As law school graduates face poor employment prospects, many would-be legal clients struggle to afford a lawyer. To alleviate both problems at once, some law schools are trying to bring these two groups together by creating nonprofit law firms.
Through these nonprofit firms, law school students gain work experience during their final year of school or right after graduation. Students and recent graduates work for a modest starting salary as they gain proficiency working with real clients.
John J. Farmer, Dean of the Rutgers School of Law, laid out the benefits of these apprenticeship programs in a recent New York Times op-ed. Namely, that they have the potential to create a vibrant job market for law school grads while making legal representation more affordable for the public.
Farmer suggested the legal system should mimic the system already in place for doctors—basically, a residency program for law school graduates. In his op-ed, he explains, “Graduates would practice for two years or so, under experienced supervision, at reduced hourly rates; repaying their debts could be suspended, as it is for medical residents.” Farmer announced that his own law school at Rutgers is just about to start such a nonprofit program for recent graduates, who will represent lower-middle-class clients.
Several other law schools have also started nonprofit legal firms. The University of California Hastings College of Law, for instance, launched its Lawyers for America program last month. The program takes third-year law students to work for one year at the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s or Public Defender’s office. Students will then take the bar exam and return to work in the program for another year after they pass. The program is not limited to students at the University of California; it is open to law schools throughout the United States.
Arizona State University’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law has launched a similar program. Its “resident lawyers,” all recent graduates, practice law for two years in the program, rotating into different legal areas. They provide legal services for low rates while learning how to operate a law firm and how to practice law in a variety of areas. Any profits from the firm go to a legal scholarship fund.
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