Review of the Benefits of Developing Law School-Supported Practitioner Networks
The Law School Consortium Project demonstrates that developing law school-supported practitioner networks provides significant benefits to solo and small-firm practitioners as well as participating law schools and increases access to legal services for low and moderate-income individuals and communities.
I. Benefits to Solo and Small-Firm Practitioners
The following are descriptions of the benefits to solo and small-firm practitioners that result from the creation of practitioner networks by law schools. The networks serve to:
Decrease The Sense Of Isolation Experienced By Such Practitioners and Increase Their Confidence and Sense of Security
Participation in the networks removes the sense of isolation many of these practitioners experience, enabling them to connect with colleagues who share the same issues and problems.
One member stated: “As a solo I felt isolated and had no group or individual to turn to for help with procedural matters, legal issues, approaches to individual cases, research…I am now part of a ‘firm’…[and] have access to research and people to go to for help on a myriad of issues. I have a much more positive feeling about my ability to ‘lawyer’ and a feeling of self worth…I do not believe that I would still be in practice without the [network].” An additional member said, as a member of the network “you are not out there floating on your own, you’ve got help.” Requests for help are met with immediate responses.
In addition to in-person meetings, each of the models provides network members with electronic access to each other via email. Through this vehicle, members are able to communicate and stay in touch with each other, post information, ask and answer questions, and request and provide advice. Project staff members are also able to utilize email to send members information about law school, bar association, and other events as well as legal news updates.
One member stated that the network has “revived my confidence in being a private practitioner.” Other members described network membership as providing a “psychological safety net” and a “security blanket”. Another member said: “[the network] gives me security as a solo practitioner to know that I am not out here alone and that I have a source to go to if I am uncertain about an issue so that my clients can and will receive quality legal representation. All I want to do as a solo practitioner is to provide quality legal representation to clients in areas that impact their lives. It is not easy out here.”
Participants describe the sense of being like members of a “virtual law firm” stating that “when you hire one member, you get the power, support, and backing of other members.” One member stated: “[the network] provides large firm support for solo practitioners.” Another member said: “[being a part of the network] allows me to be part of a legal dream team while being a solo practitioner.”
Provide Solo and Small-Firm Practitioners with a New Approach to Law Practice: Joining A Community Of Like-Minded Peers
By developing and supporting networks of like-minded practitioners, the founding schools have provided solo and small-firm attorneys with a new approach to law practice in which members provide support to each other in their common mission of “doing good and doing well” (meeting their “double bottom line”).
Members describe the network as providing a “sense of a community of equals with a shared commitment and vision.” Participants spoke about the uniqueness of sharing a commitment to providing low cost and free legal assistance. Participants emphasized that one of their key practice goals is to figure out a way to help those who cannot pay for costly legal services. Network members do not view money as the most important focus of their practice, they “figure pro bono work into the calculation.” They describe themselves as “people who are more interested in doing what is right than in making money.”
In fact, one member, who successfully represented a church that the local government was trying to close down, asked the church members to “pray to decide what to pay me.” Another member described her practice as a “Robin Hood practice” in which she is able to represent clients without money who are not able to pay fees (or only small fees) because she represents clients with money who are able to pay fees. She can make this work, she says, because of the time saving devices and support the network provides.
In comparing law school-supported network participation with bar association involvement, one member said: “you are comparing apples and oranges … [Bar] associations are political networking organizations, while the network is a practicing … work group.” The network, one member said, provides a “non-adversarial environment” that offers “a home base for solo practitioners who are out there alone.” Trust among the members was emphasized as a critical element differentiating the network from bar associations and other professional organizations.
Practitioners describe the network as “a supportive group as well as a professional association” and as “building a new model of noncompetitive and supportive” law practice. One member stated that participating in the network is “liberating because there are other people I can relate to who have common goals.” The network empowers its members to strike a balance between profitability and social good.
Provide Members With A Venue In Which They Can Share Ideas, Obtain Peer Technical Assistance, and Mentoring, Thus Serving as A Vehicle for Their Professional Development
Network members are provided with a formal structure that enables the development of connections with other practitioners. According to one Project Director, the network “teach[es] the members that it is permissible to reach out to others to strategize or get advice on how to handle a particular problem. Creating an environment similar to that of a law firm has enabled [network] members to grow as practitioners and share as colleagues in a common struggle. The collegiality experienced in practice groups is the backbone of [the network’s] successes.”
In the collegial, non-competitive atmosphere of the network, members readily mentor and coach each other. They are willing to “walk each other through” new processes and provide support and assistance when necessary. This provides practitioners with a vehicle for learning about areas in which they lack familiarity.
