So, it’s getting to be that time again – recruitment is getting ready to get going for rising 2Ls, and the “what-comes-after-graduation” question is looming in the background for rising 3Ls. Whether you’re a law student or recent graduate, check out PSLawNet’s job search fundamentals page for great resources about redoing your resume, networking, and crafting the perfect cover letter.  It’s never too late to review the basics again!

If you’re thinking about a career as either a prosecutor or a defender, make sure to check out our recently updated Prosecutor/Public Defender Careers page!

There, you’ll find links and in-depth reports from law schools around the country about how to launch a career on either side of the courtroom.

By: Maria Hibbard

Although we posted last week about the surprising steady increase in the number of attorneys employed by the federal government over the last five years, employees of state and local governments in have not been so lucky throughout the recession. The data reported in the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times over the past few days addresses the layoffs of public workers generally, but because states and cities employ numerous attorneys (and state money funds prosecutors and public defenders offices), the struggle to balance  local budgets means that job security for state and local government attorneys might not be certain. While the federal government can print money, state and local governments often have to balance their budgets by reducing salaries or making personnel cuts.  When a state receives less aid from the federal government, it is forced to reduce the amount of aid it makes to local governments. The New York Times reports:

Government payrolls grew in the early part of the recovery, largely because of federal stimulus measures. But since its postrecession peak in April 2009 (not counting temporary Census hiring), the public sector has shrunk by 706,000 jobs. The losses appeared to be tapering off earlier this year, but have accelerated for the last three months, creating the single biggest drag on the recovery in many areas.

With the economy expanding, albeit slowly, state tax revenues have started to recover and are estimated to exceed prerecession levels next year. Yet governors and legislatures are keeping a tight rein on spending, whether to refill depleted rainy-day funds or because of political inclination.

At the same time, costs for health care, social services, pensions and education are still rising. Fourteen states plan to resolve their budget gaps by reducing aid to local governments, according to a report by the National Governors Association and the National Association of State Budget Officers.

So while the federal government has grown a little since the recession, and many states have recently begun to add a few jobs, local governments are making new cuts that outweigh those gains. More than a quarter of municipal governments are planning layoffs this year, according to a survey by the Center for State and Local Government Excellence. They are being squeezed not only by declining federal and state support, but by their devastated property tax base.

Although this data seems dismal, it does not mean that attorney jobs in state and local government do not exist. You can find an extensive map and list of resources on where to find state and local positions  throughout the U.S. on PSLawNet’s State and Local Government Resources page.

The ABLE Fellowship focuses on foreclosure prevention litigation and client advocacy. This is a special position funded by AmeriCorps, Equal Justice Works, and the Ohio Legal Assistance Foundation (OLAF).  The Foreclosure Fellow will be an AmeriCorps member and be placed in the ABLE Special Litigation and Support Unit. The Fellow will work with the ABLE and LAWO Foreclosure Legal Assistance Project as part of the Ohio-FLAG and Save the Dream Programs.

The Equal Justice Works AmeriCorps Fellow will be expected to perform the following duties:

• Handle a caseload that will primarily consist of defending foreclosure actions.  The Fellow will also be expected to participate in affirmative litigation involving, among other issues, predatory lending, house flipping and foreclosure rescue scams.
• Collaborate with the ABLE and LAWO Foreclosure Legal Assistance Project in overseeing the intake, case evaluation, case referral and case handling of all foreclosure cases through the Save the Dream statewide program.
• Collaborate with other Ohio legal aid programs through the Ohio-FLAG project, including attending periodic meetings, and assisting with reporting and evaluation requirements for the FLAG project.
• Engage in community outreach focusing on foreclosure prevention throughout the 32 county service area.
• Participate in community legal education and other training events for pro bono attorneys participating in the Save the Dream Program.
• Collaborating with housing counseling agencies on foreclosure prevention efforts.

Find out how to apply at PSLawNet!

By: Steve Grumm

Happy Friday Summer, dear readers.

credit: securefutures.us

The summer solstice occurred on Wednesday evening.  As if on cue, a week in DC that began at 70 degrees and rainy is ending at 95 degrees and infuriatingly humid.  Hurrah, or whatever.

