Our inaugural Law Firm Swag Contest was about quality rather than quantity. We had just four entries, but they were goodies.

Eschewing trinkets and baubles, K&L Gates took the high road, urging recruits to change their world through an innovative website. Perkins Coie went green, arranging for trees to be planted in honor of interviewees. And who doesn’t like a customized iPod, the swag doled out by Dobrowski LLP, the Texas litigation boutique?

But in the end, dear readers, you voted with your feet. Following in the footsteps of the “Sex and the City” gals, or maybe Imelda Marcos, you made it all about the shoes. The customized Nike footwear doled out by Mayer Brown scored a runaway victory, with over 55 percent of the 2,100 votes.

Props to the person in the Mayer recruiting office who came up with the brilliant idea for this Niketown summer associate event. If you’re looking for new running shoes — or, for that matter, the opportunity to do appellate litigation in New York — then sprint in the direction of Mayer Brown!

Earlier: Law Firm Swag Contest: The Finalists
ATL Contest: Best Law Firm Swag of 2009

Perhaps it’s a sign of the times. We received a whopping four (4) entries in our inaugural law firm swag contest. Is law firm swag, like subsidized soda or staff attorney programs, another casualty of the recession?

But if we cancel the contest, then the terrorists win. So, onward!

We realize, of course, that not everyone approves of swag. See, e.g., this comment:

This is fairly disgusting…. I find this article particularly untimely, given that most law students are struggling to find good jobs, and many practicing attorneys are struggling just to keep the jobs they have.

Jeez, commenter 58 — lighten up! Considering that we cover law firm layoffs in excruciating detail, to the point where many accuse us of doomsaying and fearmongering, we are aware of the tough job market. But, even in the Great Recession, some people are still getting offers — along with a little swag to sweeten the pot. So what’s wrong with some fun to balance out the gloom?

In defense of law firm schwag, here’s a trend worth noting: “going green.” Firms are trying to be environmentally conscious in their swag selections, as well as more socially responsible in general. This may make schwag less “disgusting” to its critics.

A second theme of swag this year: customization. In this age of individualism and/or narcissism, firms are letting swag recipients have a say in what gets given away. Just as firms are moving away from lockstep in terms of pay and promotion, so too are they allowing for greater tailoring in terms of swag.

Check out the finalists, and vote for the best law firm swag, after the jump.

Does your alma mater contribute to the social good? Or is it just another soul-sucking institution, hell-bent on training young people to do evil things like “make money” or become lawyers?

Well, Washington Monthly has released its annual rankings of colleges and universities. But the magazine ranks the schools by their “contributions to society.” Here is the magazine’s methodology, from Tax Prof Blog:

Community Service (33.3%)

* % of Alumni in Peace Corps
* % of Students in Army/Navy ROTC
* % of Work-Study Grants Spent on Community Service Projects

Research (33.3%)

* Research Expenditures
* % of Students Earning Ph.Ds
* Number of Science & Engineering Ph.Ds Awarded
* % of Faculty Receiving Prestigious Awards
* % of Faculty in National Academies

Social Mobility (33.3%)

* % of Students Receiving Pell Grants
* Actual Graduation Rate v. Predicted Graduation Rate

Oh dear. Where to begin? First off, the community service metric is FUBAR. The army counts; but students who become, say, firefighters, are left out? Meanwhile, surely not all research expenditures contribute to society. And if all research does, then schools should get credit for graduates who go on to work for Merck.

It would physically hurt my brain to break down the myriad problems with their “social mobility” metric.

But … whatever, their bleeding hearts are in the right place. Check out the top ten and the bottom ten universities, after the jump.

Some class action settlements are highly questionable. Think of a case where, say, the victimized consumers get a stupid coupon, so they can purchase even more goods or services from the company that victimized them — while the lawyers representing the plaintiffs walk away with a big payday.

