Two years ago , American Lawyer magazine ( a sister publication of the Law Journal ) found that during the fat year of 1999 , the approximately 50,000 lawyers at the nation 's 100 highest-grossing firms spent an average of eight minutes a day on pro bono cases , or about 36 hours per year , which is down significantly from an average 56 annual hours during the recession year of 1992 .
In 1999 , lawyers at the nation 's highest grossing firms spent 52 hours per year on pro bono cases .