The DOJ’s Civil Rights Division is reportedly undergoing significant policy and organizational restructuring according to a recent New York Times article. These changes could lead to new hiring within the division and a revamping of what has long been considered an historic division within DOJ that recently has been under some serious scrutiny.
To the new hiring, the article conveys that the Obama administration is working to reverse many of the current trends of the Civil Rights Division. With that comes new hiring. “To bolster a unit that has been battered by heavy turnover and a scandal over politically tinged hiring under the Bush administration, the Obama White House has also proposed a hiring spree that would swell the ranks of several hundred civil rights lawyers with more than 50 additional lawyers, a significant increase for a relatively small but powerful division of the government.”
The division has had a significant presence within the DOJ from the height of the civil rights movement to modern day (including an episode when former President Clinton attempted to appoint Professor Lani Guinier to lead the division). Only time will tell to see how many new appointments there are, but significant policy shifting should be expected.
September 11th, 2009
Posted by
opia |
Jobs |
No Comments
The hay-day of high salaried firm positions, although not over, is definitely on hold. Law firms are looking to significantly restructure their finances and hire attorneys and law firms that have recently deferred associates, in many cases, gave the option to work a year at a public interest law firm while being paid by the law firm that deferred their start at a significantly reduced rate. Public Interest organizations are still reacting to this phenomenon with mixed feelings.
This recent Philadelphia Inquirer article, highlights what is going on nationally but also how it is hitting locally in Philadelphia. Organizations like the Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia see the new attorneys who have been deferred and subsequently decide to work for public interest organizations as “blessings” because of the organization’s desperate need for staff and talent, they also see it as providing a few new challenges. As the article explains, “…the Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia and organizations like it would have to provide guidance and training to the new arrivals despite already thinly stretched staff. Public-interest lawyers face unique ethical conflicts, she said, often representing one poor person against another, who might not have a lawyer…Properly representing such a client, while not placing the opposing side at an unfair disadvantage, can require subtle approaches only lawyers with long experience representing the poor would know, she said.”
August 30th, 2009
Posted by
opia |
Uncategorized |
No Comments
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.”
August 20th, 2009
Posted by
opia |
Jobs, News |
1 Comment
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.
August 20th, 2009
Posted by
opia |
Jobs, News, Resources |
No Comments
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
Posted by
opia |
Uncategorized |
No Comments
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
Posted by
opia |
Jobs, Uncategorized |
1 Comment
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
Posted by
opia |
Uncategorized |
1 Comment
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.
July 28th, 2009
Posted by
opia |
Alumni, News |
No Comments
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
Posted by
opia |
Uncategorized |
1 Comment
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
Posted by
opia |
Uncategorized |
No Comments