Seeking comfort in northern climes, I’m about to leave for some business in Ottawa City.  My hosts have asked for a briefing about the public interest legal job market here in the U.S.  That’ll be a lot of fun news to deliver: legal services layoffs, layoffs on the state and local levels.  Etc.

But some good news emerged during my research.  Intrepid PSLawNet intern Maria Hibbard looked at the change in the number of federal attorney jobs from 2007-11.  Lo and behold, the number has increased.  In September, 2007, there were 29,845 positions classified as “General Attorney” in the executive branch agencies.  The figure has grown steadily, and in September 2011 there were 35,614.  If you need proof, here’s a table.  And we all know that tables on the Internet are always unassailable proof of the proposition asserted.  (The data is available on the Fedscope database.)   

Completely unrelated: it’s been a good week for history buffs.  A lot of old came back to be new(s).

• Sunday marked the 40th anniversary of the Watergate break-in which led to the downfall of the Nixon presidency and the rise of Woodstein-style investigative journalism.  (Imagine: without Watergate, there may be no Anderson Cooper 360.  And where would we be then, people?)
• June 18 marked the 62nd anniversary of Winston Churchill’s – he the savior of Britain and cigar-chomping curmudgeon – famous Finest Hour Speech.  (Yeah I know a 62nd anniversary is not a huge deal but I heard about it on BBC so let’s just pretend it’s a round number.)
• And even further back – I’ll let you do the math – the War of 1812 broke out on June 18.  This war was confusing and draws little attention in popular history circles.  But it did provide us with very hard-to-sing national anthem.  Ever tried?  If you have you’d cut Carl Lewis a break.   

The week in short:

• A little pushback on the state AG’s decision to give $1m to Legal Aid of West Virginia
• In Illinois, neither the state AG nor the Cook County (Chicago) state’s attorney will enforce the state’s gay marriage ban;
• $32 million in grants to California DAs’ offices to fight insurance fraud;
• The DC Bar Foundation awards $685K in grants, down from last year b/c they didn’t draw from reserve funding;
• Court fee boost will fund public defense in Louisiana;
• Back to Illinois: maybe some salary boosts for prosecutors & defenders in suburban Chicago;
• Good legal services funding news in the Old Line State;
• Cleaning up a public defense program in PA;
• There’s such a place as Sarpy County, Nebraska, and its public defenders are getting a raise;
• (Kudos x 4) to the Exoneration Project at the University of Chicago Law School;
• Legal Aid of NW Texas is using technology to cover a geographically huge service area;
• In short supply: Louisiana lawyers certified to defend capital cases;
• Legal Services of New Jersey’s attention-grabbing report about the Garden State’s justice gap;
• Washington State’s high court lays out caseload limits for defenders;
• Filing fee increases in Connecticut will benefit legal services providers;
• A PA county judge rules that the defender’s office must be better funded (partly b/c of an ACLU lawsuit);
• NPR looks at the funding shortages facing civil legal services programs (quote from LSC prez Jim Sandman);
• An op-ed calls for more state funding for legal services in Massachusetts;
• A pro bono record in the Treasure State (and my memory of driving along the Gallatin River);
• Washington State loosens rules to allow non-lawyers to do some legal work;
• LSC’s draft strategic plan is open for public comment (tip of cap to Richard Zorza for this).
• Groovin’ musical bonus.

The summaries:

• 6.21.12 – In West Virginia, there’s been a little bit of pushback on state attorney general Darrell McGraw’s decision to divert $1m of the state’s national foreclosure settlement share to Legal Aid of West Virginia.  Some have argued that the decision about how to use the funds is the province of the legislature.  The A.G.’s office says that the federal court which apportioned the settlement funds provided some direction as to their use.  (Story in the West Virginia Record.)

• 6.21.12 – “Twenty-five Illinois couples were prepared for a long legal fight when they joined lawsuits challenging the state’s ban on gay marriage. Turns out they won’t get one — at least not from the attorneys who would normally be responsible for defending the state’s laws.  Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan and Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez have refused to defend the 16-year-old ban, which defines marriage as between a man and a woman, saying it violates the state constitution’s equal protection clause.  The decision has raised eyebrows among some legal experts who believe prosecutors are legally bound to defend Illinois law, and sets up a scenario where a judge could quickly strike down the marriage statute.” (Here’s the full AP story, which fleshes out the arguments on both sides.)

