经济低迷挤压法律援助时间

    华盛顿知名律师事务所安庆国际法律事务所（Akin Gump）法律援助主管史蒂夫•舒尔曼指出：“作为一家律师事务所，我们的规模有所缩水，所以，法律援助时间自然就降下来了。”舒尔曼说，安庆通过重组，在编律师人数比2007年最高峰时期减少了近200人，导致法律援助时间下降。

    安庆今年以来已提供48,000小时的免费法律援助服务，预计全年将接近去年的57,000小时。他说，此类工作“仍能吸引顶级法学院的毕业生加盟。”

    大中型律师事务所也有更强的经济实力来支付法律援助服务产生的费用，如差旅费用。但舒尔曼坚持称：“我们需要支付律师的薪水，这是公司的固定成本。额外拨出一个小时用于法律援助的花费虽然不会像带薪服务那么高，但对律所而言也并不是零成本。”

法律援助培养律所新人

    公益法律事务研究所的拉登特称，可能的解决方案是建立一套模式，正式将法律援助工作作为“律师锻炼技能和获取经验的途径”。由于企业客户不太愿意为新手律师的在岗培训买单，她说，法律援助工作正好能够提供这种机会。

    如果法律援助的时间不够，为什么不对大律师事务所及所有执业律师规定一个强制性的下限时间？

    “强制规定缺乏可操作性，”舒尔曼坚持称。“法学院需要效仿医学院，规定相当时间的临床实践，而不只是一个学期1个学分就够了。”

    “比如，法学院的学生们可以在法律服务办公室实习，”他说。“学生们可以花两年时间实习，两年时间在法学院学习。”

    殖民时期有志于成为律师的人需要在执业律师的指导下学习法律实践，因此，今天的法学院学生们也可以在公益法律援助办公室实习，理解法律。学徒模式一直延续到19世纪末（有些州如今仍然认可这种做法），直到美国律师协会开始敦促正规的研究生教育，后来就演变成了今天的的法学院。

    At Akin Gump, a prominent law firm in Washington, D.C., Steve Schulman, head of the pro bono practice, notes, "as a firm, we are a bit leaner, so, of course, pro bono hours are down." A firm restructuring trimmed nearly 200 attorneys from its roster since 2007, which has resulted in a reduced pro bono case load, Schulman says.

    Akin Gump lawyers have racked up 48,000 free hours so far this year, and the firm expects to be close to last year's 57,000 total hours. Such work, he says, "is still a draw to recruit top law students."

    Larger firms also have deeper pockets to cover expenses, such as travel, to pursue a pro bono case. But, Schulman maintains, that while "our attorneys are on salary, which is a fixed cost, and it doesn't cost that much to generate an extra free hour, the cost to the firm of these hours is not zero."

Pro bono cases as apprentice work?

    One potential solution is to create a model where pro bono work is formally used as "the way lawyers gain skills and experience," says the Pro Bono Institute's Lardent. Since fewer corporate clients are willing to pick up the tab for novice lawyers to learn on the job, she says, pro bono work can provide those opportunities.

    If not enough hours are being devoted to pro bono work, why not just come up with a mandatory minimum for big firms or all practicing lawyers?

    "A mandate would not be enforceable in any way that is meaningful," maintains Schulman. "Law schools need to follow the medical school model and devote significant time to clinical practice so it's not just one credit a semester.

    "Law students could apprentice to a legal services office, for example," he says, "and could spend two years learning and two years in law school."

    Like aspiring lawyers in colonial days who learned the legal ropes under the tutelage of a practicing attorney, law students today could apprentice themselves at public interest or legal aid offices to "read the law," a practice that largely did not change (although a few states still allow it) until the 1890s, when the ABA began urging formal post-college instruction -- what is now called law school.