By: Steve Grumm

Really tough.  Here’s a piece from the California-based Recorder about a recent round of attorney hiring in Santa Clara County.  It’s noteworthy that the Santa Clara prosecutor and defender are ramping up hiring at a time when many prosecutors and defenders are losing staff.  And it’s encouraging.  What’s discouraging, however, is the fierce competition for the open Santa Clara positions.  That’s the real story here.  Observe:

In the past year, the [Santa Clara County D.A.’s] office has hired 14 lawyers but still has 12 slots to fill — and 700 people have applied.

…

Like the DA’s office, the public defender’s office is hiring to staff the arraignments. [Public Defender Mary] Greenwood says she received 400 applications for seven new attorney positions in her office.

What’s not the real story, in my view, is the headline’s – “Healthy Pay Scale Makes District Attorney’s Office a Lawyer Magnet” – suggestion that the high salaries are causing the glut of job applications.  No doubt, the D.A.’s office starting-salary figure – $92,000 – is an eye-opener.  (In 2010 the national median starting salary for a local prosecutor was $50,000.)  But I bet there’d be an enormous applicant pool even if the salary was markedly lower. 

The piece also offers a nice look at what kind of experience and credentials the DAs are looking for in Santa Clara and neighboring counties.  It’s a bit of a mix.  Some prosecutors hire law grads with minimal experience, some take on laterals from law firms, and some prefer to stick with the more narrow approach of recruiting via their own internship programs.

My suggestion to aspiring prosecutors and defenders, from wherever they’re coming, is to get some courtroom and, if possible, case management experience.  For defenders especially, it’s also rewarding to gain experience working with low-income clients.  In 2010 we asked prosecutors and defenders what they would advise law students/grads to do to make themselves the best job candidates. A representative sample of their responses:

• Public defenders desire candidates with clinical and/or pro bono experience working with incarcerated and low-income clients. According to one public defender, “previous experience in a PD’s office is always a plus for law students and a must for attorneys.”
• Local prosecutors value trial experience, whether obtained through a clinical program, through a third-year practice rule experience, or in some other capacity.

Why post one Job ‘o the Day when we can post two?  NYC’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene – “mental hygiene”? seems a bit archaic, no?  anyway… – is seeking a law intern for the spring 2012 semester, with a possible extension through the summer.  What will the intern be working on?  Tobacco control policy.  A blurb from the job description:

The Bureau of Tobacco Control (BTC) has been a flagship program of the DOHMH since 2002. By implementing a comprehensive five-point plan that includes taxation, legal action, education, cessation and evaluation, BTC has overseen one of the fastest declines in smoking prevalence ever recorded – a 35% decrease in adult smoking since 2002. The NYC youth smoking rate has also decreased by more than half since 2001. BTC continues to implement cutting-edge, evidence-based interventions that make it harder to smoke and easier to quit. Program strategies include city-wide giveaways of quit smoking medications and aggressive, targeted media campaigns to increase awareness of the dangers of smoking and benefits of quitting.

The Bureau of Tobacco Control is currently seeking a legal intern to assist with creating new policy initiatives, including legal research and analysis of current city laws and tobacco control laws from other jurisdictions. This position will work closely with the Bureau’s Policy Unit, including the Director of Policy and Senior Legal Counsel for Policy, Tobacco Control; the Health Department’s General Counsel; and other city and state officials in the public health field. This position will provide excellent experience working on policy development for the right candidate.

We are looking for candidates interested in joining us for the spring semester. An extension through the summer is possible.

View the full listing on PSLawNet here.

By: Steve Grumm

It feels awfully un-rebellious to include an explanatory parenthetical in the post title.  But anyway, the conference is colloquially known as RebLaw.  Registration is open.  Sign up, spend the weekend in New Haven, meet public-interest-minded students, profs, and practitioners from around the country.  Some background:

RebLaw is the nation’s largest student-run public interest conference. Every year the conference brings together practitioners, law students, and community activists from around the country to discuss innovative, progressive approaches to law and social change.

We hope that RebLaw 2012 will be full of conversations that challenge not only the state of the law but also ourselves and our own preconceptions. We will strive to create a safe and nourishing community for all rebels, providing a variety of outlets to channel the passion and outrage we bring to the conference. By encouraging all forms of expertise and experience, we will value and amplify the creativity and insights we all possess. Grounded in a sense of where all of our work fits into broader movements, we will work together to hone our tools for change. RebLaw 2012 will be a success to the extent that it inspires courageous thinking, supportive relationships, and radical action.

