New York to Require New Lawyers to Perform 50 hours of Community Service, via New York Times

Anne Barnard reports in today’s New York Times that, beginning in 2013, applicants to the New York State Bar must demonstrate that they have performed 50 hours of pro bono work prior to admission to the bar. Read the full article here (log-in required). Similar discussions have occurred in bar associations around the country, including here in Colorado.

Ms. Barnard’s article touches on the challenges of implementing such a requirement. One of these problems will clearly be verification of service. Many applicants to the New York bar come from not only out of state, but out of the country. Another will be training. This requirement very likely places an additional burden upon law schools and organizations such as the Legal Aid Society (or Legal Night here in Denver) to train law students and attorneys to serve unfamiliar client needs. This is not necessarily a bad thing as law schools, in general, do not provide adequate practical training to students. A third issue is competence. In Colorado, as in many other states, there is a high demand for immigration services.  In order to counsel a client on immigration law, the attorney likely faces cultural and language barriers in addition to the nuances of the immigration system.  While a fifteen-year patent attorney can very likely issue spot a landlord-tenant or employment issue, he or she is less likely to provide competent legal counsel with respect to a immigration or criminal matter.

The New York Supreme Court’s decision to require 50 hours of community service to bar applicants will likely have the positive effect of spurring other bar associations to impose a similar requirement. While there may be at least an initial bump in available attorney hours to existing legal aid services, it is likely that more, targeted legal aid services will emerge in the coming years. For evidence, see the following article from the Denver Business Journal on Colorado’s joint effort with the U.S. Patent & Trademark office in launching a new pro bono patent clinic  – much to the relief of that 15 year patent attorney looking to become a member of the New York State bar.