Pro Bono

California Law Students Are Too Broke For Forced Pro Bono

If you are going to make people work for free, you better be sure they can afford it.

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poor studentCalifornia governor Jerry Brown gets it. He vetoed a bill that would have required new lawyers to perform 50 hours of pro bono work, before they could gain admittance to the state bar.

He didn’t veto the bill because forcing people to work without compensation was made explicitly unconstitutional under the 13th Amendment (though that would have been my reason). He didn’t veto the bill because he hates charity.

He nixed the bill because, “Law students in California are now contending with skyrocketing costs… In this context, I believe it would be unfair to burden students with the requirements set forth in this bill.”

He went on to say that the state should focus on reducing the cost of law school, if it wanted to be able to provide more legal services to under served communities.

Brown is right. In this context of ridiculous law school cost, it is borderline offensive to expect new graduates to work for free before they can be admitted.

If California really wants to imposed some forced labor, take it out on the partners. Take it out on the experienced lawyers. “Anybody who has been admitted for 10 years needs to do 50 hours of pro bono to keep their license.”

If you are going to make people work for free, you better be sure they can afford it.

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Pro bono rule for new California lawyers? Not so fast, Jerry Brown says [Sacramento Bee]

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