When it comes to totting up a firm's annual pro bono hours, every little bit counts. Certainly toward the firm's image when it comes to marketing and recruiting, and undeniably beneficial for clients who could not otherwise afford counsel.

As Bruce D. Saber puts it on behalf of Heller Ehrman, "You can accomplish a lot in five or six hours, and much of that time can be spent at one's convenience."

For instance, a number of Heller Ehrman lawyers volunteer through the Incarcerated Women's Project.

"The women are nearing the ends of their terms, and we help them get rights to which they're entitled, but which are hard to secure because they're still in prison," said Mr. Saber, a real estate partner and chairman of the pro bono committee at Heller Ehrman's New York office. "Making a phone call from prison is a difficult thing."

But not so difficult for Heller Ehrman lawyers in between other calls who can easily contact courts and inmates' family members to ensure that visitation rights are properly observed, among other quick legal matters. Such small efforts aid an impressive statistical comparison.

While only 46 percent of the nation's lawyers provide the minimum suggested yearly goal of 50 pro bono hours, according to a 2005 survey by the American Bar Association, Heller Ehrman lawyers racked up a firmwide individual average of 100 volunteer hours in 2006.

To be sure, Heller Ehrman is involved in marquee pro bono areas - among other groups, the firm partners with the Legal Aid Society, Human Rights First, the American Civil Liberties Union, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Legal Services to Children - but Mr. Saber looks for smaller-bore opportunities as well.

"People tend to think of pro bono as just impact litigation, which requires huge resources over a long period of time," he said. "We're an international firm with a number of offices, but our pro bono is mainly a local effort. Every community has its own resources, organizations, problems, issues and focuses."

He added, "There's very little [firmwide] discussion about what type of work to take on. That's actually helped us expand our pro bono opportunities."

Last month, the New York office held its first "pro bono fair," attended by 30 public service organizations interested in legal help from Heller Ehrman volunteers - on top of the 45 or so community-based groups the firm already assists in matters as simple as storefront leases and intake sessions at shelters.

In some cases, Heller Ehrman lawyers are enticed above and beyond the call.

"We've pushed to define our pro bono work more broadly, which means we don't necessarily get [pro bono] credit from the ABA or the New York State Bar Association for certain hours," said Mr. Saber. "There's the Explorer's program through the Boy Scouts, for instance. The Scouts come in and we discuss various legal topics. That doesn't technically fit [the pro bono definition], but we're providing a community service."

Likewise, Heller Ehrman attorneys - as well as staff members - are involved with Publicolor, the nonprofit group that rounds up volunteers to paint gloomy walls of public schools with more cheerful hues.

Clients, as well as law students, are looking "more acutely" at the pro bono and community service efforts of law firms, said Mr. Saber.

"There's been a much greater sensitivity to this in the last five years," he said. "Firms need to be more sophisticated about matching their attorneys with their outside social interests.