Mixed Blessing for New Lawyers: Public interest jobs have appeal but as tuition and debt grow, so too does the lure of high pay.
By Ian Shapira, Washington Post – Nov 30

Even the most privileged paths come with choices. For Roose-Snyder and other young strivers on the verge of entering the professional world, these decisions can test their values in deep ways for the first time in their lives. In Washington, home to prestigious law firms, government agencies and public interest organizations, the options pose stark contrasts. … "Are you going to hold off on the law firm, knowing there's a line 20 deep to take it?" asked David Stern, chief executive of Equal Justice Works, a District-based nonprofit organization that offers 50 law graduates fellowships each year that pay $37,500. "Or are you going to take the bird in hand? How do you hold out? You have to have nerves of steel."

ACLU Seeks Government Records on Use of Cell Phones as Tracking Devices
Targeted News Service – Nov 29

The American Civil Liberties Union filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request today with the Department of Justice (DOJ) to learn the details of the government's use of cell phones as tracking devices…. "Giving the government the power to track and store a person's whereabouts at any given moment without probable cause is a serious intrusion on our personal privacy," said [Equal Justice Works Lawyer] Catherine Crump, staff attorney for the ACLU. "Carrying around a cell phone should not make a person susceptible to that kind of surveillance."

While Casinos Prosper, Katrina's Mark Lingers in Working-Class Areas
By Peter Whoriskey, Washington Post – Nov 25

Nowhere has the rebound from Hurricane Katrina been gaudier than along Mississippi's casino-studded coast. … "Mississippi had to be pushed every step of the way to a compassionate position, and it's only partway to the finish line – that's why losing this money to the port would be so wrong," said [Equal Justice Works Fellow] Reilly Morse, a lawyer for the Mississippi Center for Justice, a legal aid organization that has lobbied for the housing money. "It's just not compassionate to stop here when so many people still aren't cared for."

Residents OK with EPA Site Cleanup
The Bakersfield Californian – Nov 19

Residents didn't get everything they wanted, but enough to be happy with a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's plan to clean a site contaminated by pesticide spills and chemicals. Part of the EPA's plan to monitor contamination in the water caused by the Brown and Bryant site is an improvement from initial discussions, said [Equal Justice Works Lawyer] Ingrid Brostrom, an attorney with the Center on Race, Poverty and the Environment. "We're glad to see that," Brostrom said at a public meeting Monday night with the EPA and residents. "We're willing to work with the EPA."

In Mississippi, Poor Lag in Hurricane Aid
; By Leslie Eaton, New York Times – Nov 16

Like the other Gulf Coast states battered by Hurricane Katrina, Mississippi was required by Congress to spend half of its billions in federal grant money to help low-income citizens trying to recover from the storm. But so far, the state has spent $1.7 billion in federal money on programs that have mostly benefited relatively affluent residents and big businesses. … But some community advocates are dubious, noting that before the storm only 10 percent of the port jobs went to low-income residents. They also think the cost per job will be too high. And they note that the port’s own master plan envisions a new tourist and casino development. “It’s not all about bananas,” said [Equal Justice Works Fellow] Reilly Morse, a lawyer for the Mississippi Center for Justice. Mr. Morse and many others who oppose the port plan say the state should first ensure that all the families now living in more than 10,000 government trailers have a permanent place to live, that rental housing gets built and that all homeowners can repair their houses.

Recovery Gone Wrong?
Bill Moyers Journal, PBS – Nov 16

Since Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast two years ago, the media has largely focused on New Orleans struggling to get back on its feet. But nearby Mississippi was also hit hard, and its being praised for its recovery efforts. But there's a story in Mississippi that's not been told. [Equal Justice Works Fellow] Reilly Morse: “What people still don't get two years after the hurricane is that tens of thousands of Mississippians and people in other states across the Gulf Coast still are displaced. They're not in their own homes. They're not in a new, permanent residence of some form or another. People are stuck in limbo and there doesn't appear to be a solution to them returning to a normal life in sight.”

Forgiving Loans of those in Public Service Popular, But Programs Unproven
By Kelly Field, Chronicle of Higher Education – Nov 16

As the cost of college continues to rise, more and more graduates are entering public-service careers like nursing, teaching, and social work with unmanageable levels of debt. Many will struggle to repay their student loans while meeting their own basic needs. … In an effort to reverse this trend, Congress recently created a new loan-forgiveness program for low-income public-service employees. … Heather Wells Jarvis, law-school-advocacy coordinator for Equal Justice Works, a nonprofit group that promotes public service for lawyers, says that when she told law students about the loan-forgiveness program at a recent career fair, "they were thrilled. Some of them called their parents to tell them that their decision was vindicated — they were not throwing their future to the wolves," she said. "The U.S. government had affirmed that their decision was a good one."

