BigLaw’s Deferred Associates Stretching Legal Aid Groups a Bit

Leaders of nonprofit legal organizations say that while they are grateful law firms are sending deferred associates their way and signing their paychecks, the onslaught of extra bodies is still causing a logistic and financial strain, the Am Law Daily reported. (Which is perhaps why many out-of-work lawyers seeking such employment are being rejected.)

"There are out-of-pocket expenses for any person who comes into our organization, from furniture to technology," Mitchell Kamin, president and CEO of Bet Tzedek Legal Services in Los Angeles told Am Law Daily. He estimates that with malpractice insurance, office supplies, parking and postage, each of the seven to 10 associates his group will take on will cost between $10,000 and $14,000 per year. Bet Tzedek will not cover these associates’ health insurance. Am Law Daily reports that Sidley Austin and Ropes & Gray will be covering health insurance costs for deferred associates.

The Am Law Daily reported that the National Association of Law Placement has added a Wednesday panel to its annual education conference to address this very issue: Associate Deferrals and Public Interest Placements: New Challenges and New Opportunities.

"In some cases, the new associates will arrive at their placements without health insurance, malpractice insurance, a computer, or even a desk," Paul Igasaki, deputy chief executive director of Washington, D.C.-based Equal Justice Works. He and the rest of the panel recommended that firms make in-kind donations of office furniture and technology to the groups that take on their deferred lawyers.