The Peter Cicchino Youth Project (PCYP) in the Urban Justice Center is a legal services, systemic advocacy, and community education project that focuses on the legal needs of homeless and street-involved lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, and questioning (LGBTQQ) young people (up through age 24) in New York City. PYCP is looking for experienced attorneys for its Project Director position.

PCYP works to interrupt the cycles of poverty and criminalization that prevent LGBTQQ youth from living fulfilling, enriching lives. We advocate for LGBTQQ young people living in poverty on a wide range of issues, including safe and affirming access to shelter, obtaining lawful immigration status, public benefits, accurate identification documents, and discrimination.

The Project Director is responsible for fundraising and managing a $400,000 annual budget, and will represent PCYP to the broader Urban Justice Center, the media, and the public. The Project Director works with program staff to coordinate PCYP’s legal services, to ensure that our clients receive high quality legal representation. The Project Director, along with program staff, will continue to identify systemic priorities and to develop PCYP’s capacity to take direction from the communities we serve.

If you’re interested, see the listing at PSLawNet!

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By a vote of 7 to 3, the City Council repealed the local law that makes domestic violence a crime.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

The Loyola Law School Center for Juvenile Law and Policy is seeking applications for a post-graduate fellowship in the Center’s Juvenile Justice Clinic.  The fellowship is designed for attorneys who possess a demonstrated interest in indigent juvenile defense and juvenile justice issues. 

The fellowship is a two-year appointment, beginning on August 1, 2012.  The fellowship is designed to provide a well-developed practical skill set as well as clinical teaching experience.

The Center is a legal clinic that brings public service, education and advocacy together to improve the quality of legal services provided to youth in the juvenile delinquency system.  The clinic provides free legal services to children in the Los Angeles delinquency courts while providing students with vital litigation skills and the opportunity to practice in the public interest.

To learn more and to find out how to apply, see the listing at PSLawNet!

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?

The Center for Social Justice at Seton Hall University School is looking to fill a fellowship spot immediately! The clinical fellowship would run through July 2012, with the possibility for renewal.

The Center is home to eight clinics, as well as the International Human Rights/Rule of Law Initiative, the Urban Revitalization Initiative and a large pro bono program. The clinics focus on predatory lending and foreclosure, education and prison reform, constitutional law and civil rights, equal justice, impact litigation, family law, immigrants’ rights and international human rights, and juvenile justice.

The Fellow will work with clinics that focus on complex civil litigation, including multi-party litigation as well as law reform and impact litigation. Preference will be given to those interested in issues surrounding urban justice and experienced with housing, foreclosure, predatory lending, and/or education reform advocacy.

The Fellowship provides a unique opportunity to gain public interest litigation and clinical teaching experience in a supportive law school environment. The Clinical Fellow will assist with client intake, all aspects of civil litigation, supervision of clinical students, and the teaching of clinical seminars, and will be responsible for case coverage during the summer months

Sounds like a great opp! Find out how to apply at PSLawNet!

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.)

by Kristen Pavón

The Guardian published a thought-provoking article asking what people really mean by “access to justice” in light of the proposed 60% budget cut for the U.K.’s publicly funded law.

The author, Job Robins, asks whether “access to justice” is a noble aspiration or a load of meaningless tosh. He went straight to leading lawyers, thinkers and campaigners for answers.

Ultimately, he found that the definition of access to justice has changed since the 1970s.

In the 1970s, [Italian jurist Mauro] Cappelletti directed a research project funded by the Ford Foundation on “access to justice in modern societies” and which led to a four-volume series (called, you guessed it, Access to Justice). Cappelletti once said: “The right of effective ‘access to justice’ has emerged with the new social rights. Indeed, it is of paramount importance … Effective access to justice can be seen as the most basic requirement, the most basic human right, of a system which purports to guarantee legal rights.”

However, James Sandbach, the social policy officer for Citizens Advice Bureau, told Robins that the “prevailing philosophy is one of self-help and personal responsibility” rather than representing low-income individuals through legal aid. This philosophy would help explain the types of legal aid reforms currently being proposed in the U.K.

The main theme Robins seems to have found among the responses he received is that although legal redress is of paramount importance, legal advice is never at the top of the public’s priorities. It’s only important when you’re already in trouble and your rights are in jeopardy.

Read the whole article here.

Interesting. Do we, in the U.S., have a more unified understanding of what we mean by “access to justice”? Thoughts?

Chattanooga Neighborhood Enterprise (CNE) is looking for a policy research intern for Summer 2012. CNE is a non-profit housing organization that was founded to provide all Chattanoogans the opportunity to live in decent, fit and affordable housing and, in the process, eliminate substandard housing in Chattanooga.

CNE’s mission is to build and sustain livable neighborhoods by providing home ownership counseling, providing affordable loans, working in partnership with like-missioned organizations and encouraging neighborhood engagement.

CNE’s intern will conduct essential, in-depth research regarding all kinds of pressing home-ownership and tenancy issues, including landlord tax delinquency, government designated revitalization areas, land banking and abandoned housing, CRA credits/partnerships with banks, comprehensive neighborhood revitalization strategies, and neighborhood revitalization strategies that relate to a specific complementary field (e.g. the Promise Neighborhood program as a way to improve education through neighborhoods).

If you’re committed to affordable housing issues and will be in Chattanooga, Tennessee, learn how to apply at PSLawNet!

We’re delighted to announce that Felicia Cantrell, a 3L at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University, has been recognized as the 2011 PSLawNet Pro Bono Publico Award winner!

Felicia, a third-year law student, is described as a leader, change-maker and fearless optimist when it comes to her zealous advocacy against sex trafficking. As a 1L, Felicia founded the student organization, 13 – Advocacy Against Sex Trafficking (13 being the average age of child sex workers in the U.S.). As a result of her leadership, the group has collaborated with various organizations and has facilitated victim advocate trainings and educational programming for hundreds of law students, attorneys, judges, social workers, teachers and the public-at-large. Additionally, Felicia and the more than 100 students who make up Felicia’s organization volunteer their time to providing legal assistance and screening for domestic violence and human trafficking situations at a local clinic.  Currently, Felicia is representing abuse victims in civil legal matters as a student-attorney with the law school’s Family Protection Legal Clinic. She plans on becoming a prosecutor of sex crimes and hopes to found a human trafficking law school clinic.

We will be delighted to honor in person Felicia during NALP’s 2011 Public Service Mini-Conference in Washington, DC.

We also extend our congratulations to this year’s Pro Bono Publico Award runner-up and those who received honorable mention.  It is truly heartening to see so many talented law students doing such tremendous work to help those on society’s margins.  Read our announcement to learn more about the entire slate of honorees.

By: Steve Grumm

The Albany Times-Union reports on one jurist thinking outside the box about addressing the justice gap:

That was the recommendation of one of New York’s top judges Monday in his testimony to the Task Force to Expand Access to Civil Legal Services, which was formed to address the issue. Michael Coccoma, the deputy administrative chief judge for counties outside New York City, suggested the panel consider the graduates as he urged “new ideas” during a hearing at the Court of Appeals.

“For example, when 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 asked.

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.

Hmmm.  I have profoundly mixed feelings on this issue.  On the one hand, it’s undeniable that there are signficant numbers of un- or underemployed law grads.  And there is certainly a need for more advocates for low-income people with legal problems.  But, civil legal services lawyers are already the lowest paid public interest lawyers.  The problem of low salaries has plagued legal services organizations for years.  I can appreciate how a program structured like AmeriCorps or Teach for America would be term-limited.  Thus you’re not dealing with the same problem of underpaying permanent employees.  Still, it gives me pause.