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GetYourOwnDamnJob 3 - 18 Mar 2009 - Main.JonathanFriedman
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< | | | | OK, everybody is worried about jobs, internships. It does not matter you are 1L, 2L, 3L or associates, or partners. Everybody is at risk. I, for one, don't have a job for the summer. yet. I hope something will come up. But I got a better idea, why not start your own student-run public interest organization (SPIO)? | | | I think this is an interesting idea, but I have to be honest, I'm not sure I understand completely how it would work. We can't actually provide legal aid without a license. Are there any SPIOs out there at other schools (although not necessary, it would be interesting to see how they function)? How would the temporary nature of the organization be handled - many cases and problems take longer than 3 years. I'm not trying to condemn your idea, but would be interested in hearing you explain this idea in greater depth. | |
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> | -- MichaelPanfil - 17 Mar 2009
I have several comments about your post, Xinping.
First, it's important to me to have guidance from seasoned professionals who can help to guide me as I develop as a lawyer. We all have great intentions and high aspirations, but it seems that you are suggesting that we put a band-aid on the wounds that established PI organizations are attempting to mend. As Professor Moglen said in class, why aim to help out 10 or 100 people when we can help thousands.
Next, it is one thing to propose that there is an population in need of help that has not been identified, but suggesting that public interest organizations on the whole are failing to give help where it is needed most is insulting to the numerous lawyers who have dedicated their careers to solving social problems and helping people with legal issues. Many, if not most of these lawyers focus not only on how to solve problems but on how to solve them most efficiently and in a lasting way.
On the other hand, it may be your proposition that having an excess in the labor supply of the public interest sector should be impossible as long as there are still problems to be solved and people to be assisted. I suspect that the limited ability of PI firms to hire is based not only on funding for salaries, but also on the ability to supervise employees and keep their work tightly focused on effective advocacy. | | | | |
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> | For this reason, it is some ways concerning that the private firms that are suffering in these uncertain economic times are diverting labor to public interest organizations for what might only be a very short amount of time. Many of the firms are offering some portion of a 1st year attorney's annual salary to graduating 3Ls in return for them finding positions with public interest organizations for one year. This is obviously good in many ways. It gives these students a way to continue to develop their skills and contribute to society. It should not matter that they originally intended to go to the private sector. But at the same time, it is unsettling to think that some people who have had their hearts set on working in PI are being turned away because limited spots have been filled by people who won't be around for long. The real concern is that by filling spots with the temporary labor diverted from the private firms, public interest practices will not be self sustaining, as lawyers return to the firms. Nevertheless, another possibility is that a whole new generation of public interest attorneys will be generated by people who realize that they have found jobs in which they are fulfilled as professionals. | | | | |
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> | In any case, we are seeing a shift in the way labor is distributed across legal jobs, and in sparking a conversation on innovation in developing new frontiers of employment, I think you have helped us take a step in the right direction | | | | |
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> | -- JonathanFriedman - 18 Mar 2009 |
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