• 6.21.12 – “The California Department of Insurance announced $5.9 million in grant money today to help the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office investigate and prosecute workers’ compensation insurance fraud.  The Orange County District Attorney will receive $3.6 million as part of $32 million in grants awarded statewide by Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones.”  (Full story in the Long Beach Press-Telegram.)

• 6.20.12 – good news: the DC Bar Foundation awarded $685,000 in grants to legal services providers.  Bad news: this was off by about 30% from last year, and the Foundation had to stop dipping into reserve funds to bolster its annual disbursement.  Katia Garrett and her colleagues at the DCBF are great people, and like folks at a lot of bar foundations they’ve done the best they can with miserable IOLTA revenue figures.  Tough times.  (Story from the Blog of the Legal Times.)

• 6.20.12 – we covered the Louisiana indigent defense funding boost last week, but this article in The Town Talk adds more detail: “Lawmakers are funneling more money into public defenders’ offices, keeping some from shuttering the programs that provide lawyers to those who can’t afford their own.  A bill by Rep. Jeff Arnold, D-New Orleans, will increase criminal court fees by $10 in most district courts to help shoulder the costs of defense attorneys who are required by law.  Louisiana Public Defender Board chairman Frank Neuner estimates the increase could bring in as much as $7 million a year.”

• 6.20.12 – a push for higher defender and prosecutor salaries in suburban Chicago.  “Kane County Public Defender Kelli Childress said this week she plans to ask the county board next month for raises for her staff.  Last week, Kane County State’s Attorney Joe McMahon said he wants raises for his prosecutors, who have been in a salary freeze since 2008.  Childress and McMahon are tired of seeing their young talent leave to work in surrounding counties that pay more…. Childress said assistant public defenders in her office have a starting yearly salary of $39,399, and 2007 was the last time her entire staff received a raise.  McMahon wants the county board to boost starting pay for prosecutors from $40,000 a year to $53,000 a year, a move he says will make Kane competitive with starting salaries in other counties.  Childress also plans to ask the county to increase assistant public defender pay to around $53,000, but she wants the raises to be implemented in phases…”  (Story from the Daily Herald.)

• 6.19.12 – some good legal services funding news from the Old Line State. Courtesy of the Harry and Jeannette Weinberg Foundation the “…[Maryland] Legal Aid Bureau got $850,000 over two years, for free legal services and educational material for low-income adults.” (Story from Bmore Media.)

• 6.18.12 – in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Washington State, ACLU lawsuits targeting allegedly weak indigent defense programs have caused change, as states have considered providing more indigent defense funding and/or establishing caseload limits to avoid overburdening defenders.  Allegheny County, PA, of which Pittsburgh is the county seat, is one of two PA counties where ACLU action prompted change.  This Tribune piece profiles new county public defender Elliot Howsie, who seems quite comfortable with the idea of shaking things up to improve the office.  

• 6.18.12 – some healthy competition is leading to bumps in public defender pay in a few Nebraska counties: “County governments are facing tight budgets and revenue shortages, but they still want to show their lawyers some love.  Back in April, the Douglas County Board approved $455,000 in pay raises for assistant public defenders and deputy county attorneys. Board members said the increases were needed to keep pace with salary levels in Sarpy and Lancaster Counties and to retain good lawyers.  Now Sarpy County is answering with pay hikes of its own.  And officials in Douglas County, with larger staffs of attorneys on both the prosecution and defense side, are watching.  Salaries for Sarpy public defenders will jump by 7 percent in the new budget year.”  (Story from the Omaha World-Herald.)

• 6.18.12 – since 2008, the Exoneration Project of the University of Chicago Law School has aided in the release of four wrongfully convicted inmates.  “[A]bout a dozen students each quarter participate in the…Exoneration Project, a clinic that gives students hands-on experience representing prisoners seeking post-conviction relief. Students do it all — from voting on which cases the clinic should accept to writing briefs to standing before a judge — under the supervision of experienced, licensed attorneys.”  (Story from the University of Chicago News Service.  Well, tooting our own horns a bit, eh, University of Chicago? JKLOL!)

