Deferred Associates ‘Hit the Ground Running’

A front page article in the October 27th New York Law Journal brings attention to the innovative programs matching deferred first-year associates to public interest agencies developed after many
large law firms found themselves overstaffed earlier this year. Two of Legal Services NYC's deferred pro bono fellows, Yanfei Shen and Shekar Krishnan (of our South Brooklyn Legal Services and Brooklyn Legal Services Corporation A programs, respectively), shared their experiences with NYLJ reporter Nate Raymond.

From the article:

Yanfei Shen, 26, was slated to start in Brown Rudnick's real estate
office in Boston. Instead, she is handling largely domestic violence
cases through South Brooklyn Legal Services.

"The research skills, public speaking skills, dealing with
clients—these are all transferable skills," Ms. Shen said. "And
actually, when my firm deferred me, they said they might change my
practice area. So if for example I ended up in litigation, they'd be
very useful skills."

[…]

Shekar Krishnan, a University of Michigan Law School graduate now
deferred from Weil, Gotshal & Manges, is working largely on
tenant-landlord disputes for Brooklyn Legal Services Corporation A in
Williamsburg. Mr. Krishnan, 24, said Brooklyn Legal was providing
exactly the experience he wanted.

"There are just so many opportunity to get involved with clients,"
Mr. Krishnan said. "Those skills working with clients, negotiating on
their behalf, will carry over into the law firm world. The clients may
be different, but the advocacy methods are similar."

Legal Services NYC Executive Director Andrew Scherer also weighed in on the value of the deferred associate placement programs.

The idea of matching new lawyers to public interest agencies
developed after many large law firms found themselves overstaffed
earlier this year and put off the start date for first-year associates,
in some cases for one year. The firms typically offered stipends to new
lawyers, in some cases under the condition they work at public interest
agencies.

At the same time, those agencies are seeing a drop in funding. The
Interest on Lawyer Account Fund (IOLA), which provides monies to public
interest groups through interest on attorney escrow accounts, said it
has much less to distribute this year. Christopher O'Malley, IOLA's
executive director, said the fund expects to distribute roughly $14
million in 2010 to eligible public interest groups, down from $23.9
million this year. Donations are also down from law firms that are
trimming expenses.

"We're not able to hire or replace people the way we have been able
to at other times in our history," said Andrew Scherer, executive
director of Legal Services, which has taken on deferred lawyers.

During the economic downturn, "when the demand for our services is
increasing and the economy is creating more legal problems for
low-income people, we need the help that much more," Mr. Scherer added.

Read the article in its entirety at NYLJ.com. 

Legal Services NYC currently has eight deferred associates working in five different program offices. Read more about the 2009-2010 LS-NYC Pro Bono Fellowship program by clicking here.