by Kristen Pavón

So, there’s a debate brewing about whether the legal profession should be as heavily regulated as it is. In case you haven’t read the NY Times op-ed and the Atlantic piece, I’ll get you up to speed.

The crux of the argument in the New York Times op-ed is that

the barriers to entry [to law practice] exist simply to protect lawyers from competition with non-lawyers and firms that are not lawyer-owned — competition that could reduce legal costs and give the public greater access to legal assistance.

In the Atlantic’s piece, Jordan Weissmann disagrees with most of Clifford Winston’s arguments for deregulating the legal profession — except that he agrees that non-JDs should be able to own law firms for the sake of technological advances. He argues that

[l]etting more people become lawyers won’t drive down costs in high-flying corporate law. And although it could help control legal fees for the rest of us, we could wind up allowing under-educated people to represent important cases for families who can’t afford the high-flying treatment.

I haven’t formulated a complete opinion on this issue, but I have some questions — how would deregulation affect the access to justice gap? Would there really be a positive change, like Winston envisions, for effectively representing clients who would otherwise a) go pro se to settle their legal issues or b) not do anything to settle their legal issues? How low would legal costs go? Low enough for the poor? Would the public interest law arena remain unchanged?

Thoughts?

By: Steve Grumm

Happy Friday, dear readers.  I offer abject apologies to regular readers (all four of you) for my skipping last week’s installment of the News Bulletin.  But it was nice to see so many folks at the NALP and Equal Justice Works events.  Today the Bulletin returns with a double issue.  There is much to catch up on, including:

• ABA’s Celebrate Pro Bono Week and related events;
• budget cuts take a toll on the nation’s DA’s, defenders, and court systems;
• an American Bar Foundation report looks state by state at access-to-justice frameworks;
• proposed DOJ antitrust field office closures cause a stir;
• a recap: the Equal Justice Works Conference and Career Fair;
• bad legal services funding news from the Treasure State;
• legal services volunteer programs for retiring Baby Boomer lawyers;
• ACLU of Montana takes to task the state’s indigent defense program;
• Michigan’s indigent defense program is under the microscope, too;
• the NLG lawyers looking out for the Occupy Wall Street…occupiers;
• ACLU of Pennsylvania takes to task Allegheny County’s (Pittsburgh) indigent defense program;
• a pro-se assistance center in Maryland goes statewide with a hotline;
• a novel, international-sustainable-development clinical program at Penn St.-Dickinson Law;
• progress in launching a new legal services program in Wyoming;
• the Shriver Center absorbs the Center for Legal Aid Education (CLEA). 

This week(s):

• 10.28.11 – the ABA’s Celebrate Pro Bono Week is coming to a close tomorrow.  We at PSLawNet were deluged with news stories about lawyers and law students throughout the country participating in clinics and other client outreach efforts.  Kudos to the thousands who’ve gotten involved.  We couldn’t begin to recap all the news we read, but here’s a link to the official Celebrate Pro Bono site.  Also, I was fortunate to participate in the ABA’s Pro Bono Summit, which convened here in DC on Monday and Tuesday.  119 very smart people exchanged thoughtful ideas (I was attendee number 120, and I held up my end with un-thoughtful ideas) about where pro bono fits into the larger access-to-justice scheme during hard economic times. I’m looking forward to seeing what the ABA produces as a result of the work done at the Summit.  Here are remarks delivered at the Summit by Attorney General Eric Holder, and here’s NLJ coverage of ABA President Bill Robinson’s Summit remarks.

• 10.26.11 – a well-reported AP piece looks at the toll taken by cuts to prosecutor, public defender, and court-system budgets throughout the country.  “Prosecutors are forced to ignore misdemeanor violations to pursue more serious crimes. Judges are delaying trials to cope with layoffs and strained staffing levels. And in some cases, those charged with violent crimes, even murder, are set free because caseloads are too heavy to ensure they receive a speedy trial.  Deep budget cuts to courts, public defenders, district attorney’s and attorney general offices are testing the criminal justice system across the country. In the most extreme cases, public defenders are questioning whether their clients are getting a fair shake.”  The piece looks specifically at goings-on in AL, CA, IA, NY, and elsewhere.  (The postal abbreviations may pose a challenge for our Millenial Generation readers who have never mailed a letter.  JKLOL!!)

