Lawyers

Insanity: New York’s Pro Bono Bar Admission Requirement

May 4, 2012

If you are a member of the legal or law school community then I’m sure you’ve heard about the new pro bono work requirement being added to the New York bar exam. If you are ~~normal~~ not you are probably rolling your eyes and clicking the little “x” button in the top corner of this page and wondering what on earth all the lawyers are getting worked up about again.

In short the state of New York is adding another requirement to becoming admitted to the bar, but this time it isn’t another section of the test or another background check form to fill out. Beginning in 2013 applicants to the bar (also referred to as Poor 3L Suckers in some crowds) will be required to donate 50 hours of pro bono service in order to become admitted the bar.

On its face this seems like a great idea. Lets help students learn, lets get services to those in need, lets help people who can’t afford counsel. Win-win-win.

Except I think this is a horrible idea. A truly horrible, bad idea. Worse than clear Pepsi and those jars of peanut butter and jelly swirled together.

To start with I find it amusing that New York is creating this requirement. New York which has, bar none, (ha!! lawyer jokes!) one of the top two hardest bar exams in the country. So lets take a state that is already viewed with fear and trepidation and make it that much harder to get a license to practice in. Lets make that license contingent upon 50 hours of work (which is no drop in the bucket) and thus becomes a nightmare for anyone who decides midway through their third year of law school that they want or need to take the New York bar exam but didn’t go to law school in New York. Those applicants, to put it mildly, are screwed, am I right? I don’t think you can put in 50 pro bono hours the summer you are studying for the exam so you are now punishing anyone who didn’t “plan ahead” even though the decision of where to take the bar exam is dependant upon their spouse, their kids or any other number of things out of their hands.

You are also creating a huge hurdle for attorneys who are already practicing in one state and are looking to become admitted in New York (I haven’t read that they’d be waived of the requirement which is why I’m bringing it up) by saying “Hey, while you hold down a job somewhere else, and you study for another bar exam, please be sure to find 50 hours of your time to donate.”

In summary my first argument is that logistically this is a nightmare.

My second argument rests on an assumption no one is going to like, but I’m putting it out there anyway. Do you know how many rules are in place to prohibit cheating on bar exams? Those rules exist because in the past, people have tried to cheat. No need for lawyer jokes here, and no need to assume it is just lawyers- people cheat on spelling tests in first grade, on medical boards and CPA exams, and, no surprise at all, on the bar exam. So lets add an element to becoming admitted to the bar that brings innocent (or maybe not, hah, a little criminal law joke, oh God, where did my sense of humor die?) third parties into the mix: the indigent clients that are the touted basis for this requirement. Sure, some enterprising young adults might just entirely fudge the affidavit they are required to sign (excellent basis for an ethical legal career by the by) but others might begin helping someone and then, through whatever faults of their own, not follow through and lie about the rest of the hours. So now you have an unethical new lawyer and an indigent client who just got hosed by shoddy volunteer work. Special. Because people try to cheat or game the system this turns clinics and other places where you can volunteer into full time babysitters. No longer are they focused on training their small group of dedicated students, now they have to implement policies to make sure no one is fudging their hours and deal with the huge rush of people since everyone needs to volunteer now. I think this is overwhelming and unfair to all of the volunteer legal organizations out there.

Last but not least you are taking law students and requiring them to volunteer their time to people who can’t afford counsel. Some might call this the blind leading the blind. Others might call this absurd. Frankly I find it a little insulting to the client, a little “hey you can’t afford a lawyer at all and we want to teach these young whippersnappers something so we are letting them practice on you!” Not only that but the majority of these kids, who are practicing on the marginalized sector of society that probably needs the most protection, don’t want to be there.

Yes, the law students will be monitored and supervised.

Yes, there are clinics and programs across the country that have law students volunteering their time to people in need.

Yes, pro bono work is a cornerstone of “doing the right” and it is admirable to instill this trait in lawyers as young as you can.

But. Such a huge but.

