Native Pro Bono Lawyers Decry Influx of New, Eager-to-Work Attorneys

As those who follow news headlines and postings on Above the Law already know, the legal industry has been hit hard by the current economic crisis. With the collapse of the financial and housing markets, numerous corporate firms have had to cut back, laying off thousands of staff and attorneys. Also affected have been law students whose offers to these firms have been delayed because there simply isn't enough money to pay the six figure salaries.

Instead of outright firing low and mid-level attorneys, law firms across the country have been offering young lawyers a fraction of their old salary if they agree to work for legal aid or other pro-bono organizations. Many see this as an unexpected, though welcome, development.

"While I couldn't have predicted that it would take an economic crisis to get lawyers to participate in public interest work I am glad that this downturn has at least one silver lining," said Jackie Dura, the Dean of Pro-Bono and Public Interest at Duke School of Law. "This year will be a great opportunity for firm-bound students to see what working at a public interest job is like."

Despite the enthusiasm of Dura and other advocates, a backlash has developed among native public interest lawyers who see this new crop of attorneys as "dangerous interlopers" who, because they will work for almost nothing, are a real threat to "steal countless jobs."

"I don't like these new people one bit," exclaimed Jeremy Sanchez, a 20 year veteran of Boston's Legal Aid office. "How am I and other blue-blooded public interest lawyers supposed to keep our jobs when, because of law firm programs, people are able to work in public service for little to no salary? We need to stop these people from immigrating into our section of the profession."

What irks Sanchez and many like him is that unlike the displaced lawyers, they and their ancestors have toiled away in the public interest sector for generations.

"My father worked in legal aid as did his father before him," continued Sanchez. "I, therefore, am upholding a noble tradition while these big law castaways are simply intruders who know nothing about what it takes to provide legal services to the poor and indigent."

For these nativists, a key concern is ensuring that the public service culture isn't corrupted by the influx of new lawyers with different values.

"One of the reasons that public interest work has thrived over the years is that we have a strong culture dedicated to helping people regardless of their means," remarked Edmund Calmes, president of the Hourmen, a group that advocates for a strong boundary between corporate lawyers, who are used to charging by the hour, and their public interest counterparts who supposedly care more about helping people than billings. "This new crop though, only cares about working until they can go back to their fancy Wall Street homeland with its greedy corporate clients. We don't need nor want that type of lawyer helping us."

While he understands the nativists concerns, American Bar Association President Tommy Wells believes that corporate lawyers working for the public good is a wonderful thing.

"Due to the current economy, death penalty reform groups, civil rights organizations and foreclosure assistance projects are hurting for funding and resources," argued Wells. "I believe that having eager, smart lawyers at their disposal will help these groups overall. We must think beyond the needs of the few and consider the good of the many."

Hourmen president Edmund Calmes couldn't disagree more.

"There used to be a clear border between white shoe corporate law and legal work in the public interest," declared Calmes emphatically. "With these new, perverse incentives, however, almost anyone can cross over from working at a firm into our line of lawyering. What we need are tighter controls that will prevent these Armani suit-wearing yuppies from entering our profession and ruining our sacred, principled way of life.