Some logistical details:

What: The Eighteenth Annual Rebellious Lawyering Conference. The RebLaw Conference is an annual, student-run conference that brings together practitioners, law students, and community advocates from around the country to discuss innovative, progressive approaches to law and social change.
Where: Yale Law School, New Haven, CT.
When:  Friday, February 17–Saturday, February 18, 2012
Cost: Standard registration is $30. Registration is free for members of the Yale, UConn, New Haven, and Quinnipiac communities.

RebLaw Homepage & Registration: http://www.yale.edu/reblaw/index.htm

RebLaw Facebook page:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/RebLaw/198623836882539

Are you a fan of unruly sports fans and cheesesteaks?  Good.  Here’s a great postgraduate position (don’t let “law clerk” fool you) in the World’s Most Glorious City….

The Pro-Se Law Clerk provides legal advice and assistance to the Court in connection with petitions and complaints filed by prisoners. The position’s duties and responsibilities include: (1) the substantive screening, after filing, of all prisoner and inmate petitions and motions, including state habeas corpus petitions, federal habeas corpus petitions, motions to vacate sentence, and civil rights complaints; drafts appropriate recommendations and orders for the Court’s signature. (2) reviews all complaints, petitions, and pleadings that have been filed by prisoners so as to determine the issues involved and the alleged basis for relief; (3) performs research, as required, to assist the Court in preparing opinions; (4) evaluates present procedures to determine new innovations for increasing the effectiveness in handling complaints, petitions, and pleadings; reviews the docket of pending prisoner and inmate litigation to assure the proper progress of such cases and advises the Court of those cases where action by the Court is appropriate….

To continue reading the job description, view the listing at PSLawNet!

By: Steve Grumm

Even before the government-wide hiring freeze which now curtails – but it’s important to remember has not fully stopped – federal recruiting, Uncle Sam had long been criticized for protracted application processes which could leave qualified job candidates in limbo for months.  The Obama Administration’s Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has undertaken reforms to, among other things, cut down on application processing time.  How have recent reform efforts been going? The Government Executive takes a look, and they include responses from some of the bigger agencies like the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security.

By: Steve Grumm

Happy Friday, dear readers.  From my perch here in Washington I’m looking at a freakishly warm December morning, a disappointingly cold cup of coffee, a newspaper headline about Newt Gingrich (what year is this?) and a stack of unwritten holiday cards (a phenomenon that recurs every year, Newt or no Newt).  This week’s Bulletin contains a little bit of everything.  Here’s what we’ve got: 

• a new Connecticut provider to serve DV and human trafficking victims;
• ACLU of Montana critical of state’s public defense program;
• speaking of, a class-action over Georgia’s long-criticized public defense system may settle;
• young lawyers in “The OC” lend aid to the county’s legal services program;
• more public defense funding woes, this time addressed by Missouri’s high court;
• an unexpected glut of federal employee retirements;
• too many strings attached to law student summer public interest funding?;
• “A call for prosecutorial accountability”;
• Expanding New York State’s appellate pro bono program;
• A veterans diversionary court program in Oklahoma;
• LSC funding cuts hit hard in Mississippi;
• A formerly deferred associate recounts a formative experience representing DV victims;
• more medical-legal partnerships needed in the Lone Star State?
• cash-strapped government law offices leveraging private bar resources.

Here are the summaries:

• 12.15.11 – a new nonprofit law office in Connecticut will serve a highly vulnerable population.  From the New Canaan Observer: The Rights, Advocacy and Empowerment (RAE) Law Group has been formed to “promote, enforce and advocate for the rights of victims and survivors of domestic violence, human trafficking and sexual exploitation. The group will serve clients in Fairfield, New Haven and Middlesex counties.”  RAE apparently takes referrals from other service providers and provides representation for a “modest fee.”

• 12.15.11 – indigent defense trouble in the Treasure State.  From TV station KXLH: “The ACLU of Montana asserts there are many problems with the state’s public defender system and it’s asking the Montana Legislature to do its part in ensuring the agency operates smoothly.  If you can’t afford an attorney one will be appointed for you, and it’s likely the public defender could also be managing about 200 other cases….  The report also states attorneys aren’t getting the feedback and training they need to be successful in the courtroom.”  A lack of funding is seen as the main culprit.  Here’s a link to the ACLU’s report, which is being published 5 years after the Montana moved from a county-by-county to a statewide system.  The news isn’t all bad, but funding still is lacking.

