A recent NY Times article highlights the unique dilemma District Attorneys Offices in New York are facing with the downturn in legal jobs with private firms.
The Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office has increased its intern pool as well as the Queen’s DA’s Office. Other districts, such as Manhattan and Staten Island, have kept their crop of interns the same.
What is noticeable is that the positions within the DA’s offices have generated greater interest due in part to fewer people being hired at private firms hiring and an overall slowing down of the hiring rate for graduating law students (down to 90% according to NALP). Greater interns puts a premium on office space and greater competition for meatier projects. As one student interning with the Brooklyn DA’s office noted in the article, “It’s much harder for them to find stuff for us to do.” He continued, “(d)efinitely some people feel they haven’t done anything.”
August 7th, 2009
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The ABA Journal recently wrote up an article about what practice areas are “thriving” in the legal industry. While all listed might prove to be interesting to the public interest-minded people, below are some key ones:
1.) Prepaid Legal Services – A sort of hidden secret of the legal industry. As the article describes, “Employers sign up for prepaid legal service plans and let employees participate for a small monthly fee. Participating employees then have a lawyer to call for a variety of problems either free or for a discounted fee, while other matters are not covered.”
2.) Environmental & Energy Law – Much of the environmental work is born out of the Obama Administration’s push to change environmental practices and shift to renewable energies. The article reports that much of the available legal work will be related to logistics (i.e., transportation of energy sources, where to set up new energy systems, etc.)
3.) Consumer Protection – As debt collectors fight to collect money owed, consumer protection lawyers fight to ensure collectors are following the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Consumer Protection practice often booms during economic downturns.
August 7th, 2009
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As economic pressures mount, more and more legal aid organizations are being forced to do more with less. In this short article and video, NY1 documents dwindling funds and the severe legal cases that The Legal Society of New York faces.
While much of the funding for Legal Aid comes from federal funds, there is a significant amount that comes from private sources and what is called the “interest on Lawyer Account Fund.” This fund is a pool of private funds from attorneys across the state who put money into it during certain “business transactions.” The interest paid on the account contributes to the Legal Aid Society and other organizations like it across NY state.
This fund is generating a significantly smaller portion than in years past. Legal Aid and other organizations like it are forced to battle over the money that still remains but continue to represent a low income client base that is growing.
July 31st, 2009
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One might think that with the declining profits of law firms, lawyers who are still employed would actually be dedicating more time to cases that are actually earning the firm money. According to some statistics quoted in this American Lawyer article, lawyers at some of the largest and even many small or mid-sized firms have greatly increased the amount of their pro bono hours over the years, particularly in times when firms are actually losing money. Quoting statistics that the journal has tracked over the years, the article states, “(B)y 2008, the average pro bono contribution by Am Law 100 lawyers had risen 87 percent, to 71.8. Lawyers at Second Hundred firms increased their average contributions from 29 hours in 1998 to 33.2 in 2008.” The article goes on to say that “(A)fter enjoying double-digit or near–double-digit growth through 2007, in 2008 Am Law 100 firms recorded their worst financial performance since the first Bush presidency. Second Hundred firms suffered as well. Yet the commitment to pro bono has increased substantially in the past five years.”
Why do you see this uptick? A lot of explanations are provided but law firms are seeing a new generation of lawyers, growing out of 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina, that are interested in doing public interest oriented work than in years past.
July 2nd, 2009
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In two separate editorials this week, both the Washington Post and the New York Times published critiques of what the most recent house financing bill does (or continues to not do) for legal services.
In a New York Times editorial, the author comments on Obama’s budget as well as the DOJ’s financing bill which recently won approval in the house. Although the author applauds the Obama’s administration’s effort to roll back some of the cuts to legal services the Republicans put in place in 1994, they also warn that the house bill is not going far enough for legal services. The bill does not roll back two rules that inhibit the delivery of legal services. One rule that will continue to be in effect “prevents legal services clients from participating in class action lawsuits that can be an efficient way to obtain broad relief for problems affecting a large number of people.” The other rule “extends all the restrictions on federal money to the substantial money that legal services providers receive from other sources, like private foundations and state and local government.”
The Washington post editorial goes further, calling the restrictions illegitimate, “While some limitations on the use of tax dollars may be warranted, there is no legitimate reason for federal restrictions on how local legal aid groups use privately raised funds or money they receive from state or local governments. The Obama administration, which supports the lifting of these restrictions, estimates that roughly $490 million in private and non-federal funds that find their way to local legal aid providers are “tied up” and subject to these federal limitations.”
The bill has not yet become law as the Senate still has to vote on it.
