We all know about the civil rights movement of the 1960s as a milestone toward racial equality in our nation's history, but few of us were touched directly and tangibly by those events forty years ago. On the eve of Martin Luther King's birthday, we are reminded both by how far we have come, and how far we have yet to go toward racial and social equality in this country, and to that end we would like to salute an American who was both inspired by the civil rights work of Dr. King and his peers, and who has continued to work toward greater equality throughout the world. 

Robert Kapp is not your typical lawyer, but maybe he should be. And if the current trend in the United States continues, lawyers like him may be the model for lawyers in the future – where pro bono work and a global perspective are the norm instead of an idiosyncrasy.

Finding a career in law "through default" like many lawyers, Kapp studied Accounting as an undergraduate at Wharton and in his senior year, decided tax law would be a good way to use his skills. His career started in 1958 at the Department of Justice, and in 1961, he joined the Washington, DC firm of Hogan & Hartson LLP, now the largest law firm in Washington, with over 1,000 attorneys.

But while his main practice paid the bills, living in the tumultuous Kennedy era opened his eyes to the problems American society was then facing. Kapp recalls that he "came awake in the early 60s during the civil rights movement and saw law as a good instrument of social reform."

Although Hogan & Hartson was then a fairly conservative firm, Kapp pitched an idea to the management team, asking if he could begin doing some pro bono work, which he saw as a "vehicle for advancing a number of different interests, civil rights, civil liberties." The management team agreed to let him go ahead and take cases. Kapp joined the American Civil Liberties Union and began doing pro bono work for them, and later served as president for the local ACLU affiliate.

Twenty-five years later, Kapp's career evolved from primarily tax law with pro bono work on the side, to working in the non-profit sector, with research institutes, universities, and organizations focused on societal change, which were more aligned with his interests.

He remained at Hogan & Hartson during this time, and noted that in his 45-year tenure with this firm, he has seen an evolution, not only of this firm, but in other firms as well. In the late 60s and early 70s, the best lawyers fresh from law school were interested in doing pro bono work as part of their practice, and law firms which wished to recruit them realized that they needed to accommodate this desire. Hogan & Hartson started a Community Services Department devoted to pro bono work, and for a while, Kapp ran this department.

Embracing pro bono work by a few firms started a status quo of sorts among the top-ranked law firms in this country - one that remains to this day. Kapp noted that making"the A list" as reported by such journals as The American Lawyer is a deeply coveted achievement, and necessary "to recruit the best people out of law school." And as the standards for high ranking include such aspects as cultural diversity and dedication to pro bono work, the emphasis is likely to be long-lasting even in a time of economic downturn.

Six years ago as he began to look toward retirement, Kapp had lunch with a friend and colleague, trying to figure out  "what to do with the rest of our lives." While many retirees might be satisfied with golf or fly-fishing, Kapp and colleague Tom Essaye founded the International Senior Lawyers Project (http://www.islp.org/). ISLP's stated mission is to recruit retired and near-retired lawyers as well as "senior and unfulfilled lawyers." Kapp chuckled, and apply their vast talents to advance democracy and human rights as well as establish responsible economic development in Russia and Eastern Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa, and India.

Now in an unofficial retirement, Kapp divides his time between ISLP as co-president and as a senior advisor with another non-profit, Realizing Rights: The Ethical Globalization Initiative (http://www.realizingrights.org/).  Founded in 2002 by Mary Robinson, former (and first woman) President of Ireland and later UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the organization works closely with international trade and development specialists and policy makers, as well as international dignitaries such as Jimmy Carter and Desmond Tutu to bring focus to, and help ameliorate, the desperate situation in Africa.

When asked why he does all of this, spend his golden years working to fill such a vast need, Kapp answers simply, I'm trying to address, in my own small way, the significant human rights issues, political and civil as well as social and economic, that are prevalent in the modern world. He states that fixing these problems requires many different people and institutions to come together, which often takes a long time to negotiate. But Kapp is a patient man. "If you're very impatient and want to see results in the very near term, you could get frustrated. I have a longer-term view.

Kapp sees this work as a natural extension of his long career. "I was lucky enough to work for one of the great law firms," he states, where he was able to develop his skills as a lawyer with the best of the best. Clearly, wasting these talents is not an option for Kapp just because he's reached a certain age. As Kapp stated, Law is about serving your client, first and foremost. Lucky for all of us, that client is the world in which we all live.