BigLaw Dreams Deferred, Hope Realized

Would-be BigLaw associates who have been diverted to public service work are finding real meaning in helping the less fortunate. What at the outset seemed like a roadblock to a lucrative legal career became an education in the everyday legal struggles of the poor for one recent graduate, Chris Reid. Like many soon-to-be first-year associates in New York City, Reid faced an unexpected decision upon graduation. Due to the Great Recession, the private law firm that extended him an offer to work in their patent litigation group after graduation did not have enough work to justify new hires. In order to retain new talent like Reid, the firm offered law school grads the option to defer employment for a full year – sometimes longer – and then begin their careers as second-year associates. While some deferred hires at firms like Cravath were allowed to kick back for 12 months and collect half of their promised salary for doing nothing (see ATL story here), others firms (like Reid's) agreed to pay would-be associates a portion of their first-year salary if they found employment in the public interest sector (see here).  

A video produced by The New York Times, documents Reids eye-opening experience as an extern at the Legal Aid Society, assisting New York’s poor in landlord-tenant disputes. Helping the indigent navigate the complexities of the legal system is a far cry from Reid’s intended path of patent litigation, and his attorney-supervisor, Lauren Donnelley, acknowledges the gap between deferred lawyers’ original professional expectations and the reality of nonprofit work: “It’s a real different experience then probably what they thought they were getting. They think they are going to be working for this big, sort of white-shoe law firm and they are a little bit more down and dirty, nitty-gritty than they had anticipated.”

While the influx of deferred private sector lawyers into the nonprofit world means that many graduates who have forgone the lure of high-paying jobs in favor of public interest work won’t immediately get the jobs they are seeking, it has proven to be a boon for public sector organizations who, like their private counterparts, cannot afford to hire newly-minted lawyers. Additionally, it has given new lawyers a great deal of hands-on trial experience and opened them up to professional avenues that they had never before considered. While Reid still intends to pursue patent law once his tenure at the Legal Aid Society is completed, he says he will continue to do housing cases pro bono. Reid acknowledges the influence that the human factor of nonprofit work has had on him, saying, “In interviewing the clients to get the legal facts of the case, it’s impossible not to hear their human story. By the time you know enough to help argue the case or help them legally, you’ve become emotionally invested in the outcome.”

You can watch the entire NY Times video here.

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