Protest Takes the Cake
By Frankie Edozien, The New York Post – Nov 13

Bronx parents and their children staged a mock bake sale on the steps of City Hall yesterday. They were trying to pressure the city to spend $11,000 to review its toxic-monitoring plan for the Mott Haven schools campus. The $200 million project to build schools on the site is under way, and officials have already done some decontamination, which advocates contend isn't enough. "Almost safe is not safe enough. We need to be able to guarantee that this is going to be safe," said [Equal Justice Works Fellow] David Palmer of the New York Lawyers for the Public Interest. "This makes absolutely no sense. If you're going to have a school site, you have to make sure its 100 percent safe," added Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum.

People
The Daily Record (Baltimore) – Nov 13

Karen H. Rothenberg, dean of the University of Maryland School of Law, received Equal Justice Works' Dean John R. Kramer Award for 2007. Rothenberg is the Marjorie Cook Professor of Law, and founding director of the Law & Health Care Program. The award honors her dedication to nurturing an outstanding spirit of public service at the school. M. Teresa Schmiedeler, director of pro bono and public service initiatives for the school, nominated Rothenberg for the Kramer Award, praising her for her tireless support of students interested in public service opportunities.

Honors and Appointments
Legal Times – Nov 12

The D.C.-based nonprofit organization Equal Justice Works named its 2007 public interest law leaders. Reena Arora and Gavan Meehan received the LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell Exemplary Public Service Award. Arora is a third-year law student at New York University School of Law, and Meehan is a recent graduate of the University of Connecticut School of Law. Karen Rothenberg received the John R. Kramer Law School Dean Award. She is the Dean and Marjorie Cook professor of law at the University of Maryland School of Law. Ilene Seidman received the Outstanding Law School Faculty Award. She is a clinical professor of law at Suffolk University Law School. Microsoft senior vice president and general counsel Brad Smith received the Scales of Justice Award. The accolade recognizes his commitment to pro bono work and Microsoft’s advocacy for immigration reform.

Crib Sheet: National Service
By Tamara Chao, Campus Progress/Center for American Progress – Nov 9

Graduation doesn’t mean you have to sell your soul to work for a corporate empire. … Equal Justice Works helps low-income people with access to legal services, and there are programs that focus on immigration services and the environment. The combined work of national service members has provided more than 637 million hours of service, worth about $11.9 billion.

College Officials Discuss Students' Public Service Pursuits
By Sara Lipka, Chronicle of Higher Education – Nov 8

How colleges can support students who want to pursue careers in public service was the focus of a forum yesterday and today at Princeton University. … A study last year [by Equal Justice Works, Financing the Future,] found that about half of American law schools had loan-repayment programs for graduates in low-income public-service jobs. Many states also offer student-loan assistance for public-interest lawyers. And Congress recently created a student-loan-forgiveness program for low-income public-service employees.

Why Do Women Dominate Public Interest?
From the blog Ms. JD – Nov 4

I was poking around the Perspectives magazine articles available online, and I came across An Eye-Opening Tool for Wide-Eyed Law Students, a piece last year about the Equal Justice Works ranking of law schools by their public interest programs. I found two things interesting about the article. First, the approximately 27% of law graduates who enter public interest has remained fairly static since the 1980s. Second, women are presumed to benefit more from pressure on law schools to provide more support for public interest job hunting since women are more likely to take public interest jobs.

Suit Claims Discrimination Favoring Undocumented
Express-News (San Antonio, Texas) – Nov 1

All that Eustaquio López wanted was a job. He had plenty of experience and the energy to prove himself. But he never got a chance, he said, because as a worker in the U.S. legally, the employer would have had to pay him regular wages with adequate protections — options seen as luxuries easily skirted by exploiting Mexican workers. López and 18 other South Texans, all U.S. citizens or legal residents, are suing various agricultural companies in the region and the U.S. Labor Department in federal court in Del Rio, alleging they were passed over for jobs because of their legal status. … "While in other parts of the country it might be true, here in South Texas there's actually no need for guest workers," said Jake Wedemeyer with the Eagle Pass office of Texas Rio Grande Legal Aid, the agency handling the lawsuit [and Equal Justice Works Lawyer]. "There are plenty of legal workers ready to work."