• 10.25.11 – I just got word of an American Bar Foundation report, Access Across America, which reviews the access-to-justice infrastructure in each state and Puerto Rico.  Here’s a link to a summary on ABF’s website, here’s a link to the report, and here’s some language from the report’s executive summary: “Access Across America is the first-ever state-by-state portrait of the services available to assist the U.S. public in accessing civil justice. The report documents, for the nation as a whole and individually for the 50 states and the District of Columbia:
• Who is eligible for free civil legal information, advice or representation (civil legal assistance services);
• How civil legal assistance services are produced and delivered;
• How eligible people may connect with services;
• How civil legal assistance is funded;
• How civil legal assistance is coordinated
• How both no-fee and fee-generating limited-scope civil legal services are regulated.”

• 10.24.11 –some DOJ antitrust attorneys don’t trust DOJ’s decision to close four field offices.  From Government Executive: “Three weeks after the Justice Department proposed closing four of its antitrust division field offices, affected employees are calling for congressional hearings on the matter.  The closings, along with the department’s other budget-trimming proposals, are contingent on Congress, which must approve or fail to respond in order for the plans to move forward, according to attorneys who would be affected by the shuttering of the field offices in Atlanta, Dallas, Cleveland and Philadelphia.”  Incidentally, if you’re a law student or law school career counselor wishing to keep up with similar developments in federal government, I recommend joining Government Executive’s email distribution list.

• 10.24.11 – the Blog of the Legal Times covered last week’s Equal Justice Works Conference and Career Fair: “Resumes in hand, more than 1,300 law students from across the United States attended this year’s Equal Justice Works annual conference, and more than 1,100 met with employers at the conference’s career fair. [It] brought in 117 employers from 27 states to meet with students on Friday and Saturday. Law students waiting on line for a chance to speak with employers all said they held no illusions about their job prospects right now. Although some students were lucky enough to get formal interviews, many more were taking their chances at the informal ‘Table Talk’ sessions, where students waited on line to get a few minutes alone with employers.”  I feel for public interest law students these days.  It’s perhaps trite advice, but persistence and fortitude in carrying forward with the job search are essential.  (This is true even in better economic times, because there are always more grads interested in public interest than there are job openings.)  Keep using PSLawNet, including the cover letter, resume, and interview tips on our Job Search Fundamentals page.  And email us at pslawnet@nalp.org if you’d have ideas about how we can help more. 

• 10.24.11 – rotten legal services funding news from the Treasure State.  The Missoulian reports: “Poor people seeking divorces in Missoula County will no longer be able to get free legal advice. Likewise for low-income renters who get crosswise with their landlords. The Montana Legal Services Association has laid off attorneys, paralegals and support staff statewide as part of an anticipated $500,000 budget cut in 2012. That’s 15 percent of its total budget.   ‘We are cutting into bone at this point,’ said Alison Paul, executive director of the agency that provides legal assistance in civil cases to low-income people.” 
   
• 10.24.11 – The civil legal services community cannot keep up with swelling demand for services.  Meanwhile, the Baby Boomer exodus from law practice has begun, as the oldest Boomers are at retirement age.  This being the case, what about providing public interest volunteer opportunities to  those lawyers who wish to leave fee-generating practice but also want to remain in practice?  The National Law Journal looks at D.C.’s Senior Attorneys Initiative for Legal Services (SAILS), a program which matches attorneys in or near retirement with pro bono cases (password-protected). SAILS isn’t the only program harnessing the experience and expertise of the profession’s elder statespeople.  In New York State, the Attorney Emeritus Program does something similar.  On the national level, the Pro Bono Institute’s Second Acts project facilitates the movement of retiring attorneys into volunteer work.

• 10.21.11 – more bad Montana news.  The Billings Gazette covers an ACLU report critical of the state’s public defense system:  “The…five-year-old…system is still plagued by mismanagement, with overworked and undertrained attorneys sometimes failing to provide the most basic help to their indigent clients, a new report by the ACLU of Montana says. The report, released this week by the rights organization whose lawsuit led to creation of the new system, said the system has ‘greatly improved’ public defense in some areas of the state. But overall, the system ‘continues to fall short of achieving its full potential’ because of ongoing management problems….”  The Gazette has an accompanying article about poor public defender pay compared to other state lawyers.

• 10.21.11 – Michigan’s embattled public defense system is going under the microscope.  From Interlochen Public Radio (great name!): “A state commission began work this week to ensure that everyone who is accused of a crime in Michigan gets an adequate legal defense. Michigan allows every county to handle its own public defender system. The system is frequently cited as one of the worst in the country. That’s because some counties do a good job of ensuring even people who cannot pay get a good lawyer. Other counties are more haphazard. There are also no training standards for public defenders.”  Here’s additional coverage from the Battle Creek Enquirer.