One man is out to change all that. Ted Frank — lawyer and blogger extraordinaire, from Overlawyered and Point of Law (and also Above the Law) — has left his perch as a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI). He’s starting a new public interest law firm that specializes in pro bono representation of consumers unhappy with class action settlements. Ted is already handling two class actions in California.

We caught up with Ted to discuss his new gig. Read more, after the jump.

We like to highlight examples of Biglaw associates who get to do especially interesting or high-profile work. E.g., Lindsay Harrison, the Jenner & Block associate who argued a case — and won — before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Most lawyers tuned in to Congress yesterday were listening to Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s confirmation hearings (even if day 4 was less than thrilling). But over on the House side, one young lawyer was talking rather than listening. Jason Pinney (pictured), a (rather handsome) sixth-year associate at Bingham McCutchen, got to testify before lawmakers.

Pinney addressed the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, specifically, the Subcommittee on International Organization, Human Rights and Oversight. He spoke about his work as part of a Bingham legal team representing a group of Uighurs detained at Guantanamo Bay. The Bingham lawyers obtained the release of two Uighurs in 2006 and four more Uighurs last month.

(As explained by the AP, “[t]he Uighurs, a Turkic minority from China’s far west, were sent to the U.S. facility in Cuba after their capture in Afghanistan and Pakistan in 2001. The Pentagon determined last year that they were not enemy combatants.” Oops!)

Congrats to the Bingham lawyers on their successful representation of their clients — and to Pinney on his congressional testimony. To download a copy of the testimony, click here.

Today in Congress: July 16, 2009 [Washington Post]
Lawmakers want investigation into Uighurs at Gitmo [AP]
Jason S. Pinney [Bingham McCutchen]
Pinney Testimony [PDF]

We’ve received countless requests for shout-outs from worthy non-profit organizations that are seeking deferred associates and/or associates on leave from their law firms (pursuant to such programs as Skadden’s Sidebar program, Dewey’s DL Pursuits, etc.). Alas, due to the sheer number of these requests, we can’t mention them all on the main ATL homepage (which would be transformed from a blog into a bulletin board if we were to do so).

To treat these requests in a fair and consistent manner, we direct every public interest organization with a need for such help to post in our Community section, where readers can create posts on topics of their choosing (subject to moderation). The Community section is also where you can post information about charitable benefits and other events.

Update / Note: At the current time, only registered users can create Community posts — mere “guests” do not have this capability. So if you’d like to start a Community thread, please register as a site user.

Check out the Community section for yourself, and peruse the non-profit opportunities posted here, by clicking here. Additional opportunities also appear in the Resources section of the Career Center.

If you’d like the greater visibility of appearing on the ATL homepage, please consider advertising. In addition to full-scale banner campaigns and Sponsored Content, we now offer Quicklistings — an eminently affordable option, at $250 each. Thanks!

P.S. If you are a for-profit organization or have commercial goods or services to offer, please do not post in the Community section. Instead, please contact us about advertising on Above the Law. Postings of a commercial nature in the Community section will be removed. Thanks again.

Phase One: Offer associates a third of their salary to take a year off.
Phase Two: ???
Phase Three: Profit!

The Sidebar program of Skadden Arps received a glowing review in the New York Times this morning. Evidently, one-third of a Biglaw salary to not work in Biglaw is a dream job. The Times piece focuses on the story of Heather Eisenlord, a banking lawyer at Skadden who wants to use her year off “to teach English to monks in Sri Lanka, and possibly help bring solar power to remote parts of the Himalayas.”

Friday was the last day for associates to enroll in the Sidebar program. According to the Times, 125 people have expressed interest:

As of Friday, about 125 associates had expressed interest. “I think it’s fair to say that the numbers are in excess of our expectations,” Mr. Mallow said.

Only at a corporate law firm would the managers underestimate employees’ interest in taking a year off from the grind for what most of America would consider a small fortune.

A small fortune? Only the NYT’s incongruous desire to appeal to “average Americans” would make it characterize a little more than $50,000 (a third of a first-year associate’s salary) as a “small fortune.”

