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Tuition Loan Relief Program Aids Idealistic Young Lawyers By Thomas Adcock NEW YORK - A bright spot in an otherwise grim economic situation at many New York public service law agencies comes by way of President George W. Bush's blessing on a bill providing significant new relief for attorneys fresh off the campus and strapped with mortgage-sized tuition debt. On Aug. 14, Mr. Bush signed into law the 2008 Higher Education Opportunity Act. Under it, attorneys who commit to a three-year minimum of work on civil matters at nonprofit legal organizations can qualify for $6,000 in annual student loan repayments, up to a cap of $40,000. Such lawyers are "among the lowest-paid members of the legal profession, and the financial pressures that stem from student loan debt are often the primary reason they leave," according to a statement released by Helaine M. Barnett, president of the Legal Services Corporation in Washington, D.C. The Legal Aid Society's starting salary of $50,000 is typical for New York City public law lawyers, rising to $53,000 after passing the bar exam. Ms. Barnett said an internal study showed that 77 percent of Legal Services lawyers nationwide had relied on less generous loan repayment assistance that was nonetheless "a pivotal factor" in accepting job offers. Speaking for his own organization as well as others, Douglas Lasdon, executive director of the Urban Justice Center said, "We are a necessary part of good government, so [Congress and the president] need to make sure that the advocacy community is healthy." The new tuition relief measure, Mr. Lasdon added, "simply means that people who couldn't work here now can work here." Adriene Holder, attorney-in-charge of the civil practice division of the Legal Aid Society of New York, called the measure "beautiful" and "a recognition by the federal government of how important it is to have talented, dedicated, passionate people able to afford careers in the public interest." Edwina Frances Martin, director of communications and government relations for Legal Services for New York City, said the new federal program is "something we've wanted to have happen for a very long time." While some law schools offer tuition assistance for graduates employed at agencies such as hers, she noted, most do not. Ms. Martin traveled to Albany on Tuesday in an attempt to persuade state lawmakers to maintain the $4.6 million currently appropriated for statewide Legal Services programs. Appropriations under the new New York City budget, however, have already been cut for civil law matters - $2.2 million in the 2009 budget adopted on June 29, down from $3.7 million for fiscal year 2008. As a result, hiring at Legal Services for New York City, which employs about 200 lawyers, is frozen for the time being, Ms. Martin said. Likewise at the Legal Aid Society, said Ms. Holder, city budget cuts were severe. "We're constantly looking at our [financial books] to make sure any growth in staffing is consistent with revenues," said Ms. Holder. Despite cuts at the city and federal levels, she added, "We've been stable, and I'm happy to say we haven't had to lay off any staff." The Urban Justice Center is an exception to the norm among public law agencies, with eight additional attorneys set to begin work next month, for a 10 percent increase in its legal staffing. The federal government's new program of assistance to indebted young lawyers who might be forced to seek employment in the corporate sector is seen by Ms. Martin and Ms. Holder as a good public investment. "I understand the hard choices the city and state are facing right now in these difficult economic times," said Ms. Martin. "But funding [Legal Services] lawyers really does save money. When we keep people from losing their homes, we save the public money. When we do disability advocacy, we mostly win and people who had been receiving state or city assistance start getting federal benefits instead." Ms. Holder, who noted that her Korean War veteran father received a college education courtesy of the G.I. Bill, said students today are "disproportionately saddled with debt" by comparison to those in previous generations. "It's just incredible when you think of the support my own father received," said Ms. Holder. The 2008 Higher Education Opportunity Act was championed by Senator Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, who began his career as a poverty lawyer. Other Senate sponsors included Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., Michael B. Enzi, R-Wyo., and Barbara A. Mikulski, D-Md. George Miller, R-Calif., was the key proponent in the House. Ms. Holder termed the bipartisan act "a great step forward," one that will make "a big dent" in the debt loads of young lawyers. Proposed
Student Loan Repayment Program By Marcia Coyle The program is contained in the Higher Education Opportunity Act (H.R. 4137), which updates existing programs and creates new ways to make higher education accessible and affordable. H.R. 4137 amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to direct the attorney general to assume the obligation to repay student loans for borrowers who agree to remain employed, for at least three years, as state or local criminal prosecutors; or state, local, or federal public defenders in criminal cases. It allows a borrower and the attorney general to enter into an additional loan repayment agreement, after the required three-year period, for a successive period of service that may be less than three years. It limits the amount paid under the program on behalf of any borrower to $10,000 per calendar year and $60,000 total. Under the program, the attorney general must give priority in granting repayment benefits to borrowers who have the least ability to repay their loans. The measure requires the inspector general of the Department of Justice to report to Congress on the cost of the loan repayment program and its impact on the hiring and retention of prosecutors and public defenders. The comptroller general is directed to study and report to Congress on the impact of law school accreditation requirements and other factors on law school costs and access, including the impact of such requirements on racial and ethnic minorities. The measure authorizes appropriations for the program for FY2008-FY2013.