• 10.18.11 – The American Lawyer looks in on the “about 200 National Lawyers Guild members volunteering as legal observers on the scene at Occupy Wall Street.”

• 10.18.11 –  the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports on criticism of the local public defense program: “Poor management and lack of training for new lawyers in the Allegheny County [where Pittsburgh sits] public defender’s office are violating the constitutional rights of those accused of crimes and costing the county millions of dollars in extra jail costs, an ACLU report has concluded…. The ACLU report, entitled ‘A Job Left Undone,’ relies heavily on the research done in a 2008 study for the county by a team led by investigator Alan Kalmanoff of the California-based Institute for Law and Policy Planning, a nonprofit policy and research organization.”  Here’s a link to “A Job Left Undone.”

• 10.17.11 – The Baltimore Sun reports that a pro-se assistance center in one Maryland county has opened a phone line that will allow its lawyers to connect with Marylanders statewide: “The center has helped more than 10,000 people since it opened. However, a lack of space and tight budgets made adding walk-in centers in other District Courts out of the question.  But those in need of advice can now chat online with the center’s four lawyers. Users can remain anonymous and there are no income restrictions….In its first month of hosting live chats, 850 people have used the service. In comparison, the self-help center assisted a record 626 people in August. Officials said chats have been initiated by people in every county except Kent and Somerset.”
   
• 10.17.11 – the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports on a new Penn State Dickinson School of Law sustainable development operating in cahoots with engineering and business students:  “Designed as an interdisciplinary collaboration between Penn State’s law school, its College of Engineering and Smeal College of Business, the clinic promises experiential learning through work with real humanitarian projects as part of a team for law students seeking international experience, said Jeff Erickson, professor at Penn State and the clinic’s director…. Mr. Erickson said that, to his knowledge, no other schools are using interdisciplinary project teams to launch international humanitarian efforts in the same manner. What makes the Penn State clinic the first of its kind is the clinic’s humanitarian mission — that its projects are internationally and not locally focused — and that students will design and develop projects themselves.” 

• 10.16.11 – an Asbury Park Press editorial bemoans sharp state funding cuts to legal services in New Jersey: “Under [Governor Chris] Christie, state funding for Legal Aid has dropped from $29.6 million in 2010 to $19.9 million in 2011 to $14.9 million in 2012. That is unconscionable. Decency and fairness demand a restoration of most of those funds and the institution of a formalized program in which lawyers volunteer hours of service to Legal Aid or make a donation….  By next June, there will be only half as many staff attorneys as there were in 2008 to give free help to qualifying low-income New Jerseyans with civil cases.”

• 10.15.11 – K2 Radio reports on the development of Wyoming’s new legal services program: “Officials say the new Wyoming Center For Legal Aid should be up and running in a year or two.  The program was established a year ago after the Wyoming legislature passed the Indigent Civil Legal Services Act during the 2010 budget session.   The center’s goal is to provide legal services for Wyoming residents who fall below 200 percent of the federal poverty line. The center was officially established in April, and the Wyoming Center For Legal Aid Board of Commissioners recently hired a new law school graduate as its first employee.” 

• 10.14.11 – from the Chicago Tribune, news of a merger in the legal services community: “Legal-aid charities have felt the impact of the economic downturn with declining funding and increasing demand. After revenues fell by 50 percent, the Boston-based Center for Legal Aid Education began considering a merger as a way to cut costs, reduce duplication of services and expand its reach. Its search has culminated in an acquisition by the larger Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law, based in Chicago…. One of the gaps in [the Shriver Center’s] offerings was providing training to public-interest lawyers who want to work on complex litigation… The Center for Legal Education has been providing legal training in the New England region for years. When the economy crashed in 2009, the center lost about half of its revenues because many clients that provide legal services lost some of their funding.”  So this makes sense on both ends.  And the piece raises the question of whether more legal services mergers may/should follow.

by Kristen Pavón

The Washington Post reports that TMZ founder Harvey Levin has advised TV and print media channels that their models are broken and they had better adapt or die.

While Levin’s journalistic credibility is …. questionable, at best, his comments got me thinking about how communication has changed and wondering whether we’re doing ourselves a disservice by relying so heavily on online communication, particularly for relationship management and when on the job hunt.

I’ve heard a lot about this issue lately, especially as it relates to Millennial law students —  they are losing touch with traditional forms of communication. They’re hesitant to pick up the phone to speak to someone at a courthouse or law firm and they’d prefer to exchange text messages rather than have a face-to-face conversation with a mentor.

Social media has changed how we discover new information and how we can connect with people with similar interests. However, social media makes it too easy to connect with other people and can cheapen the value of online interactions and in turn, weaken your relationships.

