This week: cutbacks at Idaho Legal Aid Services; an interview with Disability Rights Advocates’ ED; Biglaw partners can play bigger role in funding legal services; in one Ohio county, a debate about a debate about creating a public defender’s office; gloomy, gloomy news on law school debt; shakeups in Shasta County’s (CA) prosecutor’s office; the nonlawyer at Legal Aid of West Virginia’s helm.

• 5.12.11 – funding woes are affecting Idaho Legal Aid Services, and more cuts are coming.  From a short AP story on the KMVT website: “Idaho Legal Aid Services, which has already cut hours of its staff and 21 attorneys, has a $250,000 hole in its $2.6 million annual budget. Leaders say employees across the state will take forced days off without pay starting on May 27. The move comes after a bill failed in the 2011 Idaho Legislature that would have shored up its coffers.”

• 5.11.11 –  The National Law Journal recently interviewed  Disability Rights Advocates’ Executive Director Ben Foss about the hot issues in disability law, his decision to become a lawyer and his appearance in a film documentary called Journey Into Dyslexia, now showing on HBO2. For Foss, a former director of access technology at Intel Corp, his recent transition hits home: “I’m severely dyslexic. I was in special ed all through school. My mom used to read out loud to me as a kid. When I went to college, that’s when it all caught up to me. I had to fax term papers home to my mom to have her read aloud to me so I could find my spelling mistakes. As a result, I’ve been part of the disability community for a long time….  [At Intel,] I decided I wanted to build technology for people with disabilities, which is something Intel hadn’t done before. I invented a device called the Intel Reader, which takes a photograph of any printed material and reads it aloud to you right on the spot. I invented it so that I don’t have to call Mom every time I run into syntax.”  Foss also highlighted a few pressing challenges in disability law right now that include access to the virtual world and all transportation systems and veterans with disabilities.

• 5.11.11 – On Wednesday, the PSLawNet Blog looked at a proposal, featured in The American Lawyer, to create a private-bar-funded “Lawyers Foundation” to support civil legal services.  In the piece, Aric Press argues that Biglaw partners could greatly advance the cause of access to justice by endowing and supporting a foundation to help fund both the Legal Services Corporation and other legal services projects.  Press notes that LSC’s funding outlook in Congress is uncertain, but particularly dire given the current fiscal state of affairs and the fact that the federal funder of legal services has enemies on the Hill. While this is a thoughtful proposal, and certainly an attempt to think creatively (which the PSLawNet Blog applauds), the private sector can’t let Congressional appropriators off the hook with respect to funding LSC.

• 5.11.11 – A little less conversation, a little more action? In an article by The Morning Journal, Ohio’s Lorain County Prosecutor’s Office said commissioners need to rethink how to study the pros and cons of whether the county should have a public defender’s office.  Discussion began last month between commissioners and the state public defender’s office to explore if there would be a cost-savings, as compared to paying court- appointed attorneys for indigent criminal defendants. Commissioner Ted Kalo has argued there would be a savings, but Assistant Lorain County Prosecutor Gerald Innes is sticking to his guns, contending that some sort of commission should weigh the cost saving options.

• 5.9.11 – Reader warning: the following news is frightening for those concerned about student debt.  An article in the ABA Journal reports that annual law school loans borrowed has jumped 50 percent since 2001. In the last academic year, law students borrowed an average of $68,827 for public schools and $106,249 for private educations.  Compare this with $46,499, or the average amount borrowed for the public school, and $70,147, average for a private school in the 2001-2002 academic year.  For many of us–PSLawNet Bloggers included, these are not just staggering numbers, they’re lived experiences. Wow-zah.

• 5.9.11 – In the Shasta County, California district attorney’s office, many prosecutors are not amused with recent office/case shuffling. And, as a result, The Record Searchlight reports that the restructuring of sorts have prompted one of its senior prosecutors who specialized in homicide cases to leave the office.  Stewart Jankowitz, who lost only one murder case in his approximately 15 years with the office retired last week.  Prosecutors are required to handle an assortment of cases, although some do have specific assignments, such as sex crimes, felony DUIs and white-collar crime, such as embezzlement.  Jankowitz stated that he did not delight in the idea of handling non-homicide cases after his many years of legal experience.  While many will miss him, it’s time to go.