But that is neither here nor there. It seems that Skadden’s year-long voluntary departure program has actually worked. So far.

After the jump, we try to figure out why.

At the first-of-its-kind public interest job fair for deferred associates yesterday, there were some in attendance who were weighing the decision about whether to go pro bono at all. While deferrals are mandatory at some firms, others have offered up voluntary yearlong deferrals to 3Ls with a stipend attached for public interest work, as well as offering yearlong public interest sabbaticals to current associates.

On yesterday’s Dreams of Biglaw Deferred post, one commenter asked:

Can we get an open thread on the pros and cons of accepting a voluntary deferral offer?

Many firms have a tradition of pro bono rotations, sending attorneys (and sometimes paralegals) off to legal services firms for 2 to 6 months, to run cases, get trial experience, and see how stressed out and low-paid are those who have chosen careers in public interest. But the economic crisis has taken this to a whole new level. One big question is: if you accept this glorious opportunity to take a salary cut and do good works, will your firm be willing to put you back into the golden handcuffs of Biglaw when the year is up?

One third-year associate at the career fair is actually busy these days, but considering taking the yearlong pro bono sabbatical opportunity, because he’s burned out. He’s fairly confident a job will be there for him when he wants to return. A 3L considering an optional yearlong deferral (of the type offered to incoming associates at Fried Frank, Proskauer Rose, Weil, and White & Case, among others) is worried about the possibility that there won’t be a job waiting around in 2010/2011.

But there’s another way of looking at it. Taking a deferral now might prevent being a layoff in the near future. More, and (UPDATE at 12:40) a poll(!) , after the jump.

Your correspondent trekked out to Newark, N.J., to bring you news from the first-of-its-kind (that we know of) job fair for deferred associates. With firms pushing back start dates at a continually increasing rate, this fair may be the first but will certainly not be the last.

The fair was organized in short time by the Newark-based Volunteer Lawyers for Justice. Executive director Karen Sachs, a graduate of NYU Law, saw the magic that could happen by bringing together underfunded and overburdened non-profits with shiny new Biglaw-bound law grads (with deferral stipends attached). Ka-ching for the non-profits; Hallelujah for law grads in need of non-profit jobs to fill their deferred months.

This particular fair was locally focused, with 26 New Jersey organizations in attendance and over 100 attendees, mainly from New Jersey and New York law schools and firms. But Sachs said nonprofits from DC, NYC, and even Tennessee had called her hoping to take part in the economic-crisis-with-a-silver-lining event. Another fair in May that includes out-of-state organizations is a definite possibility, Sachs said.

Non-profit reps from Legal Services orgs, Catholic Charities, Seton Hall Law School Center for Justice and others sat at tables speed-dating style, while deferred 3Ls, jobless law grads, and sabbatical-seeking associates made the rounds. Mayor Cory Booker (YLS ‘97) and White & Case partner Jack E. Pace III dropped in to make speeches, emphasizing the silver lining to this. To summarize: Boo for economy; yay young lawyers getting pro bono opportunities, and pro bono orgs getting young lawyers!

Booker, whose career was launched (and law school debt paid) by a Skadden fellowship, said the Biglaw deferrals with stipends attached was “like the Skadden program 20 fold, 50 fold even.”

We liked Booker’s enthusiasm, Pace’s Brooklyn hipster glasses, and the chicken wraps provided, but not everyone was full of good cheer. Incoming associates aren’t completely drunk on the silver-lining kool-aid. More after the jump.

On Monday, we mentioned some of the difficulties deferred associates face when looking for the right public interest job. Today, AmLaw has an interesting piece on just how difficult it is for firms and law schools to find appropriate placements for 3Ls who will not be able to start with their firms in the fall:

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.

One of the most interesting aspects to this story is that we are seeing that “Biglaw” is not a monolithic collection of law firms. Each firm is different in ways that go far beyond normal law student concerns like “prestige” and “firm culture.”