And with job hunters doing the majority of their job search online — searching career sites like PSLawNet, linking employers to their Linkedin profiles, using Twitter to find job opportunities, and even adding prospective employers as friends on Facebook or Google+. — it’s important to step away from the computer.

For real results, bring your online networking into the real world!

Meeting up with someone in person and chatting over coffee about your job search, cannot and will not be replaced with a tweet (Got that, Levin?). The real (and critical) value of social media is the offline relationship you can create and maintain by utilizing online networks.

Let’s bring traditional back — leave some of your traditional networking/communication success stories below!

by Kristen Pavón

The White House’s Champions of Change program honoring legal leaders in closing the justice gap was inspiring and I got some wonderful advice about public service and pro bono work, and learned a great deal about issues I was unfamiliar with.

Here are a few of my notes/thoughts/questions/tips from the program:

1. Get some perspective. Evaluate the difference in value between what you’ll give and receive from participating in pro bono opportunities and forgoing these opps to get an A instead of a B+ in Torts.

2. Reaching unreachable clients. Is video conferencing an option for your organization to reach clients who live in rural areas and would otherwise not have legal representation?

3. Experience. During your first year in law school — visit a court! This is critical. You need to see firsthand what goes on in the courts.

4. Changing our structure. Legal services professionals need to think about ways we can change the legal services delivery structure to be more efficient and effective.

5. Recognize, reward and support. This is how law schools can best encourage pro bono work among students.

Were you at the Champions of Change program at the White House? Did you catch the webcast? What did you take away from the Champions?

By: Steve Grumm

It makes perfect sense.  The civil legal services community can not keep up with swelling demand for services.  Meanwhile, the Baby Boomer exodus from the practice of law has begun, as the oldest Boomers are at retirement age.  This being the case, what about providing opportunities to represent the poor for those lawyers who wish to leave fee-generating practice but also want to remain in practice?

The National Law Journal looks at D.C.’s Senior Attorneys Initiative for Legal Services (SAILS), a program which matches attorneys in or near retirement with pro bono cases (password-protected).

Last October, the District of Columbia Access to Justice Commission and the D.C. Bar Pro Bono Program created a program to better engage firms with pro bono work called SAILS — Senior Attorneys Initiative for Legal Services. The program included 11 founding D.C.-based law offices.

“The point of SAILS was to institutionalize pro bono work among partner and senior lawyers,” said Marc Fleischaker, Arent Fox partner and chair of the SAILS working group.

Maureen Syracuse, outgoing executive director of the D.C. Bar’s Pro Bono Program, also is working to have senior attorneys spend their last several years as devoted to pro bono work as possible. “We are trying to tap all the resources of the firms,” Syracuse said. Funding for legal service providers has always been scant, and the prolonged harsh economic times have compounded the issue. It has also made some lawyers more leery of hanging up their hat, even as more approach retirement age.

But she argues that, in their last years at their firms, some senior attorneys have an increasing desire to give back. “These are the people that went to law school to change the world,” Syracuse said. “When they hit the last stage of their career, there will be a sizable number that want to do something more. We think we will find a number of lawyers with that mindset.”

SAILS isn’t the only program harnessing the experience and expertise of the gray-hairs profession’s elder statespeople.  In New York State, the Attorney Emeritus Program does something similar.  On the national level, the Pro Bono Institute’s Second Acts project facilitates the movement of retiring attorneys into volunteer work.

by Kristen Pavón

Now that our  annual Public Service Mini-Conference is over, we will now resume our regularly scheduled program here at the PSLawNet Blog!

The conference was a great success! On Wednesday, we hosted the Public Interest Advising 101 program for new or newish law school career advisors.

During our 101 program, panelists talked about student debt (by the wonderful Heather Jarvis), how to use PSLawNet to find PS jobs and career resources, and common challenges a public interest advisor faces in their first years on the job. In addition to the useful tips and information, the program was a fab opportunity for advisors to meet colleagues from across the country.

After PIA101, some attendees braved the nasty weather and kept the party going at the Round Robin Networking Dinners — at Zengo, Old Ebbitt Grill and Matchbox — to nosh with colleagues. Zengo got particularly high marks for tastiness and ambiance! (We’ll see, I have a reservation for tonight!)

Yesterday, at Arnold & Porter, LLC, more than 150 law school professionals and attorneys gathered for public service-focused programming.

The day started with introductions, NALP’s Public Service Section Workgroup updates, and NALP & PSLawNet updates.

