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Lawyer Finds the Poor Pay Their Bills

MOST lawyers in private practice shy away from handling too many poor clients. But the immigrant, working poor are right up Miguel A. Negron's alley.

"I love working with the poor because they are so honorable. I have never had to hire a collection agency," said Mr. Negron, a name partner at four-lawyer Marcos & Negron, with offices in Manhattan and Bay Shore, L.I.

Mr. Negron, 38, whose family came to the mainland from Puerto Rico, did not always intend to practice law or work with immigrants. But the career choices he has made — first, as a bilingual public school teacher and then as an immigration attorney — reflect the influences of his youth in New York City and Puerto Rico, and of the values of his role model, his grandfather.

Mr. Negron, who worked after school in his grandfather's grocery store near Yankee Stadium, was impressed by the older man's generosity to working families from the South Bronx neighborhood who did not always have enough money to pay for groceries. He saw his grandfather negotiate with his poor customers, sometimes permitting them to pay at a later date.

Mr. Negron, continues this tradition in his high-volume practice with 5,000 multi-member families seeking everything from asylum, work and student visas, green cards and citizenship. Many of his clients, the working poor from El Salvador and Guatemala, are not able to pay large sums up front, he said. Often, Mr. Negron works out flexible payment arrangements, including barters. For instance, the wood conference room table and shelves that fill Mr. Negron's offices were made by his clients.

"I don't turn anybody away because of money. I work something out," he said.

"[Mr. Negron] is generous in every sense of the word. I have never met anyone so willing to share time, knowledge and resources with those in need," said Frederick P. Rooney, head of Community Legal Resource Network of the City University of New York School of Law. As part of that program, Mr. Negron counsels solo practitioners who are starting an immigration practice. "When [Mr. Negron] walks into the law school, people clamor to his side — maintenance workers, secretaries, faculty and students. He has a refreshing charisma that endears him with everyone he meets," said Mr. Rooney. "He's a tremendous role model for many of us."

Mr. Negron's efforts in helping the Latino community were recently acknowledged by the City Council, which in November presented the mild-mannered attorney with a proclamation.

Academic Hurdles

Building a successful practice and trying to balance altruism with running a business, can be hard enough. But Mr. Negron's struggle began long before he passed the bar and was ready to strike out on his own.

Mr. Negron's easy demeanor belies a tenacity and a determination that kept him on the long and difficult track to law school.

For most of Mr. Negron's young-adult life spent on the economically depressed streets of Puerto Rico and South Bronx, graduating from high school was a feat. Neither Mr. Negron's grandparents or parents hold high school diplomas.

After coasting through four years of high school, not able to read or do math well, Mr. Negron said he was told by teachers to drop out when it became obvious that he was not going to graduate on time. One teacher even offered to set him up in a construction job. But with the insistence of his grandfather and encouragement from one school official, Mr. Negron stayed in school an extra year until he amassed enough credits to graduate.

"Getting good grades in my final year of high school woke me up. Before I was thinking union jobs, but then I started thinking, I'm going to college," he said.

But Mr. Negron found that he was not academically prepared. After a year of sagging grades, he was kicked out of New York City Technical College.

But his quiet determination kicked in, and instead of abandoning a higher education, Mr. Negron bought reading and math books and prepared for college on his own. Soon after he enrolled in Bronx Community College, finished it one semester early and with his associates degree in tow, entered The City College of New York.

Taste of the Law

His first encounter with law was at Bronx Community College where he took a business law class. It impressed him so much that he bought an LSAT book. But instead of going to law school, Mr. Negron became a bilingual school teacher in Yonkers.

But in the public school system, he said, he saw many injustices, particularly aimed at immigrants.

For example, one day Mr. Negron found that his older students were missing from class. After a brief search, he discovered them in another classroom — learning to paint the walls on instruction from school officials short on maintenance staff. Mr. Negron was angered, and also frustrated at other deficiencies in the bilingual program, like the lack of books and funds. Law school, he decided, was the way to help the immigrant community.

Striking out on his own right after graduation from CUNY's law school, Mr. Negron, along with three law school friends, Jaime A. Marcos, Kenji Akaike and Faustino L. Rodriguez, formed Marcos & Negron. Mr. Marcos, whose practice revolves around state courts, handles everything from family law issues to real estate to small business litigation. Mr. Marcos, who immigrated to the United States from Ecuador, spends the majority of his time in Suffolk County courts. Mr. Rodriguez, who was born in America and is of Mexican dissent, staffs the Bay Shore office during the week. And Mr. Akaike, a Japanese national, helps Japanese citizens obtain visas to work or study in the United States.

Busy Practice

Mr. Negron claims his practice is so busy that he often works seven days a week, sometimes even working 18 hour days.

For example, his Bay Shore office, which is located in the middle of a very large Salvadoran community, has approximately 150 people waiting to see Mr. Negron every weekend, he said. "It's standing room only there on the weekends," he said.

It is his grandfather's grocery store that Mr. Negron credits with keeping him off the Bronx streets. "One thing that helped me to get past all the obstacles in my childhood is work," he said.