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.)

Equal Justice Works is hosting a live, free webinar this Friday. Mark your calendars!

Drowning in Debt? Learn How Government and Nonprofit Workers Can Earn Public Service Loan Forgiveness

December 16, 3:00 – 4:15 p.m. EDT

A must-attend for anyone with high student debt working for the government or a nonprofit, this free webinar explains how you can benefit from the College Cost Reduction and Access Act, the most significant law affecting public service in a generation.

From this interactive webinar, you will learn and be able to ask questions about:

• Understanding your Federal loans
• How to qualify for Public Service Loan Forgiveness
• How the Income-Based Repayment plan works

Click here to view a schedule of EJW’s free, live webinars that teach you how loan repayment assistance and relief programs work, and to register for an upcoming session.

By: Steve Grumm

We may soon find out.  Tomorrow the Missouri Supreme Court will hear arguments in a long-simmering case about whether the Missouri Public Defender Commission is empowered to close offices to new cases on account of high caseloads.  While this decision will of course impact only Missouri’s indigent defense system, the problem of under-funded, overwhelmed defenders offices exists in many jurisdictions.

From the Springfield News-Leader:

Public defenders say they were operating under the rules set up after a previous Supreme Court decision.

But multiple interpretations have surfaced as to what the previous Supreme Court ruling, called the Pratte decision, actually means.

The Missouri Public Defender Commission’s opinion is that the Pratte decision reaffirmed its authority to set rules to combat high caseloads. It also said public defenders couldn’t reject cases based on category, such as turning down all probation violation cases.

In the Pratte opinion, one of the suggestions justices made was to consider closing the offices to new cases when caseload limits were reached, as other states have done.

But the sides disagree about whether that text gave the authority to close offices or was merely a discussion of options.

The new case before the Supreme Court could clarify how the court expects public defenders to deal with high caseloads.

By: Steve Grumm

Happy Friday, dear readers.  Greetings from day two of the National Legal Aid & Defender Association’s annual conference.  (It’s their centennial, in fact.  Happy 100th, NLADA!)  There is much terrific programming here.  It’s heartening to learn of so many innovative approaches to delivering high-quality client services.  And it’s great to catch up with friends and colleagues from the legal services community.  But the dire funding circumstances which legal services providers – and defenders, for that matter – face are part of most conversations I’ve had.  So there is much to celebrate, but some things to lament as well.   

This week: legal services funding woes in North Carolina; ditto in Ohio; a “Justice Index” to measure the health of court systems?; an access-to-justice report in New York State.

• 12.8.11 – here’s a look at how funding woes impact legal services in North Carolina: “On Nov. 15, Congress cut $56 million from the federal Legal Services Corporation for 2012. This cut is as plain as it is severe: federal support specifically for the provision of legal services to low-income people will drop by 15 percent next year. In North Carolina, these cuts will directly reduce funding by about $1.5 million.  The full picture is worse. Federal legal services funds for North Carolina were cut by $700,000 this year. Our state legislature sliced 25 percent from legal aid budgets this year. These cuts forced LANC to shut down four offices across the state and eliminate 30 staff positions. The 2012 cuts will likely cause more reductions in staff and services next year.”  Read the full op-ed in the Charlotte Observer. 

• 12.7.11 – bad news from Ohio: “Legal Aid of Western Ohio, Inc. (LAWO) announced it will close its Mansfield office due to severe funding cuts. The closing will also result in the elimination of two attorney positions and one administrative assistant position in the Mansfield office.  The closing is scheduled to take place by December 31, 2011.”  Here’s the story from WMFD. 

• 12.5.11 – a “Justice Index” to measure the health and effectiveness of state court systems?  Writing in the National Law Journal, David Udell and Cara Anna of the National Center for Access to Justice at Cardozo Law propose using data to help policymakers find solutions to access-to-justice problems: “Which states’ courts are in the worst condition? Which, despite the challenges, are making litigation simpler and less expensive? It’s hard to fix a problem when you can’t see clearly what’s going wrong. There’s no way to tell how one state’s legal system is performing or how it compares with others. It’s time to change that. We need a national Justice Index.  A Justice Index follows on the innovative idea by Yale law professor Heather Gerken of creating a Democracy Index to evaluate America’s election system. A national Justice Index would be a high-profile annual ranking of each state’s approach to legal assistance and the way each handles civil and criminal cases. That ranking would be supported by published data that could be mined by policymakers, the media and the courts themselves.”