Then, after presenting Felicia Cantrell, ASU Law 3L, with the 17th Annual Pro Bono Publico Award and Deb Ellis with NALP’s Award of  Distinction, groups broke out for sessions on labor & workers’ rights careers, teaching professionalism and advocating public service programs within law school administrations.

After the breakout programming, everyone reconvened for a “whirlwind tour” of hot topics affecting public interest career professionals. Panelists let attendees in on some techie secrets (topsy.com, google news alerts for your name and Klout.com), talked about student debt, Uncle Sam’s attempt to streamline the federal attorney application process, best practices for employer outreach, and ABA accreditation standards.

Finally, at the end of the day, federal legal recruiters joined us for a networking reception to mix and mingle with law school career services professionals.

Were you at the mini-conference? What did you think about the programming?

By: Steve Grumm

Happy Friday, dear readers.  Your PSLawNet Blog authors made a jaunt to the White House yesterday to watch as 16 Champions of Change, including two with PSLawNet ties, were honored for their extraordinary work in narrowing the civil justice gap.  I had hopes of starting a pickup basketball game with the president – as a youth I developed a pretty wicked crossover dribble on the Philadelphia playgrounds – but it was not to be.  Nice time all the same. 

This week: more on the Champions of Change event; a legal services office closure in Tupelo, Mississippi; former AppalReD exec. director sues the legal services provider for discrimination;  urging for a (limited) civil right to counsel in Wisconsin; O’Melveny & Myers pro bono counsel, David Lash, emphasizes the integral role of lawyers in narrowing the justice gap (great work, David!); federal honors attorney programs are shrinking considerably (boooo!!!!); “Police Women of Broward County” TV show puts bee in public defender’s bonnet; the Family Justice Center opens its doors as a one-stop-shop for DV victims in Sonoma County, CA; Congressional Quarterly looks at the legal services resources crisis.

• 10.13.11 – the White House’s Champions of Change program shined the spotlight this week on lawyers throughout the country who lead the charge in promoting access to justice for the poor.  You can view the full slate of honorees here.  At the event, the honorees fielded questions from law students about launching public interest careers and what they can do to narrow the justice gap while still in school.  On Monday, 10/17, those discussions and blog posts from the Champions will be on the Champions of Change site.  Some additional notes/coverage:
• The DOJ’s Access to Justice Initiative facilitated this event, and Attorney General Eric Holder led the ceremony and panel discussion.  Here is DOJ’s wrap-up of the event.
• We at NALP are thrilled that longtime member Deb Ellis of NYU Law is among the Champions of Change honorees.  Throughout her career in legal education Deb has produced programming and resources that are freely shared with law schools throughout the country, ultimately enabling them to better assist students on public interest career paths.  In this sense Deb has played a role in launching countless public interest careers.  (And thanks for the PSLawNet shout-out, Deb!)   
• We are also thrilled that Todd Belcore of the Shriver Center, who won NALP’s 2009 PSLawNet Pro Bono Publico Award (and has some great thoughts on how law students can develop leadership skills), is a Champion.  Way to go, Todd.
• The Champions honorees also include four leaders at LSC-funded legal services programs.

• 10.13.11 – and now, after that, here’s bad news on the access-to-justice front: “North Mississippi Rural Legal Services, which provides legal help for low income families, will remain in Oxford but a Tupelo office will close. Legal Services has five offices covering 39 counties. The Tupelo office served 10 counties.” (Blurb from an AP story appearing on The Republic’s website.)

• 10.13.11 – and more bad news, this time out of Kentucky.  From the Herald-Leader:  “A woman who once directed the agency that is the main provider of civil legal help for poor people in Eastern Kentucky has alleged that its board fired her because of her gender and race.   Cynthia Elliott, who is black, also contended in a lawsuit that the board of the Appalachian Research and Defense Fund of Kentucky fired her in retaliation for firing white employees. The board dismissed Elliott in January. She had been director of the agency, known by the acronym AppalReD, since 2007, and had been one of its staff attorneys earlier.”

• 10.12.11 – Legal Aid Society of Milwaukee executive director Thomas Cannon makes the case for a civil right to counsel in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: “Poverty qualifies more than a million Wisconsin residents for free legal services, but because of the chronic underfunding of civil legal aid programs, only about 5% of these individuals will actually get a free lawyer. The other 95% are on their own. Congress is proposing to cut the modest budget for federal legal services programs. In Wisconsin, Gov. Scott Walker and the Legislature eliminated all state funding for civil legal aid. Wisconsin is now one of a handful of states that provide no funding for civil justice. This dire situation could change if the Wisconsin Supreme Court enacts a proposed rule change that directs trial court judges to appoint lawyers at public expense in civil cases where basic needs – food, shelter, clothing, heat, medical care, safety and child custody – are at stake. The court recently held a public hearing on the rule change; it will discuss the matter in open session on Oct. 17 in Madison.”  Just as an interesting bit of trivia, Cannon notes that the Wisconsin Supreme Court established a criminal right to counsel all the way back in 1859.  I come from a civil legal services background, so I’m fairly ignorant on state-by-state criminal right-to-counsel jurisprudence predating Gideon. This was a surprise to me.