June 26th, 2009
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Many non-profit and legal advocacy organizations jumped at the opportunity to offer up volunteer positions to recently deferred associates, provided the firms that the associates were deferred from are covering most (or all) of the costs. Many questions still linger but one thing that has been left unanswered is, what about working for judges?
In Massachusetts at least, the picture is getting a bit clearer. In short, the answer is yes, deferred associates can work for judges, provided they follow the strict guidelines provided by the Massachusetts Committee of Judicial Ethics. The rules range from forbidding discussion or any mention of the firm that deferred you in the courtroom to regulating the information the firm itself disseminates about its deferred associates and what clerkships they obtained.
Although the rules (more outlined in the article) seem strict, it is clear that the clerkships open up another door to those that have been deferred.
To read the full article, click here.
June 18th, 2009
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John Berry, the Director of the Office of Personnel Management for the federal government, called for the federal government to stand for gay rights. In some of the more pointed words regarding the matter heard in years, Berry urged public officials to take the lead in pushing for equal rights for gay partners. “With the help of a president who supports our cause, the aid of courageous fellow countrymen and women who love liberty, and with God’s grace, we shall prevail.”
The Obama Administration seems poised to advance the causes of gay couples who are looking for the same access to healthcare and benefits that is afforded to heterosexual married couples.
“Where do you stand? Honoring love as precious and true wherever you find it, or with those who would demean or deny it? I urge you: Stand where you can be proud. Stand with service and truth. Stand with love. Stand for liberty and justice for all.”
June 18th, 2009
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The New York Times jumped into the fray of documenting the decline of the modern day law firm. In this article, the Times provides a close analysis of the prestigious firm, White & Case, based out of New York and with offices across the globe. The firm recently announced they laid off 200 attorneys of its over 2100 lawyers, a drastic step the firm was forced to take based off the economic downturn.
The Times attempts to use the situation of White & Case as a microcosm for the overall problems that are currently plaguing top law firms. While different law firms have felt different repercussions, it is undeniable that many top firms have felt the great strain of the economy. White & Case highlights the fall from the grace that many of the top firms have been going through.
June 14th, 2009
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Time magazine recently added to the discussion over the sweeping deferred associates situation. Now that many graduates are left in limbo and unsure if they are starting at their firm now, a year from now or perhaps never, more non-profit organizations, academic institutions and other entities are reacting to the situation
“Boston College, for instance, will let its graduates audit classes next fall for free. UCLA Law School has announced a Masters of Law program designed specifically for deferred associates. A number of firms have also begun matching their recruits to pro bono opportunities. That’s the option University of Pennsylvania Law School graduate Susan Wilker took when her job at Boston law firm Ropes and Gray deferred until at least January. Wilker will have her health benefits paid and receive $60,000 for working at Massachusetts Appleseed Center for Law and Justice, a nonprofit that focuses on education discipline and juvenile justice.”
Non-profit appear now to have the option to meet the widening gulf of legal services provided to low-income individuals. “For sure, the start-date delays have been a boon for public interest organizations around the country. Research shows that some 80% of legal needs go unmet among low-income Americans, and organizations that serve such clientele, such as the Legal Aid Society, now have their pick of top law school graduates — most of whom will arrive with a paid salary and health benefits attached.”
May 27th, 2009
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In a recent Boston Globe article, Juan Valdivieso, expected to graduate in 2009, discusses and highlights a growing number of soon-to-be graduates experiencing the effects of an economic recession. Juan was going to leave law school with an offer from the D.C. based firm Morgan, Lewis & Bockius. Recently, he received an email from the firm telling him that his employment had been deferred until 2010.
Valdivieso is part of a growing number of law school grads being deferred for a year. This Globe article highlights the trend of affecting students like Juan. “Valdivieso said he knows of 20 to 30 fellow Harvard students (the graduating class numbers 575) who have had their employment postponed, and many of them have been offered stipends. Students at law schools around the country are getting the same offer, and while no one tracks precise numbers, the trend “is pretty widespread,” said (James) Leipold, with participants including such noted firms as Latham & Watkins, based in California, and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, based in New York.” Leipold is the Executive Director of National Association for Law Placement which deals in career counseling and recruitment.
Mark Weber, Assistant Dean for Career Services at HLS, provided statistics to the reporter as well as some insight into what could happen in the near future as a result of this economic downturn, “There’s a lot of litigation that hasn’t taken place,” he said. “There’s a lot of regulatory work and a lot of appeals that aren’t being done right now. So when that stuff picks up, people are going to be busy.”
May 1st, 2009
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