Health insurance costs are 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 cannot be extended to these individuals. (Sidley Austin, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, and Simpson Thacher & Bartlet have existing nonprofit and fellowship programs that cover health insurance or COBRA benefits payments for the lawyers in these programs—the firms recently have announced that they will open up these fellowships to incoming first-year associates).

After the jump, it’s time for law school career services to earn their paychecks.

If you’re an attorney looking for a public interest gig — so you can collect your firm’s deferral stipend, or keep your legal skills current while waiting for the economy to turn around — today’s New York Times has a story that may disturb you:

The trouble is that finding the right volunteer job can sometimes seem as difficult as obtaining a salaried position — and with only psychic, rather than financial, rewards.

A year ago, there were junior attorneys raking in $200,000 or so a year. Now, some of those same people are struggling to give their services away:

Jeremy Dyme says he has been using Idealist.org to look for a volunteer position in economic development and microfinance. A fourth-year law associate, he was laid off at the end of the year when his law firm in New York closed…. “After at least half a dozen offers to volunteer, both solicited and unsolicited, I have had one phone interview,” Mr. Dyme said. “It’s funny to go from being grossly overpaid as a law firm associate to trying to market myself for a position to work for free.”

The ABA Journal reports that Dyme is a former Thacher Proffitt person who wasn’t picked up by Sonnenschein.

Maybe Dyme felt overpaid, but others in his position did not, and that is an additional hurdle for these new legal volunteers. More after the jump.

Is there not enough to go around, even at Skadden? Maybe so. The firm just sent around an internal email announcing the expansion of the firm’s “Sidebar” program. For the uninitiated, a tipster describes the Sidebar program:

Sidebar allows attorneys to take extended time from the Firm to pursue personal interests while maintaining a connection to the Firm.

Spending an extended period of time away from the firm? That sounds about right in today’s market. The firm-wide memo explains the reasoning behind expanding Sidebar:

In response to the current economic climate and the decreased demand for legal services, we are offering a supplement to our existing Sidebar program. During this period of diminished development opportunities, the program affords associates and counsel in US offices in good-standing the ability to pursue personal or professional interests for a one-year period with the option to return to the Firm at the end of that period. We are also offering a similar program to our class of 2009 incoming associates who may wish to defer their arrival until the fall of 2010.

After the jump, we look at what Skadden is offering to entice associates to take themselves out of the game for a year:

How should law firms respond to the recession? As reflected in the dramatic events of yesterday, which will go down in Biglaw history as the Valentine’s Day Massacre of 2009, lawyer layoffs are a common route.

But there are other options. We recently wrote about how unemployed (or underemployed) lawyers can do pro bono work — a way of enhancing their skills, while serving the public. Now one leading law firm is taking this idea and running with it.

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett recently announced a new program of public interest fellowships for their associates. From the memo:

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP is pleased to announce a Public Service Fellowship Program which offers associates the opportunity to spend one year working on a public service project of their choosing, supported by a stipend from the Firm, with the option to return to the firm at the Fellowship’s conclusion. The Fellowship Program is designed to enable associates to provide greatly needed assistance, on a full-time basis, to organizations, communities, or individuals in the United States or abroad; encourage associates’ commitment to public service; and advance associates’ own vision of social justice.

One associate is pleased and proud:

I think it’s a creative, win-win solution for the firm, as well as for those of us — meaning, anyone with a paycheck and a pulse — who live in dread of layoffs. The firm saves $100k+ a year and doesn’t have either the spectre of layoffs or gaps in its associate classes when business turns around. It also sends a strong, morale-boosting signal to the associates that the firm is looking to do all it can to avoid laying off attorneys — and is actually willing to spend money to that effect (while, of course, also saving a good deal of money).

The reference to saving money while spending money refers to the stipend. Fellowship recipients receive a lump-sum stipend of $60,000, paid in advance. Yes, this is an upfront expenditure for the firm; but it’s less than the going rate for a first-, second-, or third-year associate.