• 10.10.11 – David Lash, managing counsel for pro bono at O’Melveny & Myers (and friend of the PSLawNet Blog), penned a great piece about the vital role of lawyers in providing access to justice at a time when more and more people fall into poverty.  Writing in the L.A.-based Daily Journal (and writing in his individual capacity, not on behalf of his law firm), Lash highlights the growing numbers of Californians living in poverty (over 16% of the state population) and notes that many more people are technically above the poverty line but hardly able to make ends meet.  He then lists concrete examples of the work that pro bono and legal aid lawyers do to serve those clients on society’s margins, and closes the piece as follows: “So let us not forget that although our greatest hopes lie in the greatest judicial system the globe has ever seen – that system is daunting, intimidating and overwhelmingly complex for those who are unrepresented. Democracy’s promise sometimes is entirely dependent on access to the justice system; access that requires a lawyer to navigate its intricacies and nuances. So as we debate budget cuts, let us remember the key role of the legal system. It is a worthy investment where every dollar spent is leveraged through the generous largesse of everyday lawyers devoting their time and skills to save lives.”  Well said.  Alas, the article is password-protected, so we can’t provide a link to it.

• 10.10.11 – wonderfully reported article, but bad news.  In the National Law Journal, “Cuts constrict lawyers’ route to federal jobs” takes a close look at how the attorney honors program pipeline, which has historically served as a terrific point of entrance to federal government, is looking more like a funnel.  The article contains several useful data points about agency-by-agency honors program hiring.  DOJ, for instance, took on 165 honors attorneys this year, but that is “down from 211 in 2010. Next year, there are only 70 to 80 slots available.”  The piece also notes that competition for the dwindling slots is up significantly, as more and more students who feel shut out of the private sector look to Uncle Sam for a job.  Interestingly, the piece goes on to note, law school rank is not necessarily a big criterion in hiring decisions. DOJ hires grads from lower-ranked schools if they have strong academic credentials and a demonstrated interest in the subject matter area.  The piece closes by suggesting that salary is not the allure of honors programs; rather, honors attorneys get hands-on practice experience right out of the gates.

• 10.10.11 – is the Discovery Channel THE LAW in Broward County?  On something of a lighter note, the Sun-Sentinel looks at a Broward County public defender’s objections to Discovery’s “Police Women of Broward County.”  From the article: “Contracts for four deputies who appeared on the ‘Police Women of Broward County’ reality show give TV producers too much power, the Broward public defender says. ‘Who is producing the arrests, the officer or the show?’ asked Chief Assistant Public Defender Gordon Weekes Jr. ‘This contract basically delegates a law enforcement officer’s duty to a third party’.”

• 10.10.11 – from the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, we learn that the newly opened Family Justice Center of Sonoma County offers a broad array of support services for domestic violence victims:   “A study determined victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and crimes such as stalking and elder financial fraud could be required to visit two dozen different agencies if they wanted to use public services available to them. Since many victims can lack transportation, be financially strapped or be pursued by an abuser, advocates determined it would be best to put all the assistance for them under one roof. The county bought and renovated a former office building with grants and donations of about $6 million and invited more than a dozen victim advocates from organizations like Catholic Charities, the Council on Aging, the YWCA and the Inter-tribal Council. The center is staffed by police and district attorney employees, an immigration adviser, an advocate for the deaf and a civil attorney who provides advice about harassment and getting restraining orders.” 

• 10.7.11 – the Congressional Quarterly Researcher put out a report on the civil legal services community’s resource crisis.  It’s password-protected, though, so we can’t get to it.  But FYI. 

by Kristen Pavón

Huh?

That was my initial thought after reading an article in the NY Times about the repeal of a domestic violence law in Kansas. Seriously, people?

With slim budgets all around, dangerous games with people’s safety at stake are being played. Prosecutors are forced to play the priorities game — having to decide which cases they’ll take on and the ones they’ll let slide. City leaders play chicken — repealing laws hoping the county or state will pick up their slack.

This week, at a seemingly routine City Council meeting in Topeka, Kansas, domestic violence victims were on the losing end of these games.

