Public Interest

In Face Of Spending Cuts, Some Politicians Applaud Importance Of Public Interest Lawyers

Two prominent California politicians recognize and inspire public interest legal work.

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The year saw the start of a new era in pro bono legal work. Changing realities led to a rise in the number of issues impacting the public interest community and its constituents. From travel bans to sanctuary cities to transgender rights to environmental issues to funding for legal aid, lawyers across the country have been motivated in record numbers to volunteer their expertise and raise their voices.

As a result of so visibly fighting for their vulnerable clients, lawyers seem to have risen above being the butt of jokes. In fact, perhaps signaling a new era in the public face of the legal profession, several prominent elected leaders have spoken out forcefully about the admirable way the legal aid and pro bono communities have rallied to the defense of the voiceless.

Within the past few weeks, two important California elected leaders have gracefully addressed the often overlooked, or ignored, critical role that legal aid lawyers, and their pro bono supporters, are playing in our rapidly responding communities. At a town hall she held in a church in Oakland, Senator Kamala Harris (D. Cal) responded candidly to any and all questions posed by her constituents. When asked how the U.S. could best ensure the integrity of future national elections, the Senator painted a detailed picture of our democracy, explaining that democracy is built like a table, its supporting legs being an independent judicial system, free speech, and fundamental legal safeguards. She forcefully explained that the legal aid system of delivery of justice on behalf of the poor served to make those safeguards effective every day for every American. She proudly talked about the response of lawyers across the country, both legal services organizations and private pro bono volunteers, to the rising issues of the day, specifically lauding the way the legal community protects the needy both in the courts and at our airports. By doing so she ensured that all in attendance understood the important role that lawyers play in protecting the basic necessities of life for those in need, things like housing, medical care, and safety, and also the larger issues of the day such as the rights of immigrants who live in increasing fear. The Senator praised the way private law firm pro bono programs have effectively supported their local legal aid organizations, providing the system with otherwise elusive strength and capacity. As a key, recent example, she cited the success of these collaborations during the January “travel ban” events that threatened to upend so many lives.

When she spoke at that Oakland church, it had been less than two years since then-California Attorney General Kamala Harris had effectively used her bully pulpit to rally the California legal community in support of unaccompanied immigrant children. She had convened a series of meetings at which she independently pushed, cajoled, and pushed some more to have private big firm lawyers step up and represent children fleeing for their lives to the United States. AG Harris implored the private lawyers to leave their politics at the door and to work with their local legal aid organizations to help children in need. She was direct, saying that regardless of belief in, or opposition to, the prevailing immigration laws of the moment, all these traumatized children needed an attorney if the legal process was to work. After all, she said, “These are children, just children,” many of whom may have had a legal right to remain in this country. They had witnessed in their home countries atrocities, terror, and the death of loved ones, leaving scars that may never heal. And the lawyers listened. Then they stepped-up.

Mike Feuer was elected City Attorney of Los Angeles after an admirable career as first a public interest attorney, serving as the executive director of Bet Tzedek, followed by successful stints as an elected member of the Los Angeles City Council, the state legislature, and now the chief prosecutor in the nation’s second largest city. Feuer has made bold moves to position his staff to be the most explosive and important public interest law firm in the country. He serves as the co-chair of a group of prosecutors from across the nation that has intervened in recent Second Amendment legislation, arguing that the proliferation of gun violence is a public health issue that urban leaders must address. He has established community clinics to address the problems of the homeless, tackled issues of environmental justice, and weighed-in to protect the legal rights of immigrants. He has initiated a range of criminal justice reforms designed to reduce recidivism, created a neighborhood school safety program, and protected low-income immigrants from being defrauded by so-called notario scams. Feuer was the first city attorney to prosecute the sellers of ivory taken from endangered wildlife, and cracked down on the distribution of dangerous counterfeit prescription drugs. Additionally, he and his office have been at the forefront of hate crime enforcement.

At about the same time Senator Harris was explaining how access to the judicial system for the poor was one of the pillars of our democracy, City Attorney Feuer was addressing a group of pro bono professional attorneys, urging them to continue to stand strong, organize their lawyers, and tackle the issues of the day. In an intimate way that few had ever heard from an elected official, he talked of helping the homeless and trying to intercede during the travel ban weekend so that an elderly man held at the Los Angeles International Airport could access needed medication. He made the personal nature of democracy come alive, one story, one client, one tragedy at a time. Those 100 members of the Association of Pro Bono Counsel (APBCo) who heard his words emerged empowered and supported. APBCo president, Kevin Curnin, described the membership as “riveted” by Feuer’s presentation, as well as “inspired” to continue “protecting individual liberty and dignity.”

The budget that Congress currently is debating has a great many complicated aspects, a number of which are of a headline-grabbing nature. The proposal to eliminate, or at least substantially dismantle, legal aid funding for the poor barely gets a mention. But when elected government officials publicly exhibit a deep commitment to notions of access to justice about which few others even acknowledge, much less champion, we know that in some corners of our democracy there are leaders who will protect that democracy for those who need it most.

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Senator Harris and City Attorney Feuer each chose to shine a light on the work of thousands of lawyers throughout the county who are silently protecting the lives of many people, representing a largely unseen constituency in this new era of responsive lawyering. If the legal profession is to be empowered to continue to respond to heightened demand and increasing fear with new speed, rigor and commitment, then leadership will be key. In California, that leadership already is in action.

David LashDavid A. Lash serves as Managing Counsel for Pro Bono and Public Interest Services at O’Melveny & Myers LLP. He can be reached at [email protected]. The opinions expressed are his alone.

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