Public Interest, Small Law Firms

Were We Wrong About This Law Firm? Probably, Yeah.

Lawyering is like crafting a fine wine: the passage of time can give birth to a complex masterpiece... or turn it into vinegar.

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As some of you know, I attended the Utah State Bar Association’s Fall Forum a couple weeks back and regaled the crowd with advice on avoiding the pages of ATL. Or at least staying out of ATL for being this guy. Beyond that, Utah’s strict decency codes prevent me from discussing the speech further, but suffice it to say the whole affair ended with a drunk lawyer in a trash can, so a good time was had by all.

At the annual Utah Minority Bar Association gala, also held that week, the organization bestowed its Law Firm of the Year award upon Open Legal Services, a firm founded a mere two years ago committed to providing affordable legal services to underserved clients in Utah through a “Low Bono” model charging clients on a sliding scale based on household income. Formed by a pair of young attorneys and a dream, the firm just hired its seventh associate and is tackling an ever-increasing amount of the legal work for the majority — 51 percent — of Utah too rich to qualify for pro bono services and too poor to hire traditional private practitioners.

That’s when it struck me that Open Legal Services had already made its way into the pages of ATL like all those people I was lecturing about. A little over a year ago, in fact, columnist Keith Lee took issue with Open Legal Services because its founders came into their practice only a year out of law school — experience that Lee found wanting:

Perhaps the second largest problem facing new lawyers, outside of unemployment, is a lack of practical education on how to actually be a lawyer. While there are all sorts of suggestions on how to address this lack of real-world education, none of them are particularly good. And while something like OLS might be able to address this deficit, OLS does not. On the OLS website there is a lot of talk about “revolution,” but not much about the background or experience of the attorneys who make up OLS. A brief search on the Utah State Bar’s website shows that Argyle and Spencer were both admitted in October of 2013. They have been practicing for less than a year. Perhaps they focused on public service in law school. Maybe they summered at a public defenders’ office. But as it stands now, there is no way to tell. And even if they had, such experiences are no substitute for actually learning the practice of law under the guidance of an experienced lawyer.

Certainly a valid concern, but was it really a disqualifying one? As one commenter noted at the time:

Totally unfair and uncalled for to presume that people doing this firm are somehow not competent. It’s quite an accusation, and quite baseless.

As others have noted, there are tons of attorneys out there who boast about how many “years of experience” they have and are sloppy, unreliable, and clueless. There are plenty of new attorneys that are sharp, dedicated and willing to put in long hours to get things right.

Additionally, many of us new attorneys who are out there doing our own thing have developed networks of top-notch, experienced attorneys who are generally ready to give advice and guidance.

I’ll say what an experienced lawyer (practicing since ’88) told me: “If you passed the bar, you’re competent”.

Lawyering is like crafting a fine wine: the passage of time can give birth to a complex masterpiece… or turn it into vinegar. The point is, don’t let yourself become overly reliant on age as a mark of quality because while experience can breed greatness, it can also gloss over lazy inadequacies when older lawyers confuse “the way it’s worked for me” with “the right way.” Just keep everything in perspective.

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Obviously no one should slot a newly minted lawyer into a serial murder defense, but neither should anyone count out their ability to perform myriad legal tasks for clients in need at a top-notch level. If anything, most lawyers are more prepared to function as general practitioners addressing the day-to-day problems facing low- and middle-class Americans in the immediate aftermath of the bar exam than at any later point in our careers. I certainly couldn’t tell a prospective client much about their landlord-tenant dispute today, which definitely wasn’t true after I’d spent a summer shoving every ounce of New York law into my head. As another commenter pointed out:

These guys aren’t doing complex civil litigation with thousands of documents and dozens of witnesses. They are doing stuff like landlord/tenant, employment, divorce, and misdemeanor criminal defense, If you don’t think you’re competent to do that (or at least learn as you go) as a new lawyer, you should call your law school and ask for a refund.

And arrogance is one thing, but undeserved arrogance is truly a sight to behold.

And, really, what is experience? Working as a drone in a Biglaw firm provides experience in the nuances of complex litigation and corporate transactions that no other opportunity can duplicate. Meanwhile, 30 years as a public defender provides a base of experience no Biglaw partner can fathom. But only a moron would hire either to do the other’s job.

But whatever qualms you may harbor about the proper “experience” a lawyer should have, the proof for Open Legal Services is in the proverbial pudding. The firm is providing quality services, winning awards, covering its expenses, and expanding. Co-founder Shantelle Argyle described the past two years thusly:

When Dan Spencer and I started OLS, we thought we could bring low bono services to our community and give a few young lawyers a job. We didn’t expect that so many in our community and nationwide would want to replicate our model and be part of the low bono revolution.

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And replication is in the offing. When asked for comment, Sean Toomey, spokesperson for the Utah State Bar Association said:

Open Legal Services is an important part of the Utah State Bar’s Affordable Attorneys for All initiative, and we are encouraging others to emulate its nonprofit model. They provide an important gap for those who don’t qualify for pro bono services but cannot afford to hire a traditional private law firm. The market is significant; 50% of Utah families qualify for reduced legal fees with OLS. We are encouraging more nonprofit firms to offer such services throughout Utah and for individual attorneys to take a similar approach with a client or two each year.

It’s sometimes hard to recognize change when it’s happening right in front of you. But with the benefit of time, it certainly looks like Open Legal Services hit on something with a model that can bring practitioners young and old to bear solving the legal problems no one else was willing or able to address.

Earlier: Making Legal Services Affordable — But At What Cost?
Gunner FAIL: Firm Rescinds Offer After Offeree Asks Too Many Questions

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