March 19, 2009 5:20 AM

Law Firms Scramble to Place Deferred Associates in Volunteer Posts

Posted by Rachel Breitman

As more law firms announce deferral dates for incoming associates, questions are piling up about just how the firms will find and manage the volunteer opportunities they're hoping to send their newbie lawyers off to.

Earlier this week, the Association of Pro Bono Counsel stepped in to help law firms and public interest legal groups figure it all out. The group's leadership counsel members Laren Spirer and Gregory McConnell hosted conference calls on Monday and Tuesday that included roughly 40  public service law group leaders and law firm pro bono coordinators.

"It's messy at first," says McConnell. "There are a lot of issues to work through in terms of employee status, supervision and training, added supports, administrative overhead, and benefits."

Participants on the calls discussed matters ranging from matching lawyers with volunteer jobs to covering training costs.

"We don't know yet how the arrangements will be structured," says Sean Delany, executive director of Lawyers Alliance for New York, which runs a four-month rotating internship with associates from four New York firms. "How is health insurance, disability, and worker's compensation going to be paid?"

Good questions all, and the answers, for now, vary. Law firm are structuring their programs with differing requirements, covered costs, and degrees of involvement in the nonprofit job search. The deferrals themselves are required at some firms, including Morgan, Lewis & Bockius--the firm will bring its 2009 first-years onboard in October 2010. White & Case has announced delayed start dates into 2010 for 60 percent of its 2009 hires. Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe and Latham & Watkins have announced an optional fall 2010 start date.

Orrick and Morgan Lewis are requiring deferred associates to work in public interest jobs to receive a stipend--$75,000 at Orrick and $5,000 per month plus bar fees at Morgan Lewis. In contrast, Latham & Watkins has no volunteer work requirement; lawyers who accept the delayed start option will receive a $75,000 stipend, regardless of what they do. White & Case will pay all deferred associates $45,000, and those who pursue pro bono work will receive an additional $30,000 stipend.

Health insurance costs are also a big concern, as Delany points out. The matter isn't so simple, given that deferred lawyers technically are not yet employees of the firm, so coverage may not easily be extended to these individuals. (Sidley Austin, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett have extended existing nonprofit and fellowship programs that cover health insurance or COBRA benefits payments to incoming first-year associates.)

This all has created some new responsibilities for law firm pro bono coordinators, who are scrambling to find volunteer spots for their postponed first-years, and to field calls from anxious associates-to-be. Both Orrick and Morgan Lewis have pledged to play an active role in finding the right government, community development, public defender, or nonprofit placements.

"We plan to work with the [associates] collaboratively to make sure their placement is in the public interest and provides concrete skill development," says Eric Kraeutler, firmwide hiring partner at Morgan Lewis.

Leaders at several public interest law organizations caution firms to take their time in matching associates and their interests with the right opportunity.

"Firms are running around trying to beat the competition in placing their associates," says David Stern, chief executive of Equal Justice Works and a participant in Monday's conference call. "But it's not going to be a useful service if they just throw lawyers at nonprofit jobs without finding the proper fit."

Navigating the different program requirements has placed an added burden on law school career placement offices.

"To understand each program and respond to each student's questions adds an additional layer of work for us," says Irene Dorzback, assistant dean and director of the Office of Career Services at New York University School of Law. "The payouts are different, and what qualifies as public service is different. In some cases you can find your own host, and in others the firms have a preference for where you'll work." 

Understandably, student concerns don't end there. "A lot of students are worried...that at the end of the road, the firms still will not have a position for them," says David Van Zandt, dean of Northwestern University Law School. And so the career offices find themselves managing these concerns, too.

While nonprofits are cautiously hopeful about the potential of taking on legions of new associates, many say there still are many unanswered questions.

"There are so many issues remaining to be decided," says Esther Lardent, president  of The Pro Bono Institute, which is publishing a guide for law firms on creating subsidized public sector work programs. "Are nonprofits going to be able to screen and interview and select people? At these understaffed nonprofits, who will supervise all the new lawyers?"

Firms and their partners in these efforts clearly have their work cut out for them. We'll be following all this with great interest in the coming months.

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