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New Lawyer Requirement: 50 Hours of Pro Bono Work

4/22/2013

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New York is in the middle of implementing a pro bono requirement for new attorneys. Starting in 2015 all new attorneys in New York will be required to complete 50 hours of pro bono work before they apply to the Bar Association for membership.  The requirement will allow work done in law school clinics and for nonprofit organizations, plus court clerkships or externships, to count toward the requirement.  Proponents of the new rule are hoping this will improve legal access for the poor while instilling a sense of professional responsibility in new lawyers. Opponents believe the new rule is a ridiculous imposition on already cash-strapped students who could use that time to look for one of those increasingly rare post-graduation jobs. They also state this will place a new training burden on legal service organizations – the question is; who will be responsible pay for the increased supervision needs of these young attorneys?

But that’s not all.  California was so impressed with the new idea that, in addition to a new 50 hour pro bono requirement, every law student in the state of California will soon be required to complete 10 hours of specifically designed continuing education courses. Additionally, there will be a new requirement for 15 credit hours of practical skills or a six month clerkship.  They are generously considering letting the law student fulfill the 50 hour requirement while still between the middle of the 2L year through the first year of practice.  (I wonder how the first year of practice will be counted if they find themselves without a job for a couple of years? Hmmm.) Their taskforce is still out with a final recommendation forthcoming in June. If you want to comment on their newly unveiled draft, this might be the right time.

Why is there a sudden interest in adding a pro bono requirement to all juris doctorate programs? It’s mostly  about the justice gap, money, and looking for inexpensive ways to help the poor gain access to help in the legal process.  You see, Legal Services in each state used to get large grants to help them provide legal assistance to the poor. Unfortunately, the tanked economy changed that and they have experienced large budget cuts along with other federal programs. So how do they fill the gap left? Under the guise of teaching law students to love pro bono work, all law students should be required to provide pro bono services. The logic is flawed a bit, however, all that pro bono work will keep many unemployed  attorney wanna-be’s in the unemployment line. The poor will receive help from the least experienced (and often, least interested) of all attorneys.  Imagine yourself in the place of a woman escaping an abusive marriage whose case is assigned to a new hedge fund attorney who is being forced to help you pro bono - that attorney hasn’t the interest nor the expertise to actually provide you justice.   Also, many law students who are struggling to stay afloat just to get through law school will be faced with more hurdles. How long are we expecting these students to starve? They provide hours of free work through the summer intern programs already!  How are other states weighing in?

New Jersey: Their pro bono task force is winding up their work in May 2013.  They are staying very tight lipped about their recommendation but the New Jersey State Bar Association is opposed to adding a pro bono requirement. They believe the law schools are already doing a good job of preparing their students via real world experience and see this new trend as unnecessary.

Connecticut: Judicial leaders are not impressed with the idea of creating an additional pro bono requirement. They have chosen to work with the individual law schools on issues of getting students more involved in pro bono work.

Other states appear to have taken a wait and see stance – hoping the American Bar Association will step in and resolve the issue. However, the ABA, so far, is saying that is not within their purview.


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Federal Clerkships: Top Schools and a Little Bit of OSCAR

4/16/2013

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Remember how much you used to love Sesame Street? You could sing along with the Muppets, learn to count, and stare in confusion as the Muppets tried to teach you to read phonetically (but mostly they just sounded drunk).  Would you always wait to see what was up with Oscar the Grouch?  Did you wonder what would happen to you when you were all grown up?

Well, now you’re all grown up and still letting OSCAR determine what sort of day you’ll have. Will you be successful?  Will you get the opportunity to clerk for a Federal Judge? OSCAR (the Online System for Clerkship Application and Review) has been busy changing the rules of its system. No longer will you be able to send your application to every federal judge in the land. You’ll be limited to 100. Choose carefully and keep your fingers crossed that one of those judges is wise enough to choose you back. Also, mark your calendar for June 28th and plan nothing! That is the single date (up from August 19th) set for judges to “to receive applications, schedule and conduct interviews, and make clerkship offers” according to the OSCAR Law Blog. This date allows for an early release of the applications at a time when most 2L grades will have already been received.  Persons already holding a J.D. are not addressed under these rules. Federal judges can accept applications, interview, and hire them at any time. (Don’t fool yourselves by thinking some of the federal clerkships aren't already decided early because rumor has it, they are; even if they aren’t formalized until the official release date.)

And while we’re all wondering how OSCAR continues to hold influence over our lives, you should probably take a peek at which law schools are most successful at getting J.D. grads placed in federal clerkships as per U.S. News. If you are one of those prospective law students thinking about which law school to send your money to to reserve your place, you might want to consider this in your equation:

Law School                                                         US News Rank      % Federal Clerkship Placement

Yale                                                                               1                                       34.5%

Stanford                                                                        2                                       24.1%

Harvard                                                                         2                                       17.1%

Duke                                                                            11                                      12.7%

NYU                                                                               6                                       11.4%

U of Michigan – Ann Arbor                                              9                                       11.1%

Vanderbilt                                                                      15                                      11.1%

University of Virginia                                                        7                                      10.8%

Berkeley                                                                         9                                       10.3%

U. of Pennsylvania                                                          7                                        9.9%


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Hope for Aspiring Lawyers – Federal Jobs?

4/12/2013

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Light at the end of the tunnel?  Hopefully.... 


If you’re graduating this Spring and haven't yet landed a job or if you've already graduated and still seeking some decent employment, there may be hope!