• 12.2.11 – the Task Force to Expand Access to Civil Legal Services released a report about the state of AtJ in the Empire State.  From Thomson-Reuters: Access to civil legal services for low-income New Yorkers is severely lacking, which not only impacts the livelihood of poor litigants but drains precious resources from the state’s court system, according to a new report released by a task force created by the state’s chief judge.  ‘At best, no more than 20 percent of the legal needs of low-income families and individuals are met, because civil legal services providers lack the resources to meet them,’ says the report issued Thursday by the Task Force to Expand Access to Civil Legal Services.”  Here’s a link to the Task Force’s report. 

By: Steve Grumm

A piece in the National Law Journal, penned by folks from the National Center for Access to Justice at Cardozo Law, proposes using hard data to track the health and effectiveness of state court systems.

America’s justice system should not be a mystery, and its workings should be open and understandable to all. But that ideal is far from the truth.

Millions of people each year come to civil court to fight for their homes, their businesses, their families. Many can’t afford a lawyer, and states aren’t required to give them one. Legal aid groups turn away more than half of the people who come asking. The funding simply doesn’t exist. Even in the criminal justice system, with its constitutional right to counsel, we still see “lawyerless courts” where people are arraigned and jailed on their own.

Of course, it’s not just about having a lawyer, and it’s not just about the poor. In these tough financial times, are courts even functioning? An American Bar Association report in August said courts in most states have seen budget cuts of 10 to 15 percent during the past three years. “The same recession that has led legislatures to reduce access to our justice system has obviously increased the number of people who need it,” the report said.

Which states’ courts are in the worst condition? Which, despite the challenges, are making litigation simpler and less expensive? It’s hard to fix a problem when you can’t see clearly what’s going wrong. There’s no way to tell how one state’s legal system is performing or how it compares with others. It’s time to change that. We need a national Justice Index.

A Justice Index follows on the innovative idea by Yale law professor Heather Gerken of creating a Democracy Index to evaluate America’s election system. A national Justice Index would be a high-profile annual ranking of each state’s approach to legal assistance and the way each handles civil and criminal cases. That ranking would be supported by published data that could be mined by policymakers, the media and the courts themselves.

…

by Kristen Pavón

I attended a Center for American Progress panel discussion about the results of a recent poll of young adults between 18 and 34 on their economic situation and expectations. The poll asked young adults about 1) jobs and the economy, 2) higher education, 3) health care and wellness, 4) cost of living, and 5) raising a family.

The panelists were:

• Jamelle Bouie (moderator), Knobler Fellow at The Nation Institute
• Ronnie Cho, White House Liaison to Young Americans
• Eduardo Garcia, Advocacy Associate for Campus Progress
• Heather McGhee, Demos’s D.C. office Director
• Aaron Smith, Young Invincibles co-founder and Executive Director

Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, the results were mostly dismal. However, we (young adults) are still hopeful despite the current outlook. The panelists stressed the importance of young adults getting involved in policy work and becoming leaders in their communities to create change.

Here are few of the numbers from the poll:

• 68% of respondents believe that it has become harder to make ends meet over the last four years.
• 48% of respondents believe that their generation will be worse off than their parents.
• 77% believe they can achieve the “American Dream.”
• 57% say they would like to be working and earning more.
• 44% of workers have taken jobs outside of their fields while waiting for a better opportunity.
• Almost 40% say they have delayed starting or continuing college or training because of the economy.
• Education or training was cited as the most important factor to getting ahead in the economy.
• 27% are uninsured.
• 52% described their personal financial situations as just fair or poor (Latinos are the most frustrated with their financial situation).

Here are young adults’ top 5 priorities, according to the the poll results:

1. Creating jobs and growing the economy
2. Making college affordable
3. Making post-high school education and training more affordable
4. Protecting health care services and access for low-income people
5. Making sure social security is available for people in our generation

Wondering what issue came in last as a top priority for young adults?

• Reducing the federal debt by cutting spending on entitlements (I found this interesting and maybe even telling of our/my generation).

Policy Solutions

While the panelists used a lot of idealistic language like “tremendous opportunities,” “powerful energy,” and “hopeful,” I was happy to hear some tangible solutions to improving Young America’s economic future.

