A recent survey indicates that many firms view a set number of hours of unpaid service as a good in itself and believe value need not be ­systematically assessed.

If you just do the math, pro bono service seems to be one bright spot on an otherwise gloomy economic landscape. In the largest firms, for which we have the best data, unpaid hours have gone up in the face of the recession as other financial indicators have generally gone down. Law firms in the 2009 Am Law 200 — American Lawyer's ranking by revenue — increased their total pro bono contributions by nearly 15% during the previous year, while the average attorney logged an additional five hours of unpaid assistance. Yet these numbers — impressive though they are — tell only part of the story. Large firms deserve much credit for increasing the quantity of their pro bono service. But what about its quality?