• 12.14.11 – a class action regarding Georgia’s embattled indigent defense system may be settling.  The AP reports (and this is the whole article so no need to click through): “The Southern Center for Human Rights says a potential settlement has been reached in a class-action lawsuit that claims the state of Georgia must provide attorneys to handle the appeals of dozens of convicted criminals.  The case had been scheduled for a hearing before Fulton County Superior Court Judge Jerry Baxter on Thursday. Kathryn Hamoudah of [SCHR], which brought the case, said Wednesday the settlement was not yet final and she did not know the details.  Plaintiffs want the state to make changes to make sure hundreds of indigent defendants have lawyers to represent them in their appeals. They claim cuts to the statewide public defender system has robbed them of their constitutional right to make their case.  The lawsuit was filed in 2009.”
   
• 12.14.11 – as a native Philadelphian I have little use for Orange County, CA.  From afar it seems so La-la Land-ish.  The OC did produce punk rock juggernaut Social Distortion, but otherwise it’s not my bag.  Nevertheless, here’s some good news about young lawyers pitching in to aid an overburdened legal services provider.  The Orange County Register reports that the Legal Aid Society of Orange County’s evictions unit is staring down LSC funding cuts and swelling caseloads.  The county bar’s young lawyers division heeded a call for help.  The YLD’s chair hoped “for maybe 10 volunteers [to handle pro bono eviction cases], but more than 40 responded to the call. Two weeks ago, about 35 went through training in wrongful-detainer law, and another session will be held in a few weeks. Then they’ll start taking cases.” 

• 12.14.11 – Show Me Oral Arguments!  A long-simmering controversy concerning the overburdened Missouri public defense program made it to the state’s high court.  Last year a defender refused new cases because the office’s caseload was overwhelming its ability to represent clients.  From the Springfield News-Leader: “The question is simple on its face: Does the Missouri Public Defender Commission have the authority to turn away defendants?  But the issue, taken up in oral arguments Tuesday in the state Supreme Court, splintered off into discussions ranging from constitutional rights to ethical burdens, from separation of powers to rule-making authority. No clear solution was offered.  The judges…also didn’t give an indication of how they are leaning. [E]ach stated conflicting concerns — forcing public defenders to represent clients regardless of caseload concerns or leaving the decision to local judges to find representation for poor defendants.”

• 12.12.11 – Uncle Sam is losing workers left and right to retirement.  From the Federal Times: “Retirement applications for the first 10 months of 2011 soared 24 percent from the same time last year, topping 92,000, according to statistics from the Office of Personnel Management….”  OPM Director John Berry told Congress last month…” that the rising retirement rate “…was likely caused by cash-strapped agencies offering buyouts and taking other steps to cut their workforces.”  What does this mean for aspiring civil servants?  The good news is obvious: open positions.  The bad news, of course, is the government-wide hiring freeze.  But the freeze has some cracks in it.  (That’s metaphor torture, for those scoring at home).  Agencies can still hire to fill “mission-critical” positions, so it’s not as though federal recruiting has stopped altogether.  This could bode well for law grads looking for a way in.

• 12.12.11 – is it becoming too burdensome for law students to get summer public interest funding from their schools?  From every law school dean’s fav periodical, U.S. News and World Report: “It’s fellowship application season for first and second year law students who want to work in public service law next summer. Many law schools offer…summer fellowships, which provide a stipend ranging from several hundred to several thousand dollars, to students who pursue service-oriented roles rather than positions at big firms…. Many law students and J.D.’s report that their public service internships were fulfilling…. But some say that the internship applications come with too many requirements, warning aspiring public servants to carefully consider whether to participate.  Many law schools…require students to do between 5 and 10 hours of volunteer work on campus, and some also insist that students volunteer at fundraising auctions. ”  Oh, the horror!  I’m okay with requiring someone to do 5 hours of service to qualify for funding.  If nothing else it may separate the truly public-interest oriented students from those who would rather be at a firm but wish to hedge their bets.

• 12.12.11 – “A Call for Prosecutorial Accountability” appears as an op-ed in the National Law Journal: “Last term, the Supreme Court…limited municipal civil liability for prosecutors in Connick [v. Thompson]. In justifying this holding in part by stating that prosecutors are ‘personally subject to an ethics regime designed to reinforce the profession’s standards,’ the Court pointed to the existence of the [ABA] and state grievance mechanisms that set ethical standards for prosecutors and discipline them when they break the rules.  [Yet] new research analyzing the policies and procedures for disciplining attorneys in each state…shows that prosecutors are rarely held accountable when misconduct occurs….  Inspired by the Connick decision, students from the Liman Prosecutorial Mis­con­duct Research Project at Yale Law School examined the basis of the reliance on current attorney-sanctioning mechanisms. The resulting investigation of the disciplinary procedures in various states found that the process and results are largely inadequate for investigating claims of misconduct and holding prosecutors accountable.”