• 6.18.12 – using technology to serve a huge swath of Texas.  “Legal Aid of Northwest Texas has been approved for a grant of $22,550 by the Texas Bar Foundation. The grant is for a project designed to improve the delivery of legal services to low-income Texans. The Pro Bono Mobility Project will allow pro bono staff to offer “virtual” legal assistance at legal clinics throughout the agency’s 114-county service area. ‘This project will allow our clinic staff and private attorney volunteers the ability to create, scan and print documents from even the remotest of locations,’ said Jane Fritz, director of Pro Bono and Bar Relations.” (Story from the Amarillo Globe-News.)

• 6.17.12 – there’s a dearth of Lousiana lawyers who are certified to handle capital cases.  “The shortage of death penalty-certified attorneys and the lack of adequate defense funding means even more delays for death-penalty cases, which already take years to come to trial, says Mike Mitchell, chief public defender with the East Baton Rouge Parish Public Defenders.”  But the head of the state’s district attorneys’ association thinks that the fuss about a representation crisis is really a tactic toward ending capital punishment.  Story from The Advocate.

• 6.17.12 – Legal Services of New Jersey has released its 2012 report on access to justice in the Garden State.  (Here’s a link to the report, New Jersey’s Civil Legal Assistance Gap…)  As noted in The Record, the gap exists not only because of increased client need, but decreased resources for LSNJ: “Essentially, as the extent of poverty in New Jersey has reached its highest level in at least 30 years, the opportunity for the poor to get free legal help from funding-squeezed Legal Services and other organizations has narrowed. Overall funding for New Jersey’s Legal Services programs has dropped from $72 million in 2008 to $44.7 million today. That includes the state budget appropriation being reduced from $29.6 million in the 2008 fiscal year to $14.9 million currently.  The funding reductions have led to Legal Services’ total staffing going from 720 in 2007 down to 415 at the beginning of this year. That includes a crucial loss of 130 attorneys.”
  • A Philly Inquirer editorial laments the situation, endorses a court filing-fee increase to generate funding for LSNJ, an calls upon the private bar to do more.  
  • A Record editorial supports in increased state appropriation and more private bar support. “An entire stratum of American society is left to muddle through [legal processes] that very literally could mean the difference between life and death, as Legal Services notes in its report. This is not justice. 
  • And here’s a column from The Record explaining that charitable donations from the private sector haven’t been of much aid to LSNJ as its state appropriation and IOLTA funding have dwindled.

• 6.16.12 – Big news from Washington State: “For the first time, the state Supreme Court is setting limits on the number of cases public defenders can handle — an effort to improve the quality of legal representation for some of the 200,000 poor people prosecuted in the state every year, but one that could increase costs to local governments at a time of tight budgets.  By a vote of 7-2, the justices said lawyers who represent indigent defendants generally should handle no more than 150 felony cases per year, or 300 to 400 misdemeanor cases, and even fewer when the cases are complex. The caseload standards will take effect in September 2013.”  (Here’s Seattle Times coverage, and here’s Peninsula Daily News coverage.)  

• 6.16.12 – “Connecticut is increasing court filing fees in certain civil and family cases, a change intended to raise extra money to help the state’s [legal services programs].  Legal aid to the poor has taken huge hits across the country because a main source of revenue, interest from lawyers’ trust accounts, dried up amid the recession and low interest rates…. In Connecticut, trust account interest revenue for legal aid for the poor plummeted from $20 million in 2008 to only $1 million this year, according to the Connecticut Bar Foundation, which administers funding for the state’s legal aid programs. The result has been reductions to staff and services at the three legal aid providers in the state.” (Here’s Stamford Advocate coverage, and here’s AP coverage.) 

• 6.16.12 – in Pennsylvania, “[a] senior county judge ruled Friday that Luzerne County must provide adequate funding to the public defender’s office. Five full-time vacancies will be filled, more office space will be set aside, and more employees are expected to be hired.”  This comes in the wake of lawsuit which filed by the ACLU and county public defender to compel the county for more support.  (Story from the Pocono Record.)