The U.S. Department of Justice has just submitted a 2014 budget request to add new attorneys to their rolls, as reported by The National Law Journal.  Lots and lots of attorneys! Don’t get too excited, yet, as a similar request was made and rejected last year. But the economy is reportedly healing and maybe this will be the magical year of hiring! Here is what’s reflected in the proposal:

  • Spoiler Alert: Anti-trust aspirants can go cry in the corner now because, sadly, those jobs are slated to be cut at the same time these new jobs come on-line. 
  • 31 new lawyers in the Criminal Division – 9 attorneys for cybercrime investigations and prosecutions, 16 to prosecute significant financial crimes, and 7 in intellectual property.
  • 32 new lawyers in the Civil Division to cover cases resulting from the recent financial crisis. They have also asked for additional funding for an attorney productivity initiative to provide additional support personnel for fact discovery, exhibit preparation, and other actions for cases against blue chip firms. 
  • 43 new lawyers in the Civil Rights Division – 25 attorneys would focus on hate crimes, human trafficking, civil rights for institutionalized persons, and voting rights; 10 would investigate illegal lending practices and predatory lending practices; and 9 would investigate reports of police misconduct. 
  • 6 support personnel in the Office of the Solicitor General. Unfortunately no new attorney jobs here; and 
  • 10 attorneys in the Antitrust Division have been requested to replace losses of attorneys through attrition due to current budget constraints.

So brush up on your interview skills, shine your shoes, and watch the federal job boards for (hopefully) job announcements for 2014. 



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Law Students: Trapped With Lousy Job Prospects

4/10/2013

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The story of all of the unemployed J.D.s is disgruntling and disconcerting. While some former law students sue their schools, and some law schools are retaliating by suing law firms that represent law students that sue law schools, it leaves the current crop of students with no actionable recourse that leaves them looking sane. Take, for example, the apparently disgruntled J.D. who decided to respond to an help wanted ad by IBM for a low level position by red-lining the very ad they placed to recruit red-liners.  (Click on this if you don't do anything else - it's very funny!)

It’s dismaying to know that almost half of all J.D. candidates attending law school in an effort to make good life (and career) choices are side-lined before they’re even out of the gate. No wonder law school applications have dropped to the lowest numbers ever: everyone seems to know at least one law school graduate who is coping with dismal job prospects and a crush of debt from the high cost of tuition. Law schools need to align their promises with that which they can truly deliver. Arizona just set a precedent by reducing their law school tuition rates. We wonder if other schools will soon follow suit.


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Law Schools: Highest Post-Graduation Unemployment Ratings

4/9/2013

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My daughter just got back from a meeting at her law school today. They were talking seriously to the students about what not to expect post-graduation. The items mentioned included jobs and income. She’s in a pretty good law school and this morose presentation did nothing to encourage the masses of students who are working hard to complete their juris doctorates. Are they hoping everyone will quit?  No such luck.

Looking at the enrollment statistics for law schools with the lowest prospects for post graduate employment as per Law.com, and comparing them to current enrollment rates, indicates a lot of law school students don’t really care what their administration says; they’ll take that chance.

Taking a look at the official list of Law Schools with the Worst 2012 Post-Graduation Employment Rates was a little confusing so I decided to do a little digging to become more familiar with the actual data. Wait! A lot of the schools listed on the official list aren’t even ranked by US News and World Report. Come on! If the ranking is so low the law school score isn’t even published, shouldn’t the student already know their prospects of getting a job after graduation are a bit on the low side regardless of the economy?  That would be my guess anyway.

But what about the schools in the Top 100 rankings? Wouldn’t it be more interesting to know the bottom of the heap for employment if you’re actually attending a school in the top 2 tiers? 

 Top 100 Ranked Law Schools with the Worst 2012 Post-Graduation Employment Rates

US News                                                                                                               Employment 9 months
Rank                Law School                                Enrolled                Tuition*             After Graduation
#56           American University (D.C.)                     1,215                 $46,794/yr               47.8%

#64           Pennsylvania State University                  541                  $40,532/yr               49.2%

#94           University of Oregon                                480                  $35,374/yr               49.4%

#61           Pepperdine University                               618                  $44,980/yr               51.1%

#96           Santa Clara University                               693                    not listed                51.4%

#48           University of California  (Hastings)          1,097                  $52,806/yr               51.6%

#80           Lewis & Clark (Northwestern)                    483                  $38,180/yr               53.6%

#80           Brooklyn Law School                                998                  $49,976/yr               54.3%

#98           St. John’s University                                 742                  $48,070/yr               55.1%

#68          Case Western Reserve                              567                  $44,620/yr               55.2%

#86           Northeastern                                            604                  $43,048/yr               55.2%

#68           University of San Diego                            768                  $43,860/yr               55.7%

#58           Yeshiva University (Cardozo)                 1,032                  $50,046/yr               55.8%

#47           U of Illinois Urbana-Champaigne                627                  $45,917/yr               56.3%
   
#68           IIT Chicago-Kent                                      738                  $43,260/yr               56.6%

#64           University of Denver (Sturm)                   746                  $39,840yr                 56.8%

#29           Boston University                                     740                  $44,168/yr               57.5%
  
#44           BYU                                                          420                  $21,900/yr               58.0%

#98           U of South Carolina                                   632                  $43,398/yr               59.5%

#98           Villanova                                                   684                  $38,910/yr               59.9%
 
*All tuition is the highest listed tuition in US News and World Report.

So why be in law school in this day and age? Well, my daughter says it’s better to have a 50% or better chance of having a job with a juris doctorate than being in the unemployment line right out of your undergrad program.  I would have to agree.  And if you don't have a job after you've earned your JD?  Well, there's always a good LLM program looking for students. 


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    Federal Clerkships: Top Schools And OSCAR
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    Hope For Aspiring Lawyers - Federal Jobs?
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    Law School - Post-Grad Unemployment
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    New Lawyer Requirement: 50 Hours Of Pro Bono Work
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    Snagging A Federal Clerkship - Which Law School?
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