• 5.8.11 – Charleston, West Virginia’s Gazette feature a piece about Adrienne Worthy, executive director of Legal Aid of West Virginia, oversees provisions for legal assistance for the low-income and disenfranchised.  Her story is about what motivates her: responsibility.  Legal Aid of West Virginia currently has 55 lawyers, a statewide staff of 120 and 12 regional offices, but Worthy is not a lawyer.  After graduating from undergraduate school, she answered an ad in a progressive ad bulletin looking for citizen activist canvassers, then for three years went  door-to-door every night from 4 until 9, five days a week, snow sleet or hail, to raise money and organize around environmental, consumer and utility issues.  She then worked at a library and for the WV Women’s Commission.  She knows she has marched to her own drummer in terms of jobs, but her commitment to find how she’s needed is unwavering.  “I am finding it harder to be motivated by the belief that real changes are going to happen,” Worthy says.  “I don’t understand the vision of what we are supposed to do with the changes proposed for the environment, our old and young people. I don’t know what’s going to happen to our clients here.”  She confesses that she’s thought about leaving, but gets inspired by clients who have overcome incredible odds and, through the help of legal services, have been able to make a difference.

Now is not the time to turn our backs on Haiti.  Serve as a Senior Gender Advisor for the International Rescue Committee (IRC).

Since its inception in 1933, the IRC has been a global leader in emergency response and providing durable solutions for conflict- and crisis-affected populations. The IRC launched programs in Haiti immediately following the January 2010 earthquake, deploying its emergency response team to respond to survivors’ most critical needs. Since that time, the IRC has developed multi-sectoral programming addressing needs in and around Port-au-Prince. Currently, the IRC implements programs focused on child protection; protection and services for women and girls; access to justice; livelihoods development and Cash-for-Work; environmental health; and camp management.

IRC is currently preparing a proposal in response to a USAID-funded request for applications to improve safety and security for women, children and youth in Haiti through decreased incidence of human rights abuse and expanded access to treatment and care. The Senior Gender Advisor* will provide overall direction and guidance to all aspects of the Protecting the Rights of Children, Women and Youth Program with a focus on the protection of women and girls.
*This position is contingent on the IRC being awarded funding and is anticipated to begin around October 5, 2011.

To view the full job listing, go to PSLawNet (login required).

The legal services community needs more green!

Aric Press, editor in chief of American Lawyer Media and owner of a wonderfully Dickensian surname, has penned a thoughtful piece, proposing that Biglaw partners (and, we suppose, other well-heeled members of the private bar) could greatly advance the cause of access to justice by endowing and supporting a foundation to help fund both the Legal Services Corporation and other legal services projects. Press notes that LSC’s funding outlook in Congress is uncertain, but hardly rosy given the current fiscal state of affairs and the fact that LSC is something of a political football.  He further notes that, recession notwithstanding, many law firm partners are doing quite-well-thank-you-very-much with respect to the ol’ cash flow.

The arithmetic is compelling. The surviving partners of The Am Law 100 continue to prosper even in the worst economic downturn of the last 25 years. For Am Law 100 equity partners, profits rose by an average of 8.4 percent, and the average compensation for all partners — equity and income — increased by 7.7 percent, to $1 million. I’m told one can live on that, even save a little.

There are 30,888 Am Law 100 lawyers carrying the label partner. On average, across their many offices, they bill roughly 2,000 hours at roughly $500 per hour. Were each to contribute the equivalent of 20 hours of billable time in cash — 1 percent — the resulting stash would reach $309 million. Toss in the 15,000 Am Law Second Hundred partners, and there’s more than enough to underwrite the annual LSC budget even after firms excluded their non-U.S. licensed lawyers.