Mentoring relationships hinge on trust. Practitioners often are reluctant to take advantage of formal mentoring services made available to them through bar associations and other legal organizations for fear of imposing on others or appearing ignorant or incompetent. Providing practitioners with access to peer mentoring opportunities in a non-adversarial, non-competitive, and collegial community of like-minded individuals is invaluable.
Members share their experiences with each other and benefit from each other’s advice with respect to legal research, practical tips, strategy, and management practices. They find that their questions are answered quickly and that they are able to obtain specific practical information in a timely fashion. (Questions posted via listserv usually receive same-day answers.) In comparing the peer mentoring they receive through the network to mentoring available from bar associations, participants noted that they feel intimidated and uncomfortable asking questions of bar association mentors while asking advice of fellow network members is “more like speaking to a friend.” One participant noted that with bar association mentor programs, she is hesitant to ask questions of senior practitioners because “you can’t let your hair down because you are in a professional community [whereas] you can feel comfortable asking [network] members questions.” Network members feel it is “safe to reveal [their] ignorance” to each other because they are not in a competitive relationship, but in a collaborative one.
One faculty member observed that having access to a network of other practitioners permits members to transition into practice in areas in which they are not familiar because they have access to mentoring from others who do have experience. This enables practitioners to shift to a different practice area if necessary due to changes in client needs or the economy. Network members also have the benefit of mentoring and advice from project directors who have extensive private practice experience as well as faculty who have expertise in specific substantive areas.
The CUNY network recently commenced a mentoring program for its members designed to insure that new lawyers starting their own practices have access to experienced attorneys who can help them avoid many of the practical and ethical pitfalls of the legal field. During the summer of 2000, this formal mentoring program was established and made available to members of the General Practice II Group, the newest members of the legal profession. The mentoring program is two-tiered, involving: (1) Principal Mentors, and (2) Practice Specialty Mentors. The Principal Mentors are CUNY graduates who have been in practice five or more years. They are assigned a mentee on a one-to-one basis and work with them on day-to-day practical questions. The Practice Specialty Mentors, on the other hand, have several years experience in a particular area of law and are available to answer specific questions posed by the participating network members on an as-needed basis.
Through the network, members share advice about cases and resources, as well as their experiences with various vendors. Members also help each other make technology choices, including purchasing printers, bookkeeping software, etc.
Provide Members With Information on Substantive Law Areas
The Northeastern DV model concentrates on providing members with information about domestic violence law and practice. Meanwhile the CUNY, Maryland, and Northeastern ED models provide members with access to presentations (either by faculty, fellow network members, or other practitioners) at regular meetings that address various practice areas.
Faculty at CUNY developed some substantive law courses that enable network members to receive continuing legal education credit while Maryland and the Northeastern ED model offer members access to free and discounted continuing legal education courses presented by bar associations.
Because one of the most significant challenges for busy, under-resourced solo and small-firm practitioners is finding time to research legal issues, CUNY’s network includes a project librarian who helps members with their legal research needs. Staff members are considering charging a fee for the use of this research service.
Project directors found that as a result of attending meetings that address specific practice areas and having a network of supportive peers, network members often are willing to expand their practices to areas of law that are new to them.
Teach Members Law Office Management and Help Them Improve and Sustain Their Practices
The projects have taught network members how to treat their practices as small businesses in order to increase their viability, thereby enabling them to better serve the needs of their communities.
For instance, in addition to creating presentations about substantive practice areas, each model provides members with seminars (by consultants as well as fellow network members) in other areas, such as marketing and client development, business planning, law office management, and billing and accounting.
Networks members spoke of the benefits of learning about law office management and practice issues. One member stated: “as a solo practitioner, pressured for time, the business component of my practice became neglected. I kept poor track of time, sent bills sporadically – based on time I thought I spent on each client – and did not always charge clients for expenditures such as copying, long distance calls, fed-exs, etc. I was losing money and not fully collecting what I did bill for…I now keep much better track of my time, bill on a timely basis, and bill for all disbursements…I could not have sustained my practice without the help and encouragement I have received.”
Many network participants identified marketing and client development as their main business concerns. At Northeastern, members of the ED network became interested in engaging together in a community education project as a means to attract new clients (see description, below). The project’s strength has been in helping the network members view their practices as small businesses. It helps them pay attention to the bottom line, develop more efficient law office management practices, and learn how effectively to market their practices.
Another member said: “[Participation] in the network has resulted in this firm receiving referrals as well as hardware and software that have now become indispensable to our day-to-day operations.” An additional member pointed out: “I have been able to provide better service because of the information and support of [the network]. I am also able to manage better financially.”