• 6.15.12 – NPR looks at impact of funding shortages plaguing civil legal services programs: ” ‘The legal services system in the United States today is in a state of crisis,’ says Jim Sandman, president of the national Legal Services Corp., which gives money to 135 aid programs all over the country.  The traditional funding streams, from Congress and state governments, are under attack. Aside from government dollars, there’s another important source of financing for legal aid: interest that collects on trust accounts that lawyers set up for their clients. But because of record low interest rates, that money has hit record lows, too.  Over the past couple of years, Sandman estimates, more than 1,200 people who work for legal aid programs — 1 in 7 — have lost their jobs. Offices in rural Arkansas and North Carolina have closed outright. But Sandman says more than 60 million people now qualify for civil legal aid.  (Here’s the NPR story.)

• 6.15.12 – in the Bay State, an op-ed from former legal aid lawyer and current law professor Justine Dunlap argues for more state funding for legal services: “The Massachusetts Legislature is currently considering how much to allocate to Massachusetts Legal Assistance Corporation, which helps fund organizations like South Coastal Counties Legal Services. The House budget recommended $12 million while the Senate recommended $11.5 million; those differences are now being worked out in the Legislative Conference Committee. It is important that the commonwealth adopt the higher of these two numbers and pass a budget of $12 million for MLAC for fiscal year 2013.”  (Here’s the piece 0n South Coast Today’s website.)

• 6.15.12 –  “[a] report by the Montana Supreme Court and the State Bar of Montana said more than 2,000 Montana attorneys contributed more than 150,000 hours of free legal services to low-income Montanans last year. The value of that work is nearly $20 million.  That’s an increase of nearly 9,000 hours from 2010 and 38,000 hours from 2009.”  The 2011 tally is an all-time record in the Treasure State.  (Story from the Bozeman Daily Chronicle.)
  • personal aside: one of my life’s most peaceful experiences occurred while driving out of Yellowstone Park and north into Montana.  Just after dawn, and after being caught in the equivalent of a Yellowstone rush hour – dozens of bison crossing the road – I left through the park’s west exit and paralleled the Gallatin River on a state highway, winding through gorgeous pine forests.  I didn’t see another car for miles.  Just myself, a newly risen sun, the occasional deer, and Son Volt’s Trace in my tape deck.  Three months later I started law school and became the cynical, curmudgeon-in-training that I am today. Heh.

• 6.15.12 – “With a goal of making legal help more accessible to the public, the Washington Supreme Court has adopted APR 28, entitled “Limited Practice Rule for Limited License Technicians”. The rule will allow non-lawyers with certain levels of training to provide technical help on simple legal matters effective September 1, 2012…. Under the new rule, persons who are trained and authorized by a newly-established Limited License Legal Technician Board will be able to provide technical help to the public on civil cases.”  The announcement from the Washington Courtsincludes some detail on what kinds of work non-lawyers will be doing.

• 6.14.12 – the Legal Services Corporation has opened up a draft, 5-year strategic plan for notice and comment from the public.  So take notice and get your comment on! (Tip of cap to Richard Zorza, from whose Access to Justice Blog I picked this up.)

And now some seasonally appropriate music from my hometown.

By: Maria Hibbard

Although NALP just released a dismal report on the employment statistics for law grads of the class of 2011, legal jobs in the federal government may represent something of a growth area. I spent some time in FedScope, the Office of Personnel Management’s federal human resources database, and found that over the last 5 years, the number of attorneys working for the government in jobs classified as “general attorney” has increased by almost 6,000. These jobs include attorney-advisor positions, and trial attorney positions, and other jobs for which a J.D. is required. (FYI – see how the government defines “general attorney” in these 35 pages) Since the general mood throughout the Great Recession has been less jobs for everyone, everywhere, I expected to see a steady downward trend in the number of federal legal jobs as well–instead, the number attorneys employed in federal agencies has increased steadily by about 1,000 jobs per year from 2007-2011.

