Word: aide
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...problem has been exacerbated by the travails of the Legal Services Corporation, the federal body that helps fund about three-quarters of the legal-aid operations around the country. President Reagan came into office vowing to shut it down entirely. While the corporation's eleven-member board of directors, now all Reagan appointees, has balked at that, its funding requests have dropped from $399.9 million in fiscal year 1982 to $305.5 million last year. "My feeling is that if everyone assumes that ((legal aid)) is a federal responsibility, the opportunity to develop alternatives simply will not be encouraged," says Corporation...
Meanwhile, one solution to the legal-aid crisis being debated more frequently is mandatory pro bono, a system by which courts, legislatures or bar associations would compel attorneys to donate their time, sometimes with the option of paying a fee to be excused. Programs of that kind have been imposed by courts in a number of areas around the country, including Westchester County, N.Y., and El Paso, as well as at least four local bar groups. Legislatures in Oregon and Washington have also looked into it, though with no action...
...mandatory pro bono raises problems for both lawyers and poor clients. For one thing, it would weigh most heavily on solo practitioners and small firms; big outfits have squads of young associates who can be assigned to satisfy pro bono requirements. And even legal-aid attorneys say simply drafting lawyers is no answer. It could lead to inadequate representation by advocates who lack the conviction or specific legal skills to defend the poor. "How much help is a divorce lawyer to a farm worker poisoned by pesticides?" asks Edward Tuddenham of the Migrant Legal Action Program in Washington...
...attorneys got involved last year in 107 pro bono matters, including death-penalty appeals. And at law schools there are promising signs that younger lawyers may remember duties that many of their elders have forgotten. Columbia University law students have been flocking to a program of summer legal-aid work, though it means forgoing the opportunity to make $1,200 a week or more as interns at major firms. Tulane University law school has made 20 hours of legal service a graduation requirement. And why not? asks Vice Dean Paul Barron. "Students should learn as early as possible that they...
With a shortage of lawyers willing to donate time to the poor, a major firm offers to subsidize the pay of some legal- aid attorneys...