• 12.12.11 – “One year after establishing an experimental pro bono civil appellate program to handle family law appeals for people who cannot afford counsel, the New York State Bar Association is expanding the initiative to several other areas of law,” according to the New York Law Journal.   “Two upstate nonprofit organizations, the Legal Project in Albany and the Rural Center of New York in Plattsburgh, are providing staff support. The program is supported by a grant from the New York Bar Foundation.  During the first year, volunteer attorneys handled six appeals before the 3rd Department, one of them precedent-setting.  According to the American Bar Association, the State Bar’s pro bono appellate project is one of only 10 such programs in the country.”

• 12.11.11 – The Oklahoman looks at a diversionary judicial program for veterans in the Oklahoma City area.  “Veterans who get into legal trouble in Oklahoma County can apply to the program. Those who qualify have to go before a board that includes prosecutors, public defenders, counselors and veterans advocates. If they are selected for the program, they sign a contract agreeing to participate.  If they fail the program, charges can be refiled. Part of the contract includes waiving the statute of limitations on their case. They are not required, however, to plead guilty to a judge.”  The county prosecutor’s and public defender’s offices joined forces to create/administer the program.

• 12.10.11 – the LSC cuts are hitting hard in Mississippi.  From the Clarion-Ledger: “[T]wo Legal Services programs in Mississippi that provide civil legal help for the poor will see federal funding reduced by more than $821,000 in 2012.  The cuts in funding for the Mississippi Center for Legal Services, which serves 43 counties in the central and southern part of the state, and the North Mississippi Rural Legal Services, which serves 39 counties in the northern part of the state, were the result of a 14.85 percent reduction nationally in federal spending for Legal Services programs…. About 600,000 poor people in Mississippi are eligible for services, and about 30 attorneys are available in Mississippi for Legal Services.  The number of Legal Services attorneys is about one per 20,000 low-income residents.”

• 12.9.11 – a formerly-deferred DLA Piper associate recounts the positive experience he had spending his deferral period with the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation’s domestic violence project.  After recounting two of his emotionally charged case experiences, he closes the piece: “Now, I am a second-year associate…working mainly in construction law. I am constantly aware of how much there is to learn about this area of law, and about practicing law, period. But learning the ropes in a court…with real live clients whose safety may be at stake, and in an often intense courtroom setting, forced me to understand how to respond swiftly and how to think outside of the box…. [T]hose experiences are easing my path from naïve, wide-eyed associate to useful lawyer…. I am very grateful to my firm and to AVLF for allowing me to start my practice with this experience. Serving as a Deferred Fellow turned out to be both incredibly useful and a great luxury: it gave me confidence, and it gave me the time and the support to learn skills I will always be able to use throughout my career.”

• 12.9.11 – more MLPs needed in the Lone-Star State?  From the Public News Service: “When a health problem persists despite medical treatment, the real issue could be a legal matter. There’s a growing national trend toward medical-legal partnerships (MLPs), which help people figure out whether they might benefit from lawyers in addition to doctors.  A weak economy and state budget cuts have been magnifying the need for such assistance, according to Priscilla Noriega, who directs an MLP in the Brownsville office of Texas Rio Grande Legal Aid.”

• December, 2011 – The December ABA Journal reports on how cash-strapped government law offices are leveraging private-bar resources to help stay afloat.  The Chicago Law Department is benefiting from the services of four local firms. And it turns out this isn’t a new trend.  “Since 2002, New York has saved approximately $84 million in legal fees” while benefiting from pro bono or “loaned associate” programs from law firms.  The article also looks at the L.A. City Attorney’s practice of recruiting law grads for six-month volunteer stints prosecuting misdemeanors, and the U.S. DOJ’s practice of recruiting unpaid Special Assistant U.S. Attorneys. (A few months ago I also wrote about the SAUSA trend.)

by Kristen Pavón

Last week, NALP and ALI-ABA hosted the 2011 Professional Development Institute here in D.C.

The conference was full of programs on best practices for new lawyers, business skills for lawyers, using personality tests and assessments for professional development, social networking and pro bono programs.

On Friday morning, Jim Sandman, LSC president, and Caren Ulrich Stacy, president of Lawyer Metrics, spoke to attendees about how and why professional development and pro bono need each other.