Although we don’t know if these new jobs are entry-level or more advanced career positions, this is certainly an encouraging trend. All of these newly-created attorney positions in the federal government aren’t going away even as the economy rebuilds–from December 2010-December 2011, the number of attorneys employed by federal agencies held steady at around 35,000. What’s more, in 2009 the Partnership for Public service predicted in their Where the Jobs Are report that the federal government would need to hire over 23,000 legal-related jobs in the next three years, 5800 of which would be attorney positions. The general employment market may be suffering, but the federal government has certainly shown a need for more attorneys–in part because Baby Boomers have begun to retire in large numbers.

So–where, exactly, are all of these mystical federal attorney positions? Reference our Federal Government Resources page for more information, but some quick stats on “General Attorney” positions from FedScope:

• 10,796 at the Department of Justice
• 2, 297 at the Department of the Treasury
• 2,035 at the Department of Homeland Security
• 1, 639 at the Securities and Exchange Commission
• 1, 127 at the Environmental Protection Agency

Changes in federal hiring for recent graduates are about to take place, too–look out for the “Pathways Program” set to take effect in July, a program aimed at making federal hiring more streamlined and transparent. We’ll post more about it on PSLawNet at that time, but in the meantime– federal attorney hiring is a positive trend that warrants some thought.

If you’re thinking about working on an application for a project-based fellowship this summer, don’t miss our tips about the application process from former fellows, employers, and PSLawNet staff.

Also, visit our PSLawNet Post Graduate Fellowship page for even more resources!

NHLP seeks applicants to sponsor for Skadden Fellowship. NHLP has successfully sponsored several fellowship applicants in the past, including Skadden, Equal Justice Works, and Soros fellows. We will work closely with the selected applicant in developing fellowship applications.  Work to commence in the fall of 2013 at NHLP’s San Francisco office.

Possible fellowship initiatives include, but are not limited to:

(1) Emerging Fair Housing Issues:  The new HUD administration promises a new emphasis on fair housing issues such as the rights of LGBT individuals and affirmatively furthering fair housing to ensure opportunities to live in communities of opportunity and inclusion. Additionally, local and state efforts to prevent discrimination on the basis of one’s source of income or housing subsidy have met with limited success in preventing such discrimination. The fellow will engage in policy advocacy, training, and selective litigation to address these emerging issues.

(2) Resident Engagement: NHLP has recently undertaken pioneering work engaging federally-assisted housing residents in advocacy and policymaking. HUD’s new initiatives offer opportunities for resident involvement and its 5 Year Strategic Plan states that residents of HUD assisted housing are its highest priority stakeholders. NHLP work on the Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) resulted in residents being heard and influencing policy at the national level.  Implementation of RAD, including resident engagement at the local level, is the next step.  NHLP has also established a Resident Academy designed to train and inform resident of their rights and encourage resident participation at the national and local level.  This fellowship opportunity will provide a unique opportunity to work on national policy issues as well as grass roots work in collaboration with residents, resident organizations, community groups and Housing Justice Network members to ensure that resident voices continue to be heard during the development of new policies and during implementation at the local level. The fellow will also help expand the reach and scope of the Resident Academy.

Find out how to apply at PSLawNet!

Join our Team! The U.S. Department of Education (ED), Office for Civil Rights, Region V, Chicago, is looking for the best and brightest to ensure equal access to education and to promote educational excellence throughout the nation. If you are a highly motivated, creative individual who would like to be involved in enforcing federal civil rights laws, prohibiting discrimination and ensuring equal access to education, ED is the place for you!

You have the responsibility for participating on a civil rights compliance and enforcement team that supports the mission of the Department of Education and the Office for Civil Rights’ (Roc) Strategic Plan. Roc measures compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, Boy Scouts of America Equal Access Act (Section 9525 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001) and the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, and their implementing regulations in school districts, colleges and universities through complaint investigations and compliance reviews.

