Generally speaking, in order to become a lawyer in New York you must get a law degree (3 years), pass the bar exam, pass a professional responsibility exam and pass a character assessment test. Going forward the 10,000 or so prospective lawyers who meet all of these requirements will also be required to perform 50 hours of pro bono legal services before they can become lawyers.
This has caused a stir among some who say that this is among other things “indentured servitude.” Another wrote, “I feel really bad for law students that graduate these days. And having brand new attorneys forced to be the ones to handle most pro bono smells like bad policy considering they have little to no experience and will invariably do a bad job of it.”
I am not sure what all of the fuss is about and I think a mandatory pro bono requirement is a fantastic idea! A few points on this topic.
First, 50 hours is the amount of time you will spend during your first week of employment. We are talking one week of work spread out over your law school career and the year after it. The requirement is certainly not locking you into some long drawn out act of service. It is 50 hours not 50 weeks or years. In many countries, you must article (practical training) for next to no money before becoming a lawyer and this requirement is often 2 years. Come on it is 50 hours helping those who need the help.
Second, the requirement will not impact the majority of students as they already fulfill the requirement in law school. I went to a law school (Harvard) that has a 50 hour pro bono requirement in order to graduate and this policy is not uncommon in law schools. At the end of the year, Harvard published the actual average number of hours per student and it far exceeded the 50 hours. Moreover, the requirement can often be met by clinical work performed or any volunteer work done while in school.
Third, the more practical experience that one gets while in law school the better. In some cases, fulfilling this requirement will be done by meeting with clients, drafting legal documents and perhaps even arguing cases before administrative tribunals. I met my pro bono requirement by working in an immigration asylum & employment law clinic and I was able to do all of the items listed above.
Finally, what is wrong with giving lawyers a taste of what it is like to give back to the community? Also, as lawyer help others for free, isn’t there another benefit where the at times negative view of lawyers can be reversed? This idea of giving back is already emphasized and encouraged in our professional responsibility requirements so why not formalize this a bit for new lawyers. As discussed above, this will not have an impact on most but will give those who would never have considered pro bono work an opportunity to see what helping someone else out without getting paid feels like.
As far as I am concerned, it is just another requirement to become a lawyer the same way that sitting for the MPRE, getting a character assessment or taking certain courses are requirements. Not sure why anyone would be against this. I would be interested to hear your thoughts.
