that we didn't have. She was willing to speak up when no one else wanted to and make the business case to the community and to the legislators. She's extremely articulate and said the right things to the right people." Pershing said.
On top of it all, Donahue - who had also become vice chair of the Habitat for Humanity of Forsyth County at the time - was named chair of that group in 1996-1997. With Habitat, Donahue said, the work is immediately gratifying:
"You hammer a nail and you've physically helped build this house for a family in need." This year, Donahue is organizing an all-women built home and is designating one day as an all women judge and lawyer construction day.
For Donahue, pro bono has been so much a part of her life that "I'm sure partners at my firm are wondering if I'll ever be doing paid work again!" she said. But, she stresses that she couldn't do the LSNC work without the support of Womble Carlyle. "They were behind me 100 percent. They put a real value on pro bono work - so much so that they don't just have an award for billable work, but also for pro bono work. I think that is exceptional," Donahue said.
And for bankruptcy attorneys who have yet to take the pro bono plunge: "I'll be honest: In the bankruptcy profession, pro bono isn't something that seems like a natural fit," Donahue said. "But bankruptcy business expertise is needed [but] it is fun to use your reorganization skills in a pro bono setting. It is rewarding."
Editor's Note: Willing to share information about your pro bono case? Please call Contributing Editor Donna Tuttle at (210) 732-7172.
Reprinted with permission from Bankruptcy Court Decisions' News and Comment copyright 1999 by LRP Publications, 747 Dresher Road, Horsham, PA 19044-0980. All rights reserved. For more information on Bankruptcy Court Decisions' News and Comment or for a free 30-day trial subscription, please call 1-800-341-7874, ext. 310. Visit our web page at www.lrp.com to learn about our other bankruptcy products.