You are forcing people to volunteer. These clinics are no longer filled with students who are truly yearning for the chance to help someone out, you are filling them up with everyone and my limited knowledge of statistical sampling says that not everyone is going to be driven by the desire to help. They are driven by the Fear Of God also known as The Fear Of The Bar Exam and Being A Real Lawyer and they are not who I want to see handing out legal advice. They are young, scared, and don’t know what they are doing. They are hoping for a long fulfilling career of being a law librarian or doing corporate transactional work, all they want to do is get admitted to the bar, but here they are (in a now max capacity program since everyone is looking to volunteer) giving advice to someone who can’t afford a “real” lawyer.

It is insulting to everyone I think. The law student, their client, the program.

If the state of New York really cared about providing legal services to those that can’t afford them they would require that lawyers – who have already passed the bar and been admitted and know what they are doing- provide legal services. Lawyers have to renew their licenses, they have to attend continuing legal education, so why not add a pro bono work requirement? Maybe let them swap out 10 hours of continuing legal education for 10 hours of pro bono work. Then you have “real” lawyers dedicating their time to people who need it and you don’t have already freaked out of their gourd law students trying to help someone when they have no clue what they are doing themselves.

I know I’m not the only one with these opinions but I hope that other states take a good long look at New York’s latest requirements and realize what a truly horrible idea it is.

Lawyers have enough jokes flying around about them. Lets not hurt our image even more and put an at-risk group further at risk. To me that is just common sense.

Reading for Pleasure

April 10, 2012

By Daisy

The one thing that no one tells you about law school (it would seem they are too busy telling you how horrible it is and not to go and best of luck with the Socratic method!) is that no matter how much you enjoyed reading before (and most law school types do enjoy a good book or five) you won’t like reading for some time after school. A horrible combination of little spare time and volumes of dense, thick reading for school leave you unable or unwilling to pick up anything light and airy over your summer vacation or winter break. I thought this would get better as soon as I graduated….and then as soon as I took the bar exam…and then once I got a job….but my reading level is nowhere near where it used to be.

Where I used to read books back to back to back I now read more slowly. A book a month at best (I can read an average novel in 2-3 days) (have I mentioned I’m a really, really fast reader?) and sometimes less. I’d pick up the “big” ones- The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, the Twilight series (had to see what the fuss was about), Unbroken, South of Broad, The Final Storm- but rarely would I pick anything up right after. It seems that the spark was gone – reading just wasn’t nearly as much fun anymore. Even book club books that I was enjoying required dedication to finish. I’d solicit reading suggestions on here and I enjoyed things I read, but I never felt like the old spark was there, I’d read one book slowly and then a long break before the next.

And then, all of a sudden, just as quickly as I stopped voraciously reading for pleasure, it has come back. First the new Patricia Cornwell novel Red Mist (one of my favorite authors) was fantastic and back to her old stuff, then I moved onto the Hunger Games trilogy which I burned through in 2 days and after that I realized I’d still like to read something else. I felt like the Very Hungry Caterpillar of reading. The new Stephen King book (not a horror novel) 11/22/63 was fantastic, all 1700+ pages of it. Then I read Divergent, another young adult novel. Then I downloaded Sarah’s Key, which I’m very much enjoying (a novel about the Holocaust) but I definitely thought it was a young adult novel….and it definitely is not. You should have SEEN my face when I was reading a particularly gritty passage and thinking it was still written for young adults. Next up I plan on reading the final two books in the Girl With the Dragon Tattoo series and then moving onto Game of Thrones series. We have all the Tom Clancy novels on our Kindles and I’m ready to dig in.

And just like that I’m back in the game.

(And as always, taking suggestions – young adult, historical fiction or otherwise)

(Do not suggest 50 Shades of Grey)

(Seriously. Don’t. I’m not reading it.)

(Side note: why is spell check no longer working in WordPress? What kind of foolishness is this?)

Calling My Bluff

March 27, 2012

By Daisy

The Universe apparently read yesterday’s blog post about “exhaustion” from “travel” and said, oh no Daisy, we can do you one better. Never mind your desire to sleep for three days, instead, lets set things in motion for a last minute business trip!

And that is why I was buying a plane ticket yesterday to get on a plane today. WHOOO. EAST COAST HERE I COME. See also: expeeeensive.

