经济低迷挤压法律援助时间

    没有人统计过全美法律援助服务的时间总量，但华盛顿公益法律事务研究所（Pro Bono Institute）近日的一项调查发现，在编律师人数至少为50人的大律师事务所提供的律师人均法律援助时间去年较2009年减少了8.6%。 当然，2009年是近20年法律援助历史上最活跃的一年。

    调查结果印证了去年夏天《美国律师》杂志（The American Lawyer）发布的一项研究。当时的研究显示，美国最大的200家律师事务所中律师人均法律援助时间减少了8%。

    律师事务所压缩法律援助时间是因为“心里有担忧，而且他们也没有迅速招募新员工来满足经济开始复苏时客户需求的增长，” 公益法律事务研究所首席执行官埃斯特•拉登特表示。“很多法律援助工作都是由年轻律师完成的，一旦年轻律师本人手不够，自然优先满足收费服务。”

    如今，各个律师事务所都在不遗余力地试图留住或赢得付费客户。规模居前的大型律师事务所更是在手忙脚乱地调整，努力适应“一些公司客户再也不愿自动支付高昂的小时收费服务”这一新现实，而小时收费正是大多数律师事务所的财务基石。

    不过，法律援助服务确实能让在编律师能有机会处理一些棘手案件、获得案件审理经验以及做善事的成就感，同时仍然享有丰厚的薪资收入。

    接受Pro Bono Institute调查的一些大律师事务所承诺，每年将相当于收费小时3-5%的时间用于提供法律援助服务，相当于在编律师每年平均60-100个小时。

    但《美国律师》杂志的调查发现，一些瑞生律师事务所（Latham & Watkins）这样的主要律师事务所贡献的小时数在显著减少。总部位于洛杉矶的瑞生律师事务所报告，它贡献的小时数减少了47,000小时，降幅高达30%——虽然该律师事务所的律师总人数增加了10%。

    其他诸如纽约Cravath, Swaine & Moore这样的知名律师事务所贡献的法律援助时间在显著增加，另一些律师事务所则保持了稳定。但非营利性机构美国法律服务公司（Legal Services Corp.）的负责人吉姆•桑德曼表示，由于法律援助时间的减少正赶上法院系统超负荷运转，那些需要帮助的人们至少有一半得不到法律援助。Legal Services Corp.分布在全美各地的几百个办事处接受志愿者以及私人执业律师的协助，提供免费或折价法律服务。

    No one tracks the overall volunteer attorney hours nationwide, but a recent study by the Pro Bono Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit, found that the average number of pro bono hours per attorney at big firms, each of which has at least 50 lawyers, sank by 8.6% last year compared to 2009. To be sure, 2009 was the most active year recorded in the program's nearly two-decade history.

    The findings mirror a study released last summer by The American Lawyer, which reported an 8% decline in the average pro bono hours for attorneys at the top 200 U.S. law firms.

    Law firms are lagging in donating legal help because "they are anxious, and they don't staff up quickly to meet the increase in client demand when the economy begins to improve," says Esther Lardent, chief executive of the Pro Bono Institute. "Much of the pro bono work is done by younger lawyers, but when they are in short supply, paid work is the priority."

    Currently, law firms are racing to retain, or win, paying clients, and the largest firms especially are scrambling to adjust to a new world where restive corporate clients are no longer as willing to automatically pay the sky-high hourly rates that are the bedrock of most law firms' finances.

    Still, pro bono work gives staff attorneys a chance to handle challenging cases, gain trial experience, and pat themselves on the back for doing good while still earning handsome wages.

    The large firms -- which self-report -- surveyed by the Pro Bono Institute pledged to contribute between 3% and 5% of their billable hours annually to pro bono work. That amounts to between 60 hours and 100 hours per staff attorney.

    But The American Lawyer survey found that some major law firms like Latham & Watkins registered notable declines in donated hours. The Los Angeles-based firm reported 47,000 fewer hours, a 30% drop in donated hours -- even as the overall number of firm lawyers increased by 10%.

    Other legal powerhouses like Cravath, Swaine & Moore in New York added substantially to their pro bono annual totals, while other firms stayed steady. But as fewer donated hours stack up against an overloaded court system, at least half of those in legal need will not receive services, says Jim Sandman, head of the non-profit Legal Services Corp., whose hundreds of offices across the country are assisted by volunteer or discounted services provided by private lawyers.