• Student loan relief for young entrepreneurs
• Reform eligibility for student loans and programs for ex-convicts
• Implementation of a large public jobs bill (for workers to improve national parks/roads/etc)
• Reform eligibility for Earned Income Tax Credit to include young adults under 25
• Establish a universal system of childcare
• Implement guaranteed paid leave policy (FMLA leave almost half of employees uncovered because of small employers or their leave is unpaid)

Watch the webcast of the event here.

Pretty interesting stuff. What do you think?

By: Steve Grumm

Happy Friday (and December), dear readers.  On this date in the year 1409, the University of Leipzig opened.  Never forget.  Also, on 12/2/70 the EPA began operations.  It is surprising to many that President Nixon established the EPA.  Guess what other federal agency he established.  It’s the Legal Services Corporation.  And LSC figures prominently in this week’s Bulletin, which includes coverage of:

• state court systems feeling the fiscal pinch;
• Maryland’s governor pressures law school clinic to back off environmental suit;
• Tennessee’s high court launches a pro se assistance website;
• OPM provides details on the new federal gov’t internship programs;
• an update on the deferred-associates-take-public-interest-placements phenomenon;
• a Florida legal services program’s fiscal struggles;
• the LSC funding cut’s impact in the Empire State;
• exciting law student pro bono news;
• outlook for state budgets bleak, according to new report;
• a Missouri legal aid lawyer fights for equal smiles under law;
• declining Biglaw pro bono hours – temporary or here to stay?
• Prairie State Legal Services’s $ struggles;
• the LSC funding cut’s impact in the Mountain State;
• boosting pro bono among retiring and retired lawyers;
• the LSC funding cut’s impact in the Old Line State
• the LSC funding cut’s impact in the Garden State.

This week:

• 11.30.11 – hardly surprising, but budgetary belts are tightening in state court systems throughout the country.  From the National Law Journal: “Deep state court budget cuts are hurting access to justice, according to a recent survey issued by the National Center for State Courts.  The survey, released on Nov. 29, tabulated a poll of state courts conducted from July through October.  Results indicate widespread recent budget cuts, including 42 states with substantial court budget decreases; 39 states where clerk vacancies were not filled; 34 states where court staff were laid off; and 23 states with reduced court operating hours.”

• 11.30.11 – a few days back my colleague Kristen posted about the Maryland governor pressuring a U of Maryland Law clinic to back off an environmental suit against a poultry farm.  (This gives me an opportunity to gratuitously refer to the poultry industry as “Big Chicken,” which I find funny.) Where were we?  Oh, a Washington Post editorial takes aim at Governor O’Malley: “Mr. O’Malley’s Nov. 14 missive was a misguided protest against the school’s environmental law clinic and its involvement in a lawsuit against Perdue Inc. and Alan and Kristin Hudson Farm, a Maryland-based operation that works for Perdue.”  Here’s some more detailed coverage and background from the Baltimore Sun.  Here’s Dean Phoebe Haddon’s – hey she was my torts professor! – reply to the governor.

• 11.30.11 – Tennessee’s high court is hands-on in addressing the justice gap.  From the Daily News Journal: “The Tennessee Supreme Court launched a new website this week to provide the public with valuable resources to help navigate the court system. The new site, JusticeForAllTN.com <http://www.justiceforalltn.com/> , is intended to assist people with civil legal issues who cannot afford legal representation.  The Justice for All website includes downloadable court forms, resources for representing yourself in court, information about common legal issues and an interactive map with resources for each of the state’s 95 counties. Thanks to a partnership with the Tennessee Alliance for Legal Services and the Tennessee Bar Association, the site also gives visitors the ability to email a volunteer attorney with questions.”

• 11.29.11 – lots of changes affecting employment pathways into federal government.  From Government Executive: “The Office of Personnel Management plans to launch the federal government’s new internship program by May….  The [Student Pathways Initiative] will consolidate several federal internship programs into three pathways, replacing the Federal Career Intern Program…. The initiative’s three options are an internship program for current students, a new Recent Graduates Program and the Presidential Management Fellows Program for graduate students. OPM confirmed that all three pathways will be launched simultaneously, and that the organization aims to be ready in time for the Recent Graduates pathway to accommodate students graduating in May 2012.”

• 11.29.11 – the Legal Intelligencer, based in the Glorious City of Philadelphia, has a piece reviewing the phenomenon of associates whose law-firm start dates were deferred taking short-term public interest placements.  This mostly affected the law school graduating class of 2009, but also some subsequent grads. According the article, while deferrals certainly marked a rocky patch on a law-school-to-law-firm employment path that was typically smooth, some deferred associates enjoyed rich experiences that have impacted their careers, and lives, for the better.  I’m glad to know that deferred associates are re-integrating into their law firms.  Here at PSLawNet we played a role in facilitating deferral placements, and in 2010 I looked in on the trend and concluded that things were going well.