The PSLawNet Blog supports creative thinking to channel more money to the legal services community.  This certainly includes contributions from the private sector, and this certainly includes the bar.  LSC’s model is, after all, emblematic of a successful private-public partnership.  With that said, a caveat: in our view, the key word when thinking about what makes private-public partnerships work is “balance.”  And for too long, Congress has not been holding up its end.  LSC’s appropriation, in real dollars, has markedly decreased over time.  And this has occurred even as demand for legal services – from domestic violence victims, homeless veterans, and children in need of healthcare – has grown too fast in light of the limited financial and human resources to help these would-be clients.  So if the private bar is to move forward with a formal funding initiative, we hope that it will make a priority of lobbying the folks on Capitol Hill to hold up their end of the deal.

Las Americas’ Managing Attorney works in conjunction with the Executive Director to shape the legal vision and direction of the non-profit. The Managing Attorney supervises a staff of accredited representatives and paralegals. The Managing Attorney handles consultations with prospective clients at Las Americas’ office and at the immigration detention center to provide legal advice and to identify viable cases. The Managing Attorney files petitions for immigration relief and represents clients in immigration court in various cases, including victims of crimes, victims of domestic violence and refugees and asylum seekers. Finally, the Managing Attorney advocates for his or her clients and for immigrants in general.

Meet the qualifications?:

• Licensed attorney (preferably licensed in Texas)
• Experience with immigration law preferred but not required
• Fluency in Spanish preferred
• Demonstrated commitment to service
• Excellent organizational skills
• Must be willing to work on a tight budget and within the bounds of grants
• Public speaking

To view the full job listing, go to PSLawNet (login required).

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Michigan seeks a Staff Attorney!

Under the direction of the Legal Director, the Staff Attorney will both litigate cases and participate in non-litigation advocacy activities to advance civil liberties in Michigan. The Staff Attorney’s responsibilities include serving as lead and co-counsel on a variety of civil liberties cases; working in conjunction with National ACLU lawyers; investigating, developing and litigating cases at the trial and appellate level in state and federal courts. The Staff Attorney will also have non-litigation advocacy responsibilities including: public speaking, media interviews, outreach, and writing op-eds, newsletter articles and reports. The Staff Attorney will work with local legal committees and be responsible for recruiting and working successfully with cooperating attorneys.

Qualifications include:

• JD with litigation experience, preferably federal litigation raising civil liberties and civil rights issues.
• A strong understanding of, and demonstrated commitment to, civil liberties, civil rights and the mission of the ACLU. Experience in non-profit advocacy or other community-based groups is valuable.
• Exceptional writing and analytical skills is required. Judicial clerkship is a plus.
• The attorney must be a member of the State Bar of Michigan (or pass the next bar examination).
• Substantive knowledge and understanding of constitutional law and civil liberties issues.
• Demonstrated skills in litigating independently, jointly and under pressure.
•  Excellent communication skills to both legal and non-legal audiences.
•  Demonstrated skills in legal analysis, research, and strategic thinking.

To view the full job listing, go to PSLawNet (login required).

GovernmentExecutive.com is keeping up with a critical issue:  federal job postings.  This is a serious concern deserving of attention.  But who knew “KSA” would be part of common parlance in the land of federal employment?  Monday’s article reports that agencies still need to better streamline their job announcements as part of the government’s push to reform the bureaucratic federal hiring process, a top official from the Office of Personnel Management.

Sixty-one percent of agencies have simplified their job vacancy postings, said Nancy Kichak, OPM’s associate director for employee services, while 89 percent of agencies have abolished the much-reviled knowledge, skills and abilities statements that for years applicants painstakingly filled out and managers waded through. Kichak said there is a disconnect between agencies’ desire to eliminate KSAs and the habit of writing long and complicated descriptions of job vacancies.

“We don’t want to hear it [via KSAs], but we’re certainly willing to say it ourselves,” she told an audience during a conference on federal financial management in Washington. Kichak said the goal is to push managers to produce job announcements that are less than five pages long. She said at various times, some postings have been as long as 38 pages.

38 pages?! Yikes.  Progress has been made, though.  During the past year, agencies have transitioned from KSAs to category ratings as well as to a resume- and cover letter-based system. In addition, OPM last month debuted a new online platform that tests applicants for a variety of positions across government.  Not exactly baby steps, but as most agree, there is more to be done.