Did The Terminator Slash Lawyers' Salaries to Zero? Lynelle Jolley said that employees in almost every agency, including those controlled by elected constitutional officers like Attorney General Jerry Brown, are covered by the pay-cut order signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger last week. The order strips the hourly pay of employees covered by the Federal Labor Standards Act to $6.55 an hour. Salaried state employees exempt from the FLSA, including deputy attorneys general, would be paid nothing. Both groups would receive back pay once a budget is signed. And Jolley said that all workers will retain their health care coverage even if their salaries are cut. That
interpretation would seem to contradict the language of the order,
which specifically "requests," but doesn't order, constitutional
officers and non-executive agencies -- and the judicial branch -- to
"assist in the implementation of this order and implement similar
mitigation measures." But Jolley said the governor's request only
refers to three actions: terminating temporary workers, eliminating
overtime and instituting a hiring freeze. Lynne Marek State judicial officials across the United States and attorneys who specialize in suing people behind in their bills are coming together with debtor advocates to change how cash-strapped courts handle a rising tide of debt-collection lawsuits. Massachusetts is drafting new court rules, California implemented a revised court system last year, and talks on revisions are underway in Connecticut, Illinois and Michigan. New or revived creditor bar associations in Florida, Indiana, Iowa and Pennsylvania are also planning to initiate changes. Creditors' attorneys, who represent banks and other lenders, are seeking to streamline processing of the cases because they're frustrated that court rules change from county to county within a state. Also, the rules, tailored to more complex litigation, are too onerous for these simpler cases, they say. Consumer advocates want to make sure that the court systems remain fair for debtors, who often don't have legal representation. Courts hope to fairly and more efficiently process a bigger caseload using shrinking budgets. "We're struggling to accommodate that load," said Judge Daniel Gillespie, who presides in Chicago at Cook County Circuit Court, which estimates that the number of such cases has doubled during the past seven years. "We just have to be more efficient and we just have to do it better." Swollen Caseloads The debt-collection caseload has swollen with consumers' increased use of credit cards and has expanded further in the past 18 months on the rise in home foreclosures, unemployment and household costs. While there aren't any recent state statistics on the lawsuits, attorneys and court officials agree they're seeing the surge. "We are blamed for clogging the courts with cases, yet at the same time we are not receiving the resources that we are paying for," said Robert Markoff, a creditors' attorney in Chicago at Baker, Miller, Markoff & Krasny who argues that the courts are collecting more filing fees, but aren't reinvesting that money in handling the cases. Creditors' attorneys mainly want statewide court standards for dealing with the cases, making clear what is required in the way of attorney appearances, documentation and proof for reaching a default judgment, which is the most common outcome for such lawsuits. Consumer advocates are focused on making sure that debtors are properly notified of lawsuits, have sufficient time to respond and can overturn the judgments later if necessary. The courts are accommodating the drive toward change by assembling the different constituencies involved in the lawsuits and working with them to hash out what alterations to the system will work. The creditors' lawyers say that judges across a state often have different standards for what documents are required for reaching a judgment. For instance, how many account statements detailing a defendant's history of debts and current funds are necessary? While some judges might require the entire history of a given account, others might call only for the most recent statement. Likewise, some judges may insist on seeing the debtor defendant's original application for credit while others don't. "Each judge has his or her idea on what it takes to prove a case and it would be so nice if that was the same in every court," said David Wright, an attorney at Fort Wayne, Ind.-based Wright and Lerch. In Iowa, Charlie Litow of Litow Law Office in Cedar Rapids said there are a handful of judges across the state who require an attorney to drive five hours to court to enter an appearance in a case while others don't require a face-to-face encounter. Likewise, some judges require a plaintiff to fly in witnesses, such as bank representatives, from another state to make the case against a debtor while others don't, he said. In Florida, Indiana, Iowa and Pennsylvania, creditors' attorneys have created or revived state creditor bar associations this year to press for court changes, with encouragement from the National Association of Retail Collection Attorneys. "We cannot and will not attempt to say one size fits all, so we therefore encourage local attorneys to work within their own individual systems," said Markoff, who is president of the national association. In Illinois and Michigan, creditors' attorneys are serving on committees with court officials and consumer advocates to consider the creation of a standard complaint for filing debt collection lawsuits and clearer instructions for banks on which accounts can be garnished to pay outstanding debts and which are exempt. "I want to create an expedited disclosure so that banks are required to show that record within 24 hours," said Michael H.R. Buckles, who, with his wife, leads Beverly Hills, Mich.