By a vote of 7 to 3, the City Council repealed the local law that makes domestic violence a crime.

The thought behind this being that the state’s District Attorney would be forced to prosecute domestic violence cases because they would remain a crime under state law.

However, the problem is that the state is struggling financially as well.

Eighteen people have been arrested on domestic violence charges since September and released without charges because no agency is accepting new cases. That has raised concerns among advocates for victims of domestic violence, some of whom gathered Tuesday outside government buildings to express outrage over the gamesmanship.

To me, this is pretty outrageous. I understand we have to make some sacrifices because of our nation’s dire economic state, but I gotta ask — How far back are these budget cuts going to take us?

Read more here.

Thoughts?

by Kristen Pavón

With law firms cutting back on the size of their incoming associate classes and a new article from the National Law Journal that, with brutal numbers, details drastic reductions in federal entry-level attorney hiring, we are scratching our heads and wondering — where will all the new attorneys go?

Federal honors programs are a great way for new law grads to really sink their teeth into substantive legal work and even gain some expertise in an area. The federal government offers flexibility, mentoring and a variety of opportunities.

For honors lawyers who decide to jump into private practice, opportunities abound, said legal recruiter Cynthia Sitcov of Washington’s Sitcov Director. ‘Coming from an honors program, especially DOJ, is an excellent credential to have,’ she said. Firms appreciate ‘the insider perspective, the training and the fact that you have to be really good to get an honors program job in the first place.’

Here are the Department of Justice honors program stats. Let me warn you, the numbers are not pretty.

Dep’t of Justice (the largest employer of lawyers in the nation)

• 2010: Hired 211 honors attorneys
• 2011: Hired 165 honors attorneys (Almost a 22% decrease)
• 2012: Will hire between 70-80 honors attorneys (Almost a 58% decrease from 2011, and a 67% decrease from 2010!)

Many federal agencies are following suit, including the Internal Revenue Service, Office of Chief Counsel (will only hire from those who worked for the agency over the summer) and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (their program is  on hold completely).

There is a glimmer of hope however. A few agencies are hosting new or reinstated honors programs — the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Department of Energy, and the Federal Communications Commission.

In addition to hiring cuts, fiercer competition is  to blame for making the path to a federal job tougher.

Statistics from the [University of Arizona] Honor handbook gives a sense of just how competitive the hiring process has become. In 2010, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, for example, hired six new lawyers our of 2,000 applicant; the Department of Urban Development and Housing selected 25 out of 1,100; and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission picked five out of 1,400.

So where do soon-to-be law grads go from here?

In addition to thinking outside the box in terms of legal careers, it’s more important than ever that law students know what employers are looking for — especially when applying for a government job because their hiring practices are less predictable than those of law firms.

Here are a few landing-the-job tips from the head of the Bureau of Competition at the Federal Trade Commission and the director of DOJ’s Office of Attorney Recruitment and Management.

• A demonstrated interest in the agency’s area of law
• A commitment to public service
• Enthusiasm
• A foreign language is a plus
• Internships or other experience in the agency’s area of law

Interestingly, law school rankings are not so important — at least to the DOJ.

So, really — Where will all the new attorneys go?

By: Steve Grumm

Greetings, dear readers.  We’ll get to the news bulletin after we deal with the make-it-or-break-it contest tonight between the Glorious Philadelphia Phillies Baseball Franchise and the nefarious Cardinals of St. Louis.  I’m not prone to hyperbole, but this is Luke against Darth, Holmes against Moriarty, and Chief Brody against Jaws all rolled into one.  Turns out I am prone to hyperbole.  Game 5 takes place this evening.  I trust that all of our regular readers (all four of you) will don Phillies regalia and wave the rally towels in a show of solidarity with your author.  Go Phils!

What’s new in the public interest world this week?  The towering announcement, of course, came right from us, when we congratulated the law-student winner of the 2011 PSLawNet Pro Bono Publico Award.  Also this week: a protracted union battle involving LA County prosecutors; an NY judge ponders an AmeriCorps-like program for recent law grads to represent indigent clients; a Civil Gideon in the Badger State(?); funding cuts threaten prosecutors and defenders in The OC; defenders in Riverside County are faring a little better; Montana’s new(ish) indigent defense program is searching for a new head honcho; and a look at the need for legal services among the increasing numbers of poor people in New York.