Our friends at Equal Justice Works, known to industry insiders as Big Equal, have announced the awarding of 44 new fellowships.  Good stuff!

Equal Justice Works, the nation’s leading creator of public interest law opportunities, is proud to announce the 2011 Class of Equal Justice Works Fellows. Forty-four recent law school graduates have been selected as recipients of 2011 Equal Justice Works Fellowships and will spend the next two years working to provide legal services to underserved populations, facing issues ranging from homelessness and domestic violence, to immigration, civil rights and juvenile justice. This year’s fellowship competition attracted more than 365 applicants from law schools across the country, an increase of 18% over last year.

The Charleston Gazette in lovely West Virginia has run a lovely profile of Adrienne Worthy, the non-lawyer who is at the helm of Legal Aid of  West Virginia.  Worthy arrived in West Virginia from Ohio in 1971, fresh out of college and eager to get involved in community activism. 

‘I answered an ad in a progressive ad bulletin looking for door-to-door citizen activist canvassers. I came to West Virginia, the closest place for an interview…. So for three years, I was going door-to-door every night from 4 until 9, five days a week, snow sleet or hail, to raise money and organize around environmental, consumer and utility issues.’

Worthy gravitated towards women’s issues, and spent several years with the West Virginia Women’s Commission.  Eventually, her talent for nonprofit administration and passion for being a force for positive change in people’s lives drove her into the legal services community, where she’s found a home at Legal Aid of West Virginia.

We are a statewide nonprofit poverty law firm. We provide civil legal assistance and advocacy to low-income people and vulnerable people, domestic violence victims, people struggling with homelessness or working to get benefits they are entitled to. We also run the state’s long-term care ombudsmen program, advocacy for people in nursing homes. Our third component is advocating for adults and kids with mental illness.

And Worthy talks a little bit about what keeps her motivated in the face of funding cuts and other adversities.

I’ve thought about leaving Legal Aid, but the people I work with are some of the hardest working, most committed people I know. I get inspired by them. I get inspired by clients who have overcome incredible odds and, through our help, have been able to make a difference. 

The Sikh Coalition seeks a highly motivated staff attorney based in the organization’s office in New York City.  The Sikh Coalition is a community-based organization that works towards the realization of civil and human rights for all people. In particular, we work towards a world where Sikhs may freely practice and enjoy their faith while fostering strong relations with their local community wherever Sikhs may be.

The staff attorney will provide direct legal services to victims of hate crimes, employment discrimination, public accommodation discrimination, profiling, and other forms of discrimination. This is a full-time position that reports to the Coalition’s Legal Director. 

Interested?  Have the qualifications?:

• Bachelors and Juris Doctor degrees required;
• Bar membership in at least one U.S. based jurisdiction;
• At least 1-3 years of previous legal experience, litigation preferable;
• Demonstrated passion for social justice;
• Excellent written, oral and analytical skills;
• Ability to handle a large caseload and multi-task effectively;
• Ability to work independently in a fast-paced environment;
• Basic computer and Westlaw skills;
• Punjabi language skills a plus.

To view the full job listing, go to PSLawNet (login required).

Earlier this week, we highlighted pro bono and public interest work at the Charlotte College of Law on the blog.  Perhaps we wanted to wet your appetite for an available opportunity at CharlotteLaw…

The Charlotte School of Law invites applicants for the position of Director of the CharlotteLaw Program for Academic Success (“CPAS”). This is a non-faculty full-time administrative position starting as soon as possible, at a salary commensurate with qualifications and experience.

The Director of the CharlotteLaw Program for Academic Success reports directly to the Assistant Dean for Academics.  He or she will work with students seeking to improve academic performance or experiencing academic difficulty.  The Director performs other academic support functions essential to promoting students’ success in law school and to the success and growth of the institution.

The Director must be a licensed attorney with one to three years of legal experience and possess at least two years of full-time professional academic support experience (either as part of a graduate or law school program) or teaching experience (i.e., legal writing or comparable teaching experience in writing and analytical skills training).  He or she must have the ability to think creatively and critically about the goals of academic support in legal education and to design and present programs to meet those goals.

To view the full job listing, go to PSLawNet (login required).