The OPIA Blog

The New York Times jumped into the fray of documenting the decline of the modern day law firm. In this article, the Times provides a close analysis of the prestigious firm, White & Case, based out of New York and with offices across the globe. The firm recently announced they laid off 200 attorneys of its over 2100 lawyers, a drastic step the firm was forced to take based off the economic downturn.

A recent Boston Globe article highlights a battle over deportation and the rights of immigrants. The article highlights the case of Sunday Agbata, a Nigerian born immigrant who came to the United States as a stowaway on ship from West Africa. Agbata was ordered deported in July 2008 to Nigeria but has been sitting in jail without any explanation since he was caught. No explanation as to why he has not yet been deported has been given.

The San Francisco Chronicle reported the unfortunate and devastating passing of Luke Cole, an 1989 graduate of HLS whose commitment to environmental justice and dedication to public interest work defined his career and life.

Time magazine recently added to the discussion over the sweeping deferred associates situation. Now that many graduates are left in limbo and unsure if they are starting at their firm now, a year from now or perhaps never, more non-profit organizations, academic institutions and other entities are reacting to the situation

President Obama recently started to undertake the arduous task of nominating attorneys to the U.S. Attorney positions. Mr. Obama has moved forward with 6 nominations. He has 93 to go.

At Stanford Law School on April 4th, students, legal practitioners and academics participated on a panel to address the decline in law firm pro bono work. It's been well documented that law firms are feeling the impact of the economic recession, particularly those recent law school graduates who have been deferred from their firm. What is not as well documented is the impact on pro bono activity.

A recent New York Times article documents the story of Nigerian writer Ken Saro-Wiwa, an environmental and human rights activist who was executed in the '90s on what many consider drummed up murder charges.

In a recent Boston Globe article, Juan Valdivieso, expected to graduate in 2009, discusses and highlights a growing number of soon-to-be graduates experiencing the effects of an economic recession. Juan was going to leave law school with an offer from the D.C. based firm Morgan, Lewis & Bockius. Recently, he received an email from the firm telling him that his employment had been deferred until 2010.

On the Cal Law blog Legal Pad, David Coleman, a Public Defender in California believes it unjust and counter-productive to place deferred associates in public defenders offices.

Reporters from American Lawyer Daily stopped by NYU School of Law during a hastily put together job fair for deferred associates. The results were mixed and there appeared to be a great deal of confusion among students and potential employers.

Some relief will be coming to New York State public defenders. Hidden deep in the State's budget is a provision to cap the amount of cases public defenders will see in any given year. The resolution is aimed at addressing the longstanding gripe public defenders have had with the legal system, particularly in New York. Recent reports suggest a public defender can see as many as 592 cases a year or 103 at the same time. Lawyers have argued that this directly impacts their ability to represent their client to the best of their ability.

This article in the New York discusses how Skadden Arps has taken a bold step in this troubling economy: offering $80,000 to all of its associates worldwide and a year off. One of the associates, Heather Eisenlord is planning on taking the year off to teach English in Sri Lanka or bring solar power to the Himalayas.

Joe Davidson, Columnist for the Washington Post, wrote a column on how the federal government is squandering opportunities in developing its workforce. "Uncle Sam" he comments, is constantly behind the times with cultivating, developing and ultimately hiring interns that come through the various federal government offices.

Eric Holder's recent appointments to the Department of Justice suggest he will work to bring on a new level of ethics compliance unforeseen in the last ten years. The Bush administration was accused of appointing political appointees to the DOJ; attorneys that are looking to defend the mantra of the administration rather than the rule of law or hold any ethical standards.

Newly unemployed lawyers, Obama campaign workers, policy directors, or people simply interested in working for the government now that Barack Obama is in office are working overtime to find a job with the current administration and its various cabinets.

Questions are rising about who exactly will cover the hidden costs of those new graduates who have been deferred from their law firms for a year. While many law firms have agreed to subsidize their these new lawyers upwards to $75,000, and the non-profit and public interest organizations are in many instances happy to take on the new staff, there is the issue of cost that still needs to be answered.

In an op-ed in the New York Times, Adam Cohen believes that with the recent economic problems facing the legal profession (deferred starts to newly associates, firm closings and the rising costs of law student debt), it may be time to re-configure the profession for the 21st century. Mr. Cohen believes that the on-going economic problems could force the profession to look at a lot of different professional issues they have not looked at in quite a while, namely salaries and they way clients are billed.

The Inspector General in the Department of the Interior has a tough job ahead of him. Earl A. Devaney, Obama's newly appointed IG for the Department of the Interior, is charged with catching any slip-ups, negligence and wrong-doing with the federal stimulus money. A particularly tough task given what has recently happened at AIG. The trickier part is that he has to try to do this before any of it happens.

What is being done to address the issue of immigration (both legal and illegal) in New York City? This New York Times article highlights…

The recession has presented many financial gray areas for law firms across the country and, by extension, 3Ls who were expecting to start at a…

Graduating seniors generally face great career uncertainty when they finish college. Now with the economic recession, more questions are arising as to what opportunities exist…