Do good or be gone…
Starting next year, New York will become the first state to require lawyers to perform unpaid work before being licensed to practice, the state’s chief judge announced on Tuesday, describing the rule as a way to help the growing number of people who cannot afford legal services.
The approximately 10,000 lawyers who apply to the New York State Bar each year will have to demonstrate that they have performed 50 hours of pro bono work to be admitted, Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman said. He said the move was intended to provide about a half-million hours of badly needed legal services to those with urgent problems, like foreclosure and domestic violence.” (via NY Times)
Follow up…
The day after this news article appeared in print, the NY Times followed up with an editorial describing the mandate that would-be lawyers perform 50 hours of pro bono service as a “modest” requirement.
Do you agree? Take a moment a read the full NY Times editorial.
