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The myth of low paying government jobs

opia — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 21:51:56 +0000

According to a recent column by Boston Globe’s conservative columnist Jeff Jacoby, federal civil servant employees’ salary is rising and holding a comparative advantage vs. private sector employees.

The figures are quite astonishing, actually. The federal civil servants enjoyed an average annual salary of $79,197, whereas the private employee was earned $49,935. The numbers are even more stark when taking into account the benefit packages: $119,982 for federal civilian vs. $59,909 for private employees. It should also be noted that these figures came from the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis but the study that compared federal civilian employee salaries vs. private sector employee salaries was done by the Cato Institute, a right-leaning think tank.

These statistics are not misleading in of themselves, but they don’t illustrate the whole story. They do not, for example, take into account types of profession or geographic region. The statistics are essentially raw data that lumps compensation together into one pool. The Cato Institute is not necessarily distorting data, but it is leaving out some essential information for the reader. For the reader who might want to accurately compare a lawyer in private practice in Montana vs. a lawyer in Washington, D.C the study, unfortunately, falls short.

DOJ hiring new litigators, beefing up fraud unit

opia — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 20:01:37 +0000

The DOJ’s Criminal Division, in efforts to back up the recent talk of the Obama Administration, is beefing up its fraud unit. As reported in the National Law Journal, the DOJ is looking to hire as many as 10 trial attorneys and a new “superstar” to lead the fraud section. The fraud section already represents the Criminal Division’s largest litigation unit. By adding in new litigators, the Division and unit can amp up their work on health care, which Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. has reportedly been wanting to do.

The article continues, “(F)raud section attorneys are often described as a “rapid response team” that jumps into districts around the country to target the crime of the moment. Five of those 10 trial lawyers would be assigned where needed, said department officials. But the other five spots are new positions dedicated to the prosecution of health care fraud. Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. has declared the fight against health care fraud to be a top priority.”

Funding for legal aid in Massachusetts dropping, legal aid organizations suffering

opia — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 15:43:12 +0000

It has already been well documented that nationally, legal aid is being hit hard by the economy and the Madoff scandal. In Massachusetts, a state that has a long history of providing legal aid to low income and individuals in need, has seen its funding seriously reduced. Greater Boston Legal Services, the largest legal assistance agency in the region, will be cutting its staff by over 20% in the fall. Other organizations across the state have had to cut staff and close on alternate Fridays.

As mentioned in a previous blog post, much of the funding comes from the interest gained on an obscure pooled account called the Lawyers’ Trust Account program. This account contains money from certain escrow funds that is set aside by lawyers to serve clients. More money the lawyers put in, the greater money available to clients who need legal defense. The less money that comes in and the lower the interest rate (which is the case right now), the less there is available to serve clients.

This Globe article highlights the struggles occurring in Massachusetts legal aid organizations.

ACLU and federal government battle over warrantless wiretaps

opia — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 19:51:09 +0000

The contentious battle of warrantless wiretaps continues, this time with a couple of HLS alums as key attorneys in the debate. Jameel Jaffer (’99), an attorney for the ACLU, and Serrin Turner (’00) an assistant attorney with the DOJ were arguing against each other in the ongoing debate over warrantless wiretapping. The case surrounded, specifically, amendments to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) allowing warrantless eavesdropping abroad.

The ACLU argued that the wiretapping amounts to the “interception and taping of ‘thousands and possibly millions’ of phone calls, e-mails and other communications involving Americans without warrants or probable cause.” whereas the government’s believes the “statute has mechanisms to protect Americans who are “incidental” to communications with foreigners targeted out of concern for the national security or foreign policy interests of the United States.”

To read the full article, click here.

More college graduates making the move from Wall Street to Washington

opia — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 21:41:33 +0000

Reuters recently reported that more and more college graduates are choosing Washington over Wall Street for their first jobs. While many students – approximately 80% – have reported having no jobs after graduation, they now feel the strong pull of public service and quite frankly, see that Washington D.C. is one of the few places currently hiring. It is hard to pinpoint any one reason for the influx of college graduates to D.C., it is clear that the combination of the economic downturn, the appeal of president Barack Obama, and the growing desire to commit to public service all have contributed to this shift.