• 11.29.11 – in Florida, Gulfcoast Legal Services has been battered by the recession.  IOLTA revenues in the Sunshine State have plummeted from $40 million to $6 million.  And the governor vetoed a $1 million appropriation that would have gone to GLS and other providers.  GLS has also seen other grants dry up.  “Because of the fallout [GLS], which started 2011 with 20 staff attorneys at its five offices, will end the year with 13.  Read more from the Bradenton Times.

• 11.29.11 –  The Rochester Daily Record reviews how Legal Services Corporation funding cuts will impact providers in Western New York State. 

• 11.29.11 – here’s a pair of stories about law school pro bono developments:
• at GW Law, six new pro bono programs are up and running according to Dean Paul Berman, including a new Street Law initiative, a homeless advocacy project, and a pro se resource project at the DC administrative hearings offices.  GW Law also launched an Innocence Project last year.
• from a Charlotte School of Law press release: “A pro bono student services organization at Charlotte School of Law has assisted more than 450 homebuyers file $3 million in claims against a multi-million dollar restitution fund supported by Beazer Homes U.S.A. The outreach is being offered to homebuyers who were victims of the fraudulent business practices acknowledged by Beazer in July 2009 as part of a deferred prosecution agreement reached with U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina.”

• 11.29.11 – we’ve focused a lot recently on the federal legal services funding cut, but it’s important to remember that state-level legal services funding has declined in many jurisdictions too.  And as noted in this Washington Post piece, state governments face tough times ahead: “Things have improved since the worst of the recession, but states still face a dire fiscal situation, according to a report…released…by the National Governors Association (NGA) and the National Association of State Budget Officers (NASBO).  The Fiscal Survey of States says that even as states struggle with tepid revenue growth, they will be called on to spend more because of the economic distress caused by continued high unemployment.”  Here’s a link to the report.

• 11.28.11 – an attorney with Legal Services of Eastern Missouri has found an interesting niche practice: orthodontics.  LSEM’s Anne Morrow, now an attorney but formerly a nurse, “has secured orthodontics for 89 children in eastern Missouri who had previously been rejected under the state’s prohibitive Medicaid standards for orthodontics set by a dental advisory committee under MO HealthNet.”  State officials argue, however, that Morrow’s advocacy has the unintended consequence of setting back other children who have severe dental needs because her clients jump to the front of the line.  Read all about it in the Saint Louis Post-Dispatch.  

• 11.28.11 – Fortune magazine looks at the recent declines in Biglaw pro bono hours: “Law firms are lagging in donating legal help because ‘they are anxious, and they don’t staff up quickly to meet the increase in client demand when the economy begins to improve,’ says Esther Lardent, chief executive of the Pro Bono Institute. ‘Much of the pro bono work is done by younger lawyers, but when they are in short supply, paid work is the priority’.”  Pro bono stakeholders are looking for new solutions in case this marks a systemic change and not a short-term fluctuation.  The piece reviews the ideas of building more pro bono into associates’ training curricula, and ramping up law student pro bono.

• 11.28.11 – in Illinois, funding cuts have forced Prairie State Legal Services to make significant cuts: “The agency has lost almost half its staff this year because of budget cuts and just last week congress approved another 14-percent budget cut. Because of limited resources, Prairie State can only help people with ‘basic human needs’ such as orders of protection, housing cases, and utility cases.”  Prairie State just announced that it’s cutting its telephone intake hours in half, according to WIFR.

• 11.28.11 -the LSC funding cut’s impact in West Virginia, reported by the State Journal: “West Virginia legal aid attorneys are searching for solutions following a congressional agreement that would cut services in the state by more than $400,000…. Adrienne Worthy, executive director of Legal Aid of West Virginia, said the state’s program has been fortunate to experience growth in the past few years.  ‘But as funding cuts have started to happen, we have gotten leaner and leaner,’ Worthy said. ‘There is no way we can lose those kinds of dollars and it not to have an impact on what we’re doing every day’.”