-based Buckles & Buckles, a collections law firm with 20 of counsel lawyers around the state. California led the way last year in issuing court rule changes that allow special handling of debt collection actions for less than $25,000. The state's judicial council convened judges, creditors' attorneys and consumer advocates to study the system, and it issued new rules last July that standardize procedures to require plaintiffs across the state to serve debtors with lawsuits within 60 days after they are filed. The rules require parties to make the necessary filings to reach a court judgment within six months if there isn't an earlier settlement. The rules also allow for automatic continuances that cut down on the need for attorneys to appear in court. "For 95 percent of the cases, this was a tremendous savings of court time and resources," said Bill Goldsmith, a creditors' attorney at Los Angeles-based Goldsmith & Hull who is president of the California Creditors Bar Association. Later this year, the California court system will bring together a new committee to tackle the issue of standardizing the documentation required to reach default judgments, Goldsmith said. Changes Coming? The momentum toward new court procedures may also force attorneys to make some changes in the way they present their cases. For instance, Michelle Weinberg, an attorney at the Legal Assistance Foundation of Chicago, who represents debtors, said she believes that any new standardized complaint should require proper evidence of debts and not allow incomplete or outdated documentation that some creditors currently use. "We have heard that in many cases collections attorneys have very little to back up their lawsuits," said Thomas Kane, a senior attorney at the Federal Trade Commission, which last year held a conference to revisit the 30-year-old Fair Debt Collections Practices Act (pdf) that governs the area. A consumer defendant has 30 days to dispute the claim after it's filed. Opposition triggers a demand for verification that often is met with scant evidence, Kane said. Creditors' attorneys often get by without providing such proof because, if the defendant doesn't show up, a default judgment is entered, he said. In Massachusetts, court officials in 2006 brought together consumer advocates, legislators and creditor attorneys to review court rules and procedures for the lawsuits. The group in 2007 recommended that creditor plaintiffs be required to verify a debtor's address before a default judgment can be entered in court and to use a standard form to record payment agreements reached with debtors. The group also recommended giving the court the ability to vacate a judgment if it finds improper notice of a lawsuit to a debtor. The administrative office for the Massachusetts district court system is drafting rule and procedure modifications and will pass them to trial courts for review by September. The changes would still be subject to approval by the state Supreme Court. As a result of the recommendations, courts are already distributing a new sheet that lists the types of funds that are exempt from garnishment by creditors. There's a concern that consumers can be confused about their rights in a situation where the creditors' lawyers are much more familiar with the process, said Ellen Shapiro, deputy general counsel for the administrative office. "We just wanted to make sure that it was still a fair process," Shapiro said. In Connecticut, a committee similar to those in California and Massachusetts met for the first time last month in an effort to eliminate redundant and unnecessary steps in the court process, create more consistent statewide standards and seek out ways to use technology to handle a caseload that this year is expected to be 27 percent bigger than three years ago, said Nancy Kierstead, the director of court operations. The state is trying to accomplish the overhaul in the wake of funds being shifted from the state's civil courts to the criminal courts, she said. Adam Olshan, an attorney at East Hartford, Conn.-based Howard Lee Schiff, a creditor's law firm that does business in six New England states, worked on both the Massachusetts and Connecticut committees. He has also helped create other state creditor bar associations, building that number to 20. "The conversation between the state courts and the creditors' bar needs to continue and needs to occur across all 50 states to meet the challenge," he said. Public Defenders Make Drastic Proposals Amid Cuts By Lara Jakes Jordan MIAMI Citing deep budget cuts and a crushing workload, Miami's public defender wants to turn away thousands of poor people accused of crimes such as sexual assault and armed robbery because his attorneys can't properly represent them in court. The drastic step is one of many proposed by public defenders nationwide who are grappling with shrinking resources and a never-ending stream of defendants who can't afford private lawyers. "It is a pervasive national problem. Even in good budget times, it's a huge problem," said Norm Lefstein, an Indiana University law professor who has written extensively about the issue and chaired American Bar Association panels on criminal defense matters. Miami's longtime public defender, Bennett Brummer, said the current situation violates a defendant's constitutional rights and puts his 170 lawyers in a serious ethical dilemma. Courts have long held that defendants have a right to "effective assistance of counsel," which Brummer said has been jeopardized. "Each person has a right to meaningful representation and a meaningful day in court," said Brummer, who is retiring in January after 32 years. "They are not getting that." Brummer's proposal, which must be approved by a judge, is among the most extreme from public defenders, who are facing budget cuts because of the economic downturn. Prosecutors oppose Brummer's plan, contending it could trigger charges being dismissed against thousands of people accused of serious crimes. In Kentucky, public defenders sued seeking the right to decline new cases. Minnesota's public defenders earlier this month stopped representing parents