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50 - Public Service Residency in Lieu of the Third Year of Law School
- from PART IV - CREATING A CULTURE OF SERVICE
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- By Samuel Estreicher, New York University School of Law, Randal S. Milch, New York University Law School's Center on Law and Security
- Edited by Samuel Estreicher, Joy Radice
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- Book:
- Beyond Elite Law
- Published online:
- 05 May 2016
- Print publication:
- 26 April 2016, pp 701-704
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Summary
The proposal by Samuel Estreicher and Randal Milch, which can be implemented by a change in state supreme court rules, would allow students to become licensed to practice after completing two years of a prescribed law school curriculum and one year of a paid internship working principally on public service matters, broadly defined to include representation of poor and middle-class individuals and families. Law schools will not have to change their degree requirements but many will be under pressure to provide offerings that will be worth the year of tuition and foregone income; they will have to “earn” the third year, rather than have it imposed by law.
President Obama's remarks on the utility of the third year of law school have rekindled public debate over the value of requiring students to finish three years of law school before they can take the bar examination and practice law. We are proposing a Public Service Residency Program as a practical alternative to the third year of law school. We believe that this Program, which can be flexibly implemented in accordance with local legal and political requirements, will produce new lawyers with greater experience and less debt, and thus with more to offer to prospective employers and greater freedom to take legal jobs of their choice and further the needs of the community.
The Public Service Residency Program would be an option that students might select. It would not require law schools or the ABA to change their current requirements for a JD degree.
The parameters of the proposal (which would require action by the State Supreme Court) are set out later, but the nuts and bolts are simple. After completing a core curriculum in the first two years of law school, participating students would, beginning in the summer after the second year, undertake a year's Public Service Residency with a participating law firm, corporate legal office, government agency, or nongovernmental organization. These sponsoring organizations would be responsible for providing the Residents with three things: supervised legal work on behalf of one or more clients involved in public service matters, compensation, and certification at the year's end of the Resident's satisfactory performance. There is no requirement that the sponsoring organization offer the Resident a permanent position at the end of the Residency.
21 - Company-Provided Legal Services
- from PART II - SOURCES OF LEGAL SERVICES ASSISTANCE FOR WORKING AMERICANS
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- By Maggie Gousman, law firm of Jackson Lewis PC, John P. Frantz, start of Verizon's pro bono program in 2009, Randal S. Milch, New York University Law School's Center on Law and Security
- Edited by Samuel Estreicher, Joy Radice
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- Book:
- Beyond Elite Law
- Published online:
- 05 May 2016
- Print publication:
- 26 April 2016, pp 311-325
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- Chapter
- Export citation
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Summary
Over the past few decades, corporations have joined the ranks of pro bono pioneers, in significant numbers creating their own pro bono programs and leveraging their relatively small in-house counsel resources through partnerships with nonprofits, law firms, and bar associations. Although many corporations predictably help by providing advice on corporate law matters, other areas, like family law, contracts, veterans’ assistance, are also common. This chapter authored by verizon's in-house counsel looks at Verizon's pro bono initiative, which has grown to engage more than 70% of its U.S. attorneys over the past five years in representing domestic violence survivors, veterans, immigrants, and nonprofit groups.
Fifteen years ago, only a small number of corporate legal departments had pro bono programs. Today, legal departments of all sizes across a wide range of industries are participating in pro bono. The majority of Fortune 100 companies and many of the Fortune 500 have created, or are moving to create, formal pro bono programs. To help improve the effectiveness of these efforts, corporate legal departments are working with partners – law firms, legal service organizations, bar associations, and Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) Chapters – to provide pro bono services.
There are a number of reasons for this growth. Companies are increasingly focused on social responsibility, and pro bono creates opportunities for the legal department to participate in skills-based volunteer efforts. Many in-house lawyers were introduced to strong pro bono programs in prior law firm jobs and wish to continue participating in similar meaningful work. Finally, the success of in-house programs has created a virtuous circle, as the accomplishments of pioneers in this area have challenged and encouraged other companies to get involved.
OVERVIEW OF IN-HOUSE PRO BONO
Hundreds of companies have developed and implemented formal pro bono programs. Despite a number of challenges facing in-house lawyers – constraints on time and resources, obtaining malpractice insurance, a perceived mismatch of legal experience and client needs, and ethics restrictions – many still participate in a wide range of pro bono efforts.
According to a recent Benchmarking Report published by Pro Bono Institute, legal departments are providing pro bono assistance to a wide range of communities in need.