• 11.27.11 – a few stories above we read that they’re aren’t as many Biglaw associates to bolster pro bono hours.  What about the grayhairs partners heading toward retirement?  The Washington Post looks in on the issue of retiring/retired law-firm partners who, rather than leaving practice altogether, maintain robust pro bono dockets: “[M]any law firms in Washington are rethinking how they structure retirement and compensation for senior lawyers. Eleven firms…are working with the D.C. Access to Justice Commission on a project called the Senior Attorney Initiative for Legal Services. The program…targets a generation of attorneys who have retired or are on the cusp of retirement — the type of lawyers who at many firms make up a good chunk of the rainmaking roster — to encourage them to stay at their firms, transition commercial work to younger attorneys, and take more pro bono cases in-house.”

• 11.25.11 – the LSC funding cut’s impact on the Maryland Legal Aid Bureau, courtesy of The Gazette: “[the] bureau received $4.3 million from [LSC] in fiscal 2011 and is slated to receive $3.7 million in fiscal 2012. [The figure is preliminary.] Maryland’s shortfall is roughly equal to the salaries of 11 of the bureau’s 154 staff attorneys, each of whom makes about $60,00 annually, [bureau official Shawn] Boehringer said.  Although bureau officials have not yet decided how to fill the funding gap, they likely will look to first cut travel and office expenses in order to avoid direct cuts in services to clients, Boehringer said.”

• 11.24.11 – the LSC funding cut’s impact on New Jersey legal services providers, courtesy of The Record.

By: Steve Grumm

The Legal Intelligencer, based in the Glorious City of Philadelphia, has a piece reviewing the phenomenon of associates whose law-firm start dates were deferred taking short-term public interest placements.  This mostly affected the law school graduating class of 2009, but also some subsequent grads. 

According the article, while deferrals certainly marked a rocky patch on a law-school-to-law-firm employment path that was typically smooth, some deferred associates enjoyed rich experiences that have impacted their careers, and lives, for the better.

The bulk of the piece focuses on Ballard Spahr’s deferral class:

When the “bottom fell out of the legal market” in 2009, [Ballard’s pro bono counsel] Mary Gay Scanlon said, [the firm] found itself unable to provide work to several dozen recent graduates who had accepted positions in the firm.

“We quickly said: ‘Wait a minute, maybe we can salvage something for everyone here. We can make sure that these young lawyers — some of the best and the brightest — have good work to do for this year,'” Scanlon said.

The firm offered stipends to first-years to develop their skills elsewhere.

Not all deferred associates practiced law in the interim. Ballard Spahr made the temporary job location dependent on individual interest. Thus, the young lawyers worked in corporations, government agencies and public interest firms, with one deferred associate going to graduate school.

When deferred associates started at Ballard Spahr in 2010, Scanlon said their experiences developing new abilities in areas of personal interest to them were a plus to clients.

A major post-deferral benefit to the firm was the associates’ commitment to pro bono programs. Deferrals created “in-house experts and in-house advocates for a variety of different pro bono opportunities,” said Scanlon, bringing “strength in new areas” to the firm.

Scanlon noted that big firms appreciate this kind of specialized knowledge.

“Poverty law is not a part of our daily practice,” she said, and it’s highly beneficial to have “someone who’s an expert in U visas or a whiz with asylum or SSI disability cases” in-house

The piece goes on to look at the public-interest work of deferred associates from various firms, whose placements included stints in civil legal services, immigration and civil rights advocacy, and even an academic placement in Kenya, which last year implemented a new constitution.

I am most intrigued by the thoughts of one Ballard associate who practiced family law with Philly’s Community Legal Services:

As a trial attorney at Community Legal Services, [Lisa] Swaminathan handled cases from start to finish — mainly child welfare cases.

“That was the experience that I was looking for … [to get] to court … to know the people who I was representing, to learn how to work for a client,” Swaminathan said.

At the end of her deferral year, Swaminathan chose to stay on at CLS for an additional year, taking a temporary position the shop funded through stimulus money.

With two years of public interest work under her belt, Swaminathan finally joined Ballard Spahr this September.

Scanlon called Swaminathan a “star.”

She brings to the firm a client-focused philosophy of work from her two years at CLS.

“I learned … that [my clients were] the driving force behind everything I was doing, and it can be harder to learn that when you’re just starting out,” Swaminathan said.