in child custody cases. The public defender in Knoxville, Tenn., wants to stop handling misdemeanor cases. "We found that the number of cases was causing us to make compromises lawyers should not have to make," the Knox County Public Defenders Community Law Office said in a statement. The budget cuts in many states are only the latest blow to a system that has struggled with low pay and bare-bones budgets since the U.S. Supreme Court in 1963 guaranteed legal representation for all criminal defendants regardless of their ability to pay. "The reality is that public defense in the United States is practiced in a way that is contrary to the principles of the legal profession. It's a kind of second-rate legal service," said Lefstein, who has submitted a legal brief supporting Brummer's efforts. In Miami, Brummer runs the state's largest public defender office. He has long fought for more funding and won concessions in the past, such as in 1980 when his office began refusing to handle appeals in death penalty cases. That lasted for 10 years, until more money was guaranteed from state legislators. State Sen. Victor Crist, who chairs the committee that funds the state's court system, said public defenders have not suffered cuts as severe as other agencies. He said Brummer was "trying to create an even bigger problem." "I think he's trying to force the Legislature into court," Crist said. "I think it is absolutely horrible." In 2006-07, the last year complete figures are available, Brummer's lawyers handled more than 40,600 felony cases, not including murder cases that could involve the death penalty. These felonies have risen more than 16 percent over five years and are the cases Brummer wants to stop taking. It works out to about 392 cases for each attorney, according to Brummer. The American Bar Association recommends a defense lawyer handle no more than 150 felonies at a time, while Florida state guidelines bump that up to about 200 because evidence is more broadly available to the defense than in most other states. At the same time, state lawmakers have slashed Brummer's budget by some 8.5 percent over the past two years, with additional cuts likely. And with a starting salary of about $42,000, the public defender's office frequently loses attorneys. The chief judge in Miami-Dade County has scheduled a July 30 hearing to consider Brummer's request. Prosecutors contend Brummer's plan could allow defendants to be released. Under Florida law, a defendant must go to trial within 175 days of arrest unless that right is waived. "They will get off scot-free," said Don Horn, chief assistant Miami-Dade state attorney. "You would have criminals being released back on the street who are victimizing new victims." Copyright 2008 Associated Press
Judiciary - Funding Crisis
Kathleen Williams
photo by A.M. Holt
Federal Courts Cut Hours, Close Offices Budget pinching has prompted federal court clerks' offices across the country to curtail public hours of operation, with at least one Mississippi clerk's office shuttered to save money, according to a survey by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. While Congress mandates annual wage increases to court staff, the pay hikes have not been funded, forcing courts to take money from operations in other areas or reduce staff numbers through layoffs, attrition and retirement. At least 36 district and bankruptcy courts have curtailed office hours in 76 locations nationwide in the last two years, according to the survey. Some have closed branch offices while they figure out ways to cope with fewer staff members, according to Richard Carelli, a spokesman for the administrative office. Most cut back 30 minutes to an hour at the beginning and end of each day. In the Northern District of Texas, court clerk Karen Mitchell said that the staff works from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., but the office is only open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays. "It is inconvenient for a lot of customers," she said. But shorter hours "enables us to get work done without interruption," she said. The district cut nine positions during the last fiscal year but still has to keep up with docketing and providing courtroom staff to judges. STRESS LEVEL 'ENORMOUS' Victoria Minor, chief deputy clerk in New Haven, Conn., said the time involved for quality control for electronic document filing by lawyers is "beyond belief. "We can't trust the lawyers to do it right. We are their safety net," she said. She lost three people through attrition yet still has to support 18 judges on the court. The five magistrates often go without court stenographers, using tape recordings instead. "Nobody in my office has just one job. Courtroom deputies are also doing docketing and managing case files. The luxury of just having a docket clerk -- I don't know what that is like," Minor said. "The stress level in our office is enormous." The Eastern District of Virginia has limited public hours to 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily, cut back from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. before November 2004. "We cut the clerk's staff 10 percent over the course of 2004, and to provide the remaining staff the time [to handle the workload], we felt this was the most sensible way to deal with it," said Edward Adams, spokesman for the court in Alexandria, Va. and former editor of NYLawyer. He pointed out that lawyers are allowed to file after hours at a drop box, but the court does not have any means for lawyers to file electronically at this point.
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Four
months into the 2007 fiscal year, the federal judiciary's budget
remains frozen at the 2006 level of $6.1 billion, prompting dire
predictions that courts could face a 12 percent staff cut nationally
and run out of money to pay defense lawyers and jurors. 
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A Feast
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