Truth be told this is actually a great trip, I was just not mentally prepared for it, and as my office is very casual I realized yesterday at 3:30 that all of my business trip appropriate clothing was decidedly…wintry. Wool suits, thicker blouses, wool dresses, dark colors. Mental preparedness is one thing, but not having anything to pack is another. None of this would do so I ended up buying some new blouses and trousers before heading home yesterday afternoon to finish all the laundry from before my last trip so I could pack important things like pajamas and clean underwear. The dog was very confused by the suitcase coming back out and tried to take a nap inside of it, as thought this would prevent me from leaving. Finally, at the end of the night, and catching up on other work that needs to be done before I go, I fell into bed, exhausted but ready.

Now if only I could figure out a way to stop time and sleep for 24 hours straight before leaving.

Five Years From Now

March 15, 2012

By Daisy

If you had asked me ins 2005 where I was going to be in 5 years, the answer was easy.

Living in a big city, working as a lawyer at a Vault 100 law firm and making myself feel better for the crazy hours by buying suits and handbags exclusively from Neiman Marcus. You know, the good stuff. My hair would be as blonde as could be, shiny and bouncy and while I wouldn’t have much time off, when I did I’d spend it at the Ritz Carlton in exotic locations. Yes ma’am, that was where I was headed. I was going to be amazing.

If you had asked me in 2007, the year before I graduated from law school where I was going to be in 5 years, the answer was easy.

Scoffing at those who went into Big Law (the hours! the document review! the lack of ‘real’ lawyering!) I was going to be a litigator in Chicago. Championing for those who were injured at the hands of other negligence, at a firm where the artwork was from museums and my cube was actually made of mahogany. I had my eye on an office that had been quietly cleaned out in anticipation of new associates (or so I thought) and I was going to be climbing the ladder in a male dominated field. My office was fancy, my coworkers were smart and our cases were downright sexy. I’d own a condo, I’d take a great vacation ever year and I’d learn the language of million dollar jury verdicts. I was going to to be amazing.

If you’d asked me in 2008, right after law school graduation where I was going to be in 5 years, the answer was easy.

Sure, a few things had changed and I wasn’t working where I thought I was but I’d bounced back and found a different litigation job, at a different firm, on the other side of the aisle. Defending those wrongfully accused I was going to become the queen of billable hours and depositions. There was a lot to learn but I was excited and I envisioned a future of late nights under a reading lamp, preparing for my cross examination, my closing statement, my oral arguments. I’d still get that condo and my closet was full of suits. I was going to be amazing.

Now, in 2012, I shake my head at those previous predictions. My naitvitiy, my eager willingness to jump blindly into a world I know little about. My thought that fancy handbags could make the pain of living your life in an office with your documents a little bit better. The thought that I’d have a condo and pay my student loans off in less than 10 years.

Today I couldn’t work further from the world of litigation. I work from home three days a week where I wear yoga pants and when I’m feeling fancy, a cardigan instead of a t-shirt. I don’t own a condo. There are no Starbucks baristas that know me and my order by heart, I make my own coffee before settling in at my dining room table to get to work. My office is in the suburbs, it isn’t fancy (unless 1970′s is your thing, in that case, I’m the fanciest person you know) and I wear a suit three or four times a year.

Some might say “my how the mighty have fallen” but I don’t see it that way. Yes, my life isn’t what I imagined, but at the same time who could imagine this? A job doing something I really enjoy that I’d never even considered, in a field that I’m passionate about, analyzing areas of the law that make me excited to get to work. Working from home three days a week means I spend less time commuting and more time living, with my husband and my dog and my family. Blogging, the little hobby that could, has introduced me to great people around the country and world and it is something I actively carve time out for. My friends, many of whom are in the same boat, are happy and healthy and getting married and having babies and sometimes I could just burst from it all.

There is something to be said for planning it out. I’m a planner, and I always have been, type-a to the core. But somewhere I learned to accept that the plan doesn’t always mirror reality and I can either sit on the sidelines and cry about it or I can keep pushing forward and figuring out what the new plan is. The new plan, as it turns out, is pretty fantastic. It isn’t a road I’d picked out, it isn’t a road I knew much about, but as it turns out, the views are breathtaking.

Even if life is so different from what I imagined, I’m not even blonde any more.