The Office for Civil Rights is a civil rights enforcement agency responsible for ensuring compliance with certain Federal civil rights regulations that apply to educational institutions. The office also provides technical assistance regarding Federal civil rights laws and regulations. As a member of a Chicago office team, an Attorney Advisor performs various non-litigation duties on matters handled by the Office for Civil Rights, including matters of considerable sensitivity or complexity. Duties include but are not limited to: extensive legal research and analysis, legal review of documents, legal advise and counsel, drafting various documents (including reports of investigation, decisional documents with presentations of evidence, findings of fact and legal analysis, settlement agreements), interviewing witnesses and collecting and reviewing documents, participating in settlement negotiations, and direct communications with and provision of technical assistance to various officials and members of the public. May serve as a support attorney for the agency in complex litigation, both administrative and judicial, including the conduct of necessary research. The position involves extensive office practice with moderate travel throughout the region served by the office.

The deadline is 6/18–find out how to apply at PSLawNet!

By: Steve Grumm

Happy Friday, dear readers.  Some miscellany before getting into access-to-justice news:

• Needless to say this week’s huge legal story involves the lawsuit against the Phillie Phanatic, in which it’s alleged that the Phillies mascot carried his antics too far by throwing a party reveler into a swimming pool.  (The pool did have water in it, so presumably things could’ve been worse.)
• Both Florida’s and California’s high courts this week looked into the question of whether an undocumented immigrant may receive a license to practice law in those respective jurisdictions.  Here’s coverage from the Wall Street Journal Law Blog.
• Sign of the fiscal times from New Jersey: “Recognizing that Lawrence Township would receive an additional $2.5 million in municipal taxes this year if nonprofit organizations were required to pay taxes, township officials plan to ask for “voluntary contributions” from these tax-exempt groups. The [t]ownship administration and council are in the process of drafting a letter that will be sent out to tax-exempt and nonprofit organizations in the township seeking “voluntary contributions” in lieu of the municipal taxes these groups do not pay.”  (Full article from the Lawrenceville Patch.)

As for public interest news, its’ been a busy week:

• an AtJ commission formed in Illinois;
• LSC funding cuts will wreak havoc in Puerto Rico;
• the need for reform in Michigan’s indigent defense program;
• pro bono patent work;
• a Chicago law school gets HUD funding to smite housing discrimination;
• Legal Aid of W. Virginia gets desperately needing funding from state AG;
• bad news for the Public Defender Corps;
• prosecutor layoffs in Sacramento?;
• access-to-justice bonanza in the Treasure State;
• 5 tips for fixing the civil justice system;
• a Wake Forest Law clinic promotes rural economic development;
• Alaska Legal Services Corporation opens its 11th office;
• business is booming in an Oklahoma veterans court;
• the June edition of LSC Update;
• civil Gideon in San Fran.

This week:

• 6.14.12 – an access-to-justice commission in Illinois: “The Illinois Supreme Court announced Wednesday the formation of a commission to remove barriers and increase the ease of interacting with courts by those persons who can’t afford lawyers to represent their interests and needs.  It will be known as the Illinois Supreme Court Access to Justice Commission and is made up of 11 persons, seven of whom are appointed by the Supreme Court. The Illinois Bar Foundation, the Chicago Bar Foundation the Lawyers Trust Fund of Illinois and the Illinois Equal Justice Foundation appoint one member each.” (Full story from the Aledo Times Record.)

• 6.14.12 – “Puerto Rico’s Legal Services office faces $5 million in federal budget cuts next year, a reduction that officials say will force attorneys to drop thousands of civil cases in this U.S. territory where nearly half the people live in poverty.  The budget cuts are occurring at a national level, but the 32 percent decrease announced for Puerto Rico is the largest compared to cuts facing U.S. states, executive director Charles Hey Maestre said Thursday. He added that the funds being cut represent a fourth of the organization’s budget.”  (Story from WTOP.)

• 6.14.12 – will Michigan’s long-troubled indigent defense system finally be reformed?  NPR takes a look.

• 6.13.12 – transactional pro bono is no longer a new thing, but there has been a recent upsurge in pro bono patent work done on behalf of DIY inventors.   Full story in the National Law Journal.