More details, plus the full memo, after the jump.

When the economy was better, we had a career alternatives for lawyers series, for those in Biglaw looking to do something new. Given the layoffs and sluggish law firm hiring these days, we’re starting a new series: “Can’t find work?” We’ll offer “options” for those shut out — or forced out — of Biglaw.

On Tuesday, we suggested an “option” for recent law grads unable to find work: start your own firm. Two University of Missouri grads were unable to find work and hung out their own shingle in Kansas City. ATL readers lent their support to the venture by spell-checking the hell out of the Buckley & Hutchings website.

Today, we have a new “option” for those looking for work. Offer up your legal services for free!

CARPLS, a legal aid society based in Illinois, is offering unemployed attorneys true pro bono work. From the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin (subscription):

A local legal aid provider is seeking unemployed lawyers as volunteers to staff its telephone hotline for low-income families in need of legal advice…

The volunteers must be licensed Illinois lawyers and are asked to work on the CARPLS hotline for at least four hours each week on a morning or afternoon shift. Schwartz said CARPLS officials hope that between 40 and 50 out-of-work lawyers will volunteer for the new program. The new volunteers will supplement the work of 32 paid staff lawyers, Schwartz said.

CARPLS officials posted a job description for the new program on craigslist and other online sites Thursday afternoon, Schwartz said. By Friday morning, there were about 35 responses, he added. The first response was from a lawyer who was offended because she was being asked to work for free, according to Schwartz. The rest of the responses came from lawyers interested in participating in the program, he added.

You may not get paid in cash, but you will get basic training in family, landlord-tenant and consumer law. Press release from CARPLS, after the jump.

So, if you’re twiddling your thumbs these days, think about calling up your local legal aid office and putting some of their attorneys out of work by volunteering your time.

Today we celebrate the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the pioneering civil rights leader. If you’re not at work, we hope that you are enjoying the day off. (We are around, but will be posting less than usual.)

If you are at work, be proud. We’re pretty sure that equal opportunities to be productive cogs in the capitalist machine, regardless of race color or creed, were part of Dr. King’s dream.

If you are looking for something to do, we suggest that you treat today as an opportunity for public service. You can look up a service project in your area at MLKDay.gov or you can join the incoming president.

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day!

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service [MLKDay.gov]

ATL has been providing in-depth coverage of firm layoffs, but we haven’t written much about public defenders suffering the same fate. With state budgets experiencing big squeezes, public defenders’ offices across the country are getting downsized, while their caseloads are getting upsized.

We wrote about layoffs in Kentucky, Minnesota, Florida, and Georgia back in July. In at least seven states, “public defenders’ offices are refusing to take on cases or have sued to limit them,” says the New York Times in an editorial today. It suggests that the constitutional right to counsel in state criminal proceedings is “hanging by a tattered thread:”

In a disturbing example of legal triage, a Florida judge ruled in September that the public defenders’ office in Miami-Dade County could refuse to represent many poor defendants arrested on lesser felony charges so that its lawyers could provide a better defense for other clients. Behind the ruling were some chastening statistics: Over the past three years, the average number of felony cases handled by each lawyer rose from 367 annually to nearly 500. Misdemeanor case loads rose from 1,380 to 2,225.

Public defenders’ offices all over the country are reporting similar problems. The immediate result is that innocent defendants may feel pressure to plead guilty. There also is an increased risk of wrongful conviction, which means that the real offenders would go free.

The NYT recommends meeting the budget shortfall by increasing the state registration fees for lawyers and expanding pro bono representation by the private bar.

Another out-of-the-box solution would be to get rid of all those pesky drug laws.

Remember to send in all of your layoffs stories and worries to tips@abovethelaw.com.

Hard Times and the Right to Counsel [New York Times]

Earlier: D.C. AG Office Faces Lawsuit After Firing Attorneys (And News of Layoffs For Public Defenders in Other States)

Earlier this month, an ATL / Lateral Link survey found that 86% of you were talking about politics in the workplace. And 18% of you reported that a fellow associate had tried to convince you to vote for their favorite candidate.