Andrea Saenz, ‘08, fighting for the rights of immigrants

opia — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 18:45:49 +0000

A recent Boston Globe article highlights a battle over deportation and the rights of immigrants. The article highlights the case of Sunday Agbata, a Nigerian born immigrant who came to the United States as a stowaway on ship from West Africa. Agbata was ordered deported in July 2008 to Nigeria but has been sitting in jail without any explanation since he was caught. No explanation as to why he has not yet been deported has been given.
In a Supreme Court ruling in 2001, the court ruled that six months is a reasonable amount of time to allow to deport immigrants after a final decision in their case. After that, the federal government must justify the continued detention.
Andrea Saenz, a 2008 HLS graduate, is Agbata’s lawyer in the case. Saenz is currently the Equal Justice Works Fellow in the Detention Program for the Political Asylum/Immigration Representation Project (PAIR), a Boston based legal services organization.

HLS Graduate, Luke Cole ‘89, dies at 46

opia — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 16:26:07 +0000

The San Francisco Chronicle reported the unfortunate and devastating passing of Luke Cole, an 1989 graduate of HLS whose commitment to environmental justice and dedication to public interest work defined his career and life.
Mr. Cole was an environmental lawyer in San Francisco were he founded and was the current Executive Director for The Center for Race, Poverty and the Environment, a non-profit legal organization aimed at working towards environmental justice.
He was driving with his wife on a rural road in Western Uganda when his car was struck by a truck that veered into Mr. Cole’s path, hitting his side of the car. His wife, who survived the accident, was sent to Amsterdam where she underwent an eye operation.
Luke Cole is survived by his father, Herbert Cole, and mother, Alexandra Cole, two brothers, Peter and Thomas Cole, a sister, Sarah Cole, and a son, Zane Shelby.

U.S. starting the U.S. Attorneys nominating process

opia — Thu, 21 May 2009 03:15:56 +0000

President Obama recently started to undertake the arduous task of nominating attorneys to the U.S. Attorney positions. Mr. Obama has moved forward with 6 nominations. He has 93 to go.

Do not expect a smooth nominating process: With recent U.S. Attorney firings during the Bush Administration and calls to appoint a neutral commission to evaluate nominations to provide a fair and neutral perspective on the nominees, Mr. Obama will face some challenges, particularly from Republican representatives who may view his appointments as political rather than based on their record on enforcing the law.

To read the full article on some of the potential obstacles Mr. Obama may face, click here.

Wasserstein Public Interest Fellow’s advocacy in action

opia — Sun, 10 May 2009 22:11:55 +0000

A recent New York Times article documents the story of Nigerian writer Ken Saro-Wiwa, an environmental and human rights activist who was executed in the ’90s on what many consider drummed up murder charges. One of lawyers involved in helping to bring more facts behind the execution of Saro-Wiwa is Jennie Green, a staff attorney for the Center for Constitutional Rights www.ccrjustice.org). Ms. Green specializes in international human rights and for three years was the administrative director of Harvard Law School’s Human Rights Program.

Another take on the deferred associates and the job market

opia — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 01:46:06 +0000

On the Cal Law blog Legal Pad, David Coleman, a Public Defender in California believes it unjust and counter-productive to place deferred associates in public defenders offices. Coleman, an HLS alum had some pretty strong remarks about the placement of deferred associates in public defenders offices. It is not fair to young lawyers who have willingly chosen the public sector at “50 cents on the dollar” for what big firms pay to have their opportunity to accrue trial experience diminished so that same trial experience can be obtained by a civil firm lawyer who 1.) eschewed lesser compensation in favor of high salaries and bonuses, 2.) had less interest in the criminal justice system and 3.) is destined (chomping at the bit) to return to Big Law as soon as the Firm will have them back.”

To read the complete blog post, click here.