PSJD Public Interest News Digest – February 24, 2023
Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives
Hello, interested public! Major news stories this week include the upcoming student debt arguments before the US Supreme Court, a new website focused on internship opportunities with the federal government, and continuing efforts to improve staffing and morale for line attorneys in public defense and legal aid, as governments debate increasing salaries and expanding hiring and attorneys engage in collective efforts to insist on better pay and working conditions.
Take care of one another,
Sam
Editor’s Choice
Environmental Justice
Immigration & Refugee Issues
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In New York NY, City & State published an article exploring the difficulties that migrants seeking asylum in New York City are having in their efforts to find lawyers to represent them.
Student Loans & Student Debt
Non-Profit & Government Management & Hiring
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In the Washington Post, Dr. Anthony Fauci and Max Stier (of the Partnership for Public Service) argued that “[f]ederal leaders should pay more attention to hiring young people to sustain the workforce, and some managers have a tendency to hire for experience instead of building the talent bench.”
Access to Justice – Civil & Economic
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In Canada, “[t]rans people face a disproportionate number of legal problems and are less likely than cis people to formally act on them, said a new Canadian Bar Association report.” (Full report, CBA Access to Justice for Trans People, available here.)
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In Maine, according to a recent presentation by the Director of Admissions at Maine Law, “[the] huge [rural] demand for attorneys…goes beyond criminal law issue [and] also impacts family law, disability cases, property debates, and other issues including legal counsel for entrepreneurs and small business owners.”
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In Alberta, a past president of the Alberta Branch of the Canadian Bar Association and a past chair of the CBA National Family Law Section argued that “Alberta should be the next province to constitute a [Unified Family Court]…particularly as Alberta was supposed to have implemented a Unified Family Court in 2020 after the federal government had committed to funding 17 judicial positions in the province.”
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Relatedly, the Alberta Family Lawyers Association “[held] a ‘Day of Action’[, with m]any lawyers across Alberta [] not [] scheduling matters in Court on the Day of Action, and many [] closing their doors and not conducting business on that day, in order to draw attention to Alberta’s Family Justice Crisis.”
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Access to Justice – Criminal
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In Minnesota, the Star Tribune published a response “to a Jan. 27 commentary by Minnesota Chief Justice Lorie S. Gildea,” stating that “[p]ublic defenders were encouraged that our plea for pay parity and caseload controls was heard.”
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In Ionia County MI, “[the county] Board of Commissioners [approved h]iring a fourth public defense attorney [but tabled]providing a salary increase for the current public defense attorneys.”
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In Grundy County IL, “[a]fter several months of being short staffed, the Grundy County Public Defenders Office is nearly back to normal staffing levels.”