But are politics just seeping into your workplace, or will you be taking your profession to the polls? As the Obama campaign recruits lawyers to join the world’s largest law firm next week and the McCain campaign recruits its own Legal Response Team, how are you and your firms planning to spend the day?

Will you be policing the polls for pro bono — or billable — credit?

Update: This survey is now closed. Click here for the results.

—
Justin Bernold is a Director at Lateral Link, the sponsor of this Associate Life Survey.

A recent bar passer sent this query into Freakonomics:

I recently passed the bar and am currently applying for jobs. My main concern is bringing out the most charitable result. Should I work in the nonprofit section where my services are passed directly along to the most needy, or should I get the high-paying firm job and donate the difference in my salary to charity?

A certain Harvard Law School grad might say, “Do the right thing at every moment” — and avoid the Big Bad Law Firm. But Freakonomics blogger Stephen Dubner seems more skeptical of public interest work:

I am not so convinced that working for a nonprofit means that one’s “services are passed directly along to the most needy.” Here’s one reason why.

One Freakonomics commenter’s response to the question of “public interest v. Biglaw”: neither.

If you want to make the most “charitable result”, you’re too late. Lawyers rarely add any value to the economy (after all, this IS an economics blog). Lawyers don’t make anything but they consume large amounts of capital, both human and financial. Had you wanted to be a net contributor to society, an MBA or engineering degree or medical degree or some such would have been the way to go or even just start a small business. This would allow you to actually produce something of value. A law degree only allows you to add friction to the economy….

Scrap the law degree, start a company, get rich, buy a big house and a big boat, give generously when you can and do what Buffett and Gates are doing, give it all away when you’re finished. Nothing wrong with that at all. That would be a life well lived.

ATL readers, what do you advise?

Our Daily Bleg: How Can You Maximize Your Charity? [Freakonomics / NYT]

Earlier: Working in Biglaw = Killing Babies?

Where is the Institute for Justice when you need it? Or maybe the Pacific Legal Foundation?

A libertarian public interest organization needs to defend two victims of intrusive government regulation. From the Seattle Times:

Regan “Draco” Lane-Smith and “Naughty” Nonah Elliston outfitted their six-bedroom rental house with 15 mattresses, bondage crosses and sex swings. They built elaborate sets in their backyard for taking erotic photos. And they promoted the Hardwood Cabin online.

Up to 60 guests at a time came to mingle, sunbathe nude by the pool and have sex with fellow swingers and fetishists, Elliston said. Parties were frequent enough that the couple’s laundry service was cycling through 50 bedsheets a week.

But the couple shut down the sex club last month when they were cited for running a business without a license and threatened with fines of up to $513 a day.

So it was the commercial component that got them in trouble. A post-bar-exam orgy, or some German prison role playing, would have been just fine.

There are legal connections to this story in addition to the licensing and zoning issues. Read more, after the jump.

Here in Washington, DC, there’s a non-governmental organization on every street corner. So it should come as no surprise that our latest Career Alternatives post focuses on working for an NGO.

Several tipsters suggested the NGO career path as an appealing alternative to BIglaw life. Here’s what one had to say:

Many staff, particularly executive directors, of international development/human rights NGOs are attorneys. In many instances, having a law degree now seems to be a prerequisite for success in this field.

While other degrees may lend themselves more obviously to certain types of NGO work — e.g., master’s degrees in international relations or public policy — a law degree also confers a significant amount of credibility, according to a second source:

If you’re looking for alternatives to practicing law, working with an NGO is a good alternative for lawyers (or bar failers who want to market themselves as having decided not to practice). It helps if you have previous experience in the field you want to work in, but a JD generally can be marketed as giving you experience in legal or policy analysis.

Interested in learning more? Additional detail, after the jump.