Similarly, since solo and small-firm practitioners often are unable to pay student interns, CUNY funds a summer internship program through which some network members are able to obtain the services of CUNY law students during the summer. Both students and practitioners find this experience valuable.
Provide Members With A Valuable Source of Business Referrals
Network members receive referrals from the law schools with which they are associated, from each other, as well as from various legal services organizations that refer clients who are not eligible for their services. Members refer cases to each other in the same way that attorneys in large firms refer cases to their colleagues in other departments.
At Maryland, cases that come into the Demonstration Law Office are referred out to network members. The most frequent referral area is bankruptcy and the most frequent source of referrals to the network is from the Legal Aid Bureau, Law School faculty members, and community organizations. In addition, network members regularly refer cases to each other. In fact, members developed a list including the name, contact information, and practice area data for all members so as to encourage intra-network referrals.
Energize Members to Continue To Stay In The Work Of Trying To Have A Positive Impact On Low And Moderate-Income Communities
Network members spoke about how law students enter law school with a calling to do public interest work and often emerge jaded and feeling pressured to work in a large law firm. The network, they feel, counters the competitive and alienating law school culture and revives and nurtures their desire and energy to “do good.” By enabling members to create their own public interest practices (albeit in a private practice setting), thereby expanding the field of available public interest work, the network empowers graduates to answer their calling to work in the public interest field and serve social justice. Participation in the network, members stated, helps to reinforce their original desire to practice law and work for the public interest and social justice.
Potentially Provide Specific Benefits for Practitioners of Color
The University of Maryland Law School network, whose membership consists of almost one-third attorneys of color, indicates that the creation of practitioner networks may be an important vehicle for providing practitioners of color with a welcoming and collegial community. In such a community, attorneys of color can find mentoring and support that they may not find easily in bar associations and other traditional organizations. In light of the scarcity of partners of color in large law firms nationwide, helping attorneys of color succeed in developing and maintaining their own law firms is a vital undertaking.
II. Benefits to Low and Moderate-Income Individuals and Communities
The following are descriptions of the benefits to low and moderate-income individuals and communities that result from the creation of these practitioner networks by law schools. The networks serve to:
Provide Various Kinds Of Support That Enables Members To Meet Otherwise Unmet Legal Needs
Participants in the current projects clearly stated that their involvement in the network enabled them to provide pro bono and affordable legal services that they would not otherwise have the capacity to provide to low and moderate-income individuals and communities. The current networks serve as referral sources for individuals with little or no money for legal services and educate those individuals and their communities about legal issues. Network members are aiding a population of individuals and communities who most likely would otherwise fall between the cracks of the justice system.
One member commented: “Most of my clients earn just enough money to exclude them from receiving assigned counsel in the family court ... It would be impossible for [these clients] to hire an attorney who charged customary rates. Most of my clients are also members of minority groups and all of them are battered women. I charge my clients on a sliding fee according to their incomes. This would not be possible without the help of [the network]. I do not earn enough money to carry out a solo practice that represents such a large number of low-income clients without the resources that [the network] provides ... The large number of low-income and minority battered women that I have represented have all benefited from my membership in [the network]. I now have a list of other members to whom I can refer clients that I do not have the time to represent or who have legal issues that I do not deal with, allowing more women access to legal representation.” This member further stressed: “Without [the network], I could not continue my dream of representing low–income battered women and also take pro bono cases from agencies who represent indigent battered women.”
Due to their collaboration with one another, network members are able to take on cases in areas unfamiliar to them and, thereby, help people who otherwise are unable to afford a lawyer. Network membership helps practitioners streamline their practice, saving clients money, and enabling members to handle pro bono cases they might not otherwise be able to take on.
One member stated: “Through help with research [from the CUNY network’s Staff Librarian] and the ability to discuss cases at meetings, through email, and directly with other members, I can do things more quickly and thoroughly, thereby saving my clients money and representing them more aggressively.” Another member discovered through her participation in the project that: “Many more clients are getting expert representation through [the network. It] has had a very positive impact on the persons in the community that I serve.”
Network participants spoke about being able to access the combined expertise of all network members - having “pooled resources to help the underserved.” Network membership also enables members to render higher quality services because they have access to a comprehensive knowledge base.
An additional member commented: “Saving time allows me to take on more clients for smaller fees. [The network] helps me save time with legal issues and also with practical issues. Running a business is time consuming. By providing me with software, billing services, lectures on how to efficiently run an office, and contact with others who also provide practice advice, I can spend more time being an effective advocate and less on office details.”