Working with colleagues in the public interest community, I played a small role in facilitating deferral placements in 2009.  (In 2010 I wrote a status report of sorts about how deferrals played out.)  I was hopeful that the experiences would give the associates an understanding of the opportunities and challenges of public interest practice.  I further hoped the associates would come away with positive feelings so that they would become tomorrow’s pro bono advocates and financial supporters.  But I also hoped that the associates would develop skills and expertise that would be useful in their law firm practices.  I’m sure this trifecta did not come to fruition in every case.  But this article is welcome news.

by Kristen Pavón

Legal Services of the Hudson Valley‘s homeless prevention legal services have been completely eliminated — a loss of $443,228 — because of Westchester County’s 2012 budget.

Lucille Oppenheim, the vice president of LSHV’s Board of Directors spoke out on behalf of the entire board yesterday against the devastating cut and put the program’s elimination in context.

Legal Services of the Hudson Valley has been representing indigent, disabled and low-income working families and their children since 1967, when we began operations in Westchester County. At the request of state and federal funders, we expanded throughout the Hudson Valley, based on the excellence and cost-effectiveness of our work. Our legal services is one of the basic safety net services provided to those in need throughout our county. It is clearly not a “nice to have” service, but rather as essential a service as medical care and education.

We are astonished that Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino’s recently released 2012 budget totally eliminates legal services for poor, disabled and low-income households facing eviction or foreclosure.

The representation provided by Legal Services of the Hudson Valley ensures that parents have a roof over their heads for themselves and their children. Without housing, families face homelessness, and a downward spiral of family instability, physical and mental health problems and educational deprivation for their children. The categorical slashing of county funds, eliminating the option for struggling families to get back on their feet, does not eliminate the basic need for stability. Not only do families suffer, but local taxpayers must pay for sheltering the homeless and/or provide significant rent subsidies to keep families housed. This will cost much more to us as county taxpayers than our homelessness prevention program. The elimination of eviction-prevention funds amounts to the destruction of the community safety net at its most basic. Balance this against the fact that our eviction prevention program saved the county government (and us taxpayers) more than $1.6 million last year.

The concept that categorical tax cuts is an ideal way to balance a budget overlooks not only the importance of quality of life, but more basically glosses over the deep investment needed in human capital which has always kept our country strong going back to our founding fathers.

Every dollar in the eliminated homeless prevention budget has a face on it: the single parent recently laid off, grandmothers on fixed incomes being evicted, disabled persons who no longer can work, children in a family being foreclosed, and many more examples. As a former child advocate attorney representing children, I have seen first-hand the civic importance of assuring equal access to justice for the coming generation. A zero-based budget with a zero investment in our children and their families is very short-sighted.

Read more here.

The Washington Post has an article on a trend-in-the-making that’s been the subject of much recent discourse in pro bono circles: retiring or retired grayhairs senior attorneys ramping up their pro bono practices.  This makes sense, of course.  Baby Boomer attorneys will be retiring in large numbers quite soon.  The wonders of modern healthcare being what they are, there will be a large number of financially secure retirees who are in very good health and who wish to stay engaged with the practice of law, albeit free of the billing stresses.  Many will be attracted to the idea of full-time public-interest work, as well.

In an interesting development, some large law firms see a transition from fee-paying practice to pro bono as a nice way to help senior attorneys wrap up their careers.  This means that attorneys could essentially retire but could maintain a full-time pro bono practice using law firm resources.  Here’s a little bit from the Post article, “Shifting the Pro Bono Paradigm”:

[M]any law firms in Washington are rethinking how they structure retirement and compensation for senior lawyers. Eleven firms, including Arnold & Porter, are working with the D.C. Access to Justice Commission on a project called the Senior Attorney Initiative for Legal Services. The program, created by the commission, targets a generation of attorneys who have retired or are on the cusp of retirement — the type of lawyers who at many firms make up a good chunk of the rainmaking roster — to encourage them to stay at their firms, transition commercial work to younger attorneys, and take more pro bono cases in-house.

“It’s a paradigm shift,” said Jess Rosenbaum, (no relation to Robert Rosenbaum) executive director of the D.C. Access to Justice Commission, a group of local judges, lawyers and law professors tasked with helping low- and moderate-income residents access the civil justice system. “It used to be you had a handful of lawyers wanting to transition to pro bono, and they would have to go to a pro bono organization.”

Now, firms are trying to keep those lawyers by providing resources such as office space and staff to support pro bono work. A few, such as Arnold & Porter and Arent Fox, already have “phase-down” programs for senior lawyers to ease into to retirement over several years as they ratchet down chargeable commercial work and ratchet up pro bono involvement.