They focused on four main reasons why strong pro bono programs should be implemented and maintained in law firms: 1) filling a growing need, 2) attorney satisfaction and retention, 3) skill development and 4) client relations.

Here are a few of the highlights:

• Lawyers value real work on real cases the most for professional development, according to a NALP Foundation survey. And pro bono cases can provide this “real work.”
• Lawyers have more control with pro bono cases  than on the commercial side.
• Pro bono work also helps with client relations because attorneys gain trial experience, which boosts their creditability with potential clients.
• Real world example of how pro bono can boost client relations: DLA Piper allows in-house counsel at Verizon (its client) to join its pro bono structure. This way, DLA attorneys work side by side with in-house counsel, learn from each other and improve client relations.
• Law firms need to put their money where their mouth is when it comes to pro bono programs. Attorneys need to have meaningful billable hour credit for pro bono work.

Thoughts?

by Kristen Pavón

The Official Guide to Legal Specialties, a NALP publication, has some good information about the skills that are most important to public interest lawyers. What do you think of them?

Here are the obvious ones:

• Passion for public service
• Strong interpersonal communications skills
• Oral advocacy skills
• Organizational skills
• Time management skills

And the not-so-obvious ones:

• Patience
• Tenacity
• Foreign language skills
• Ability to cope with crises
• Resourcefulness

I would add flexibility to the list. Is there anything you would add?

by Kristen Pavón

Last month, CareerBuilder.com released Jobology: 153 Ways to Improve your Job Search. The colorful, easy-to-read 20-page guide is full of quick tips on all stages of the job search — resumes, cover letters, tools for job searching, networking, interviewing, following up and what to do once you get a job offer.

Here are a few of the “nice-sounding (but empty) words” they say to avoid in your resume:

• meticulous
• motivated
• detail-oriented
• flexible
• independent
• innovative
• successful
• team player
• people person
• ambitious
• creative

I’m guilty of using one or more of these words in my resumes and cover letters — I guess they are pretty overused…

Career Builder suggests using keywords from the job description and nouns rather than action verbs (Ex. “communications specialist” or “computer proficiency” over “managed” or “developed”).

Are you guilty of using these words in your applications? What are some alternatives to the words on this list?

by Kristen Pavón

Today, I attended a free webinar hosted by the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty on their 2011 report on the criminalization of homelessness in the U.S.

Here are some of the highlights:

Types of Criminalization Measures

• Making it illegal to do things in public that people must do — for example, sleeping, sitting and storing personal belongings.
• Selective enforcement against homeless persons of seemingly neutral laws — loitering, jaywalking, etc.
• Restrictions on sharing food with homeless persons in public places.

Survey Results

• 73 percent of respondents (reported arrests, citations, or both for public urination/defecation
• 55 percent of respondents reported arrests, citations, or both for camping/sleeping in public
• 55 percent of respondents reported arrests, citations, or both for loitering
• 53 percent of respondents reported arrests, citations, or both for panhandling
• 20 percent of respondents reported arrests, citations, or both for public storage of belongings
• 7 percent increase since 2009 in begging/panhandling in 188 cities
• 10 percent increase since 2009 in loitering in public places in 188 cities

Alternatives to Criminalization

• Temporary [legal] encampments
• Increasing public restrooms
• Clinics to help homeless persons apply for various forms of identification
• Leverage housing resources in local communities with an effective framework (see below – 100,000 Homes Campaign)
• Outreach programs that connect homeless individuals with providers to divert them from the criminal justice system.

100,000 Homes Campaign

This campaign, which is setting out to house 100,000 homeless individuals by July 2013, provides local communities with an organized system to leverage their housing resources to house homeless individuals. The model is pretty simple but is great because it supports the locality throughout the process.

1. Build a local team.
2. Clarify demand (this means, among other things, creating a registry of the homeless population in your community).
3. Line up supply.
4. Move people into housing.
5. Help people stay housed (through ongoing supportive services).

Misc. Nuggets from Webinar

• Homeless persons face barriers to employment, housing, public benefits and healthcare as a result of receiving a citation.
• Criminalization measures do not address root causes of homelessness
• On average, it costs $6,100 a year to house a homeless person in permanent supportive housing.
• Costs of shelter, jail, and hospital services: $6,600; $25,500; $35,000; and $146, 730, respectively (based on Utah data).
• Criminalization of homelessness can violate homeless individuals’ civil rights, including first, eighth and fourth amendment rights.

The webinar and slides will be available on the National Law Center’s website. Also, you can download the 2011 report on the criminalization of homelessness (which includes a 151-page advocacy manual!!) here.