Provide Low and Moderate-Income Individuals and Communities with Access to Legal Information and Services
The CUNY General Practice Group developed a Community Empowerment Lecture Series by which group members provide free of charge, to community organizations, churches, and City University of New York students in the five boroughs, information about basic legal rights and affordable strategies to protecting those rights.
In addition, CUNY developed another program in conjunction with two CUNY colleges, Baruch College and Queens College. Through this program, members of the Immigration and General Practice Groups provide legal advice to students at these colleges on a weekly basis for 2-3 hours/night. Members earn $50/hour (fees are provided by student government funds at each site) and students receive legal assistance free. This not only provides members with an additional source of income but also provides an excellent and much-needed service for these college students. Because New York City colleges have so many students who are immigrants and individuals of modest means, this weekly service is vital for them.
CUNY is currently working to obtain funding to develop a Family Advocacy Program in partnership with the Community Pediatrics Program at Children’s Hospital of New York. This program will be a medical legal partnership designed to improve the health and welfare of low-income children and their families through proactive legal assistance provided at community-based primary health care sites. Network practitioners will provide education and training of health care providers, direct legal assistance to children and their families, and multidisciplinary policy advocacy on behalf of children and their families.
The Northeastern ED network and its members have been working on the development of a community outreach program to serve local small businesses. They have received assistance from a major Boston law firm whose members have aided in the preparation of materials for this course. They have also agreed to serve as back-up counsel in this endeavor.
Similarly, a number of Northeastern ED network members have become involved in an initiative in which they combine the resources of the University and the skills of the network members to assist organizations in developing affordable housing in their target communities.
At Maryland, network members participate in the First Time Home Buyers Project. This Project offers free legal advice to first time home buyers in Baltimore to help them avoid becoming victims of predatory lending and mortgage fraud schemes.
Create a Continuum of Service to Low and Moderate-Income Individuals and Communities
The University of Maryland Law School’s Housing, Economic, and Community Development Clinic, which represents community organizations, not individuals, is able to refer individual with legal needs to network members, thus helping both the clients and the practitioners, and creating a real continuum of services.
The litigation conducted by the Clinic may result in the development of issues that need to be handled on behalf of individuals impacted by the litigation. Without the network members, the Clinic is faced with individuals in need of legal assistance who it otherwise would not be able to help.
For example, the Clinic successfully litigated on behalf of a Maryland neighborhood, in which there were a large number of chemical companies. The Clinic’s goal was to have those companies and the government buy out the property of the homeowners living in this heavy industry area. Yet the Clinic, because of its policy of not representing individuals, was not able to represent the individual homeowners in their property sales. It was, however, able to refer these people to the network to have their property sales handled by network members.
The Clinic also has cases that it is unable to handle for other reasons, such as conflicts, etc. Clinic faculty members are able to refer these cases to the network. And, since these faculty members know many of the network members personally, they feel comfortable knowing that the cases will be handled professionally and at affordable rates.
The combination of the Clinic being able to handle litigation on behalf of organizations, and the network members being able to represent individuals affected by the litigation, provides the Maryland community with a true continuum of service. There is clearly a healthy synergy between the work of the Clinic and the network attorneys. One Clinic faculty member commented that this interplay between the Clinic and the network "makes access to justice real." She sees the work of the network members as making it possible for her to "expand services to the people I serve."
III. Benefits to the Participating Law Schools
The following are descriptions of the benefits to the participating law schools that result from the creation of these practitioner networks by law schools. The networks serve to:
Provide Students with Exposure to New Models of Practice
The individuals supported in law school practitioner networks demonstrate the viability of alternative career opportunities. Many law students who enter law school with public interest career goals are frustrated by a dearth of opportunities in public interest organizations. Similarly, many graduates are leaving the legal profession as a result of career dissatisfaction. The network participants are vital role models for students, performing public interest work in a private practice setting. The practitioners also create access for students to valuable internship and other practice opportunities to which they might not otherwise be exposed, as well as an entrée into an established community of practitioners upon graduation.
By demonstrating that it is possible to viably perform public interest work by serving underrepresented individuals and communities and meeting unmet legal needs in a private practice setting, the law school practitioner networks expand the universe of potential public interest work and career opportunities.
One second-year student spoke about the fact that many students are afraid to pursue public interest work because of the debt load they carry. But, her exposure to and contact with network members and their practices made her clear about her career goals. The network members demonstrate to her that there are opportunities to do the kind of work she wants to do in the private sector as well as in the public sector. In addition, one clinical faculty member commented that as a result of her involvement with the network, she now spends more time having her clinic students engage in career assessment and planning and is able to give them more information about the option of solo and small-firm practice.
Another student who participated in Maryland’s Law Practice Management Course, (described below), stated that, as a result of participating in