• 6.12.12 – bad news for Chicagoans who like housing discrimination: “The John Marshall Law School in Chicago is receiving more than $1 million in funding from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) that will help maintain its Fair Housing Legal Clinic, Fair Lending/Home Preservation Law Project and its Fair Housing Internship Program to train college students in fair housing law and investigations.  The funding of the three programs is divided into a three-year grant of nearly $840,000 to underwrite the work of the Clinic; a $97,100 grant for the law school’s ongoing Fair Lending/ Home Preservation Law Project; and $99,800 that is allowing the law school to continue its groundbreaking fair housing law course and internship for college students.”  (Full press release here.)

• 6.12.12 – “Attorney General Darrell McGraw announced Tuesday that his office has secured $1 million in funding for the beleaguered Legal Aid of West Virginia, which had to lay off 12 case handlers and consider shuttering its Logan and Mingo County office because of budget cuts last year. McGraw said in an afternoon news conference at the Chief Logan Conference Center in Logan that the $1 million will help keep the office open for the next three years. The money comes from a small portion of a massive national mortgage settlement that the attorney general’s consumer protection division reached earlier this year, which netted more than $33 million for West Virginia consumers affected by foreclosure abuse from large banks.”  (Full story from the Charleston Gazette.)

• 6.11.12 – a rotten development for the Public Defender Corps: “Equal Justice Works and The Southern Public Defender Training Center have recently learned that the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance, will not provide funding for the Public Defender Corps program in 2012-2013 and beyond. As such, the application process for the Public Defender Corps class of 2013 will not open on July 6 as previously planned.  We are actively seeking alternative funding sources for the program. We recommend that you periodically check our website for updates.”  (Message from the Equal Justice Works’ website.)

• 6.11.12 – a risk of prosecutor layoffs in Sacramento: “District Attorney Jan Scully says she’s made cuts to close a budget gap, but will have to lay off 8 staffers including 4 attorneys unless she gets an additional $2.1 million dollars from the Board. She says prosecutors will concentrate their efforts on felony cases in which suspects pose a danger to citizens. Scully’s office has already backed off on prosecuting certain drug and property crimes and she may raise the threshold on prosecutions.” (Story from Fox 40.)

• 6.11.12 – good news from the Treasure State: “the Montana Supreme Court has taken a pair of steps designed to increase the availability of lawyers and other resources for people who cannot afford them, responding to a nationwide drop in funding for legal aid programs and a rise in recent years in the number of people arguing their cases “pro se,” or without professional legal representation.  May 22, in a 5-1 decision, the high court launched an appellate “pro bono” program, effective July 1, with a mission to create an online database of attorneys and law students who will volunteer to help self-represented parties in appeals before the Montana Supreme Court. The court also unanimously agreed to establish an 18-member Commission on Access to Justice to advise the court on the needs of low-income people and their business interests in the justice system.”  (Story from the Helena Independent Record.)

• 6.11.12 – the director of the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System, Rebecca Love Kourlis, offers five steps for fixing the civil justice system.  (Full post on The Atlantic website.)  

• 6.11.12 – Wake Forest Law’s Community Law and Business Clinic offers students meaningful transactional experience while promoting economic development in rural areas.  (Story in the Winston Salem Journal.)

• 6.10.12 – Alaska Legal Services Corporation’s newly opened Barrow office is the organization’s 11th location in the state.  I wonder if they can see Russia from there.  (Story in the Arctic Sounder.)

• 6.10.12 – business is booming at the Oklahoma County veterans diversionary court. Story from The Oklahoman.  

• 6.8.12 – the June edition of “LSC Update” recaps funding news, LSC personnel changes, and a Washington Council of Lawyers report on the state of legal services funding nationally. 

• June, 2012 – a piece in the California Lawyer looks at San Francisco’s experiment with a civil right to counsel.  My colleague Maria did a write-up on this earlier this week.

Let’s close out with music.  I am a child of the 80s.  This means a lot of things as regards my musical tastes, some of which are more defensible than others.  One thing that happened is that, while riding around in the back of the family station wagon, I heard lots of songs that were at the time called “oldies.”  To my young ears the oldies broke into two groups: horrendous music from the 50s and amazing music from the 60s.  Included in this latter group was Motown, which for my money is one of the most moving, soul-stirring genres in the history of American music.  I have my dad to thank for that wonderful introduction.  And this Four Tops song has long been a favorite.