• 10.7.11 – a development in a nasty, ongoing battle between unionized Los Angeles County prosecutors and the local district attorney.  From the Contra Costa Times: “The union representing Los Angeles County prosecutors took a big round this week in its battle with District Attorney Steve Cooley, with a tentative settlement granting it a permanent injunction and $575,000 in penalties. The deal calls for the county to pay $125,000 to the Association for Deputy District Attorneys and $450,000 to Deputy District Attorney Marc Debbaudt, who had alleged retaliation for his union activities. The settlement, still subject to Board of Supervisors’ approval, also made permanent a temporary court injunction ordering Cooley to refrain from harassing or intimidating ADDA members based on their union membership. Cooley and the ADDA have been at odds since the union was formed three years ago, resulting in numerous administrative and legal battles.”  I am a friend of organized labor. But, man, a union full of lawyers can’t be easy to deal with.

• 10.5.11 – an AmeriCorps-like program for recently graduated civil legal services attorneys(?).  The Albany Times-Union reports that one New York jurist is thinking outside the box about how to narrow a widening justice gap in light of large numbers of un- or underemployed law grads.  Judge Michael Coccoma offered, “…'[W]hen I hear that an increasing number of recent law school students are unable to find jobs, I ask myself, why can’t we develop funding streams and programs which would provide an opportunity for these attorneys, who are eager to put their skills to work in a public-service program, providing legal services for the poor?’.  Coccoma suggested that in exchange for a two- or three-year commitment in that type of program, the new lawyers could receive a reduction in their student loan. He compared it to AmeriCorps programs which enables college graduates entering health care fields to get assistance with their tuition.”  My reaction to such a proposal is mixed. 

• 10.5.11 – the cheeseheads ponder a civil Gideon.  From the State Bar of Wisconsin: “The Wisconsin Supreme Court held a public hearing on a rules petition that would create a right to publicly funded counsel for indigent litigants in certain civil cases.  The court took no immediate action following the public hearing yesterday (Oct. 4), but may take the petition up again on Oct. 17 at a previously scheduled open administrative conference.  The concept advanced by the petition…would provide that in certain civil actions, an indigent litigant would have an attorney appointed at public expense when needed to protect the litigant’s rights to ‘basic human needs, including sustenance, shelter, clothing, heat, medical care, safety and child custody and placement.’ The petition was filed in September 2010 by attorney John F. Ebbott, the executive director of Legal Action of Wisconsin (LAW). Ebbott presented the petition to the court at the public hearing, supported by many other professionals in the legal aid community. 

• 10.5.11 – in California, funding cuts threaten Orange County prosecutors and public defenders.  The Voice of Orange County reports that the district attorney (along with the sheriff) pressed the county board of supervisors not to go through with cuts.  A day before the Orange County Register covered the impact of cuts on the public defense program: “The County of Orange will be forced to pay for private attorneys to represent indigent defendants after the Board of Supervisors agreed to make $29.5 million in emergency budget cuts Tuesday, including laying off seven public defenders. The public defender says the cuts will cripple its ability to perform its constitutionally mandated duties.”   

• 10.4.11 – the Riverside County PD’s office is faring better than its OC counterpart.  As we noted in the Bulletin a couple of weeks ago, the Riverside County public defender’s office was trying to get legislators to cancel a 5% budget cut.  Success!  From the Valley News:  “Riverside County Public Defender Gary Windom’s request for an additional $1.4 million to close a gap in his budget and keep current positions filled was approved today by the Board of Supervisors.  Without comment, the board voted 4-0 … to make the appropriation, without which an investigator position and 18 clerical and technical jobs would have been in jeopardy. In June, Windom told the board that a 5 percent cut in general fund appropriations for the Office of the Public Defender would strain the agency’s resources and lead to delays in moving cases through the courts.”

• 10.3.11 – help wanted in the Treasure State!  Montana is running a nationwide search for a new chief public defender.  From the Billings Gazette: “The four-year-old system provides legal representation to people accused of crimes who can’t afford attorneys. Its first chief, Randi Hood, resigned four weeks ago, saying she wanted to leave her administrative post and continue work in the courtroom as a public defender. Montana overhauled its system for defending the poor in court in response to a lawsuit by the ACLU, which alleged that the old system run by the counties provided unequal treatment for indigent defendants across the state. The system has a $23 million budget this year and about 200 full-time positions. Its headquarters are in Butte.”

• 9.30.11 – a short WNYC article highlights the need to bolster funding for legal services funding at a time when more and more New Yorkers are eligible for, and in need of, legal services.  It references chief judge Jonathan Lippman’s present and past efforts to shore up funding in hard times.  (The article botches a statement about how, on the federal level, Senate and House appropriations committees have both recommended 2 budget cuts to the Legal Services Corporation.  In fact the House committee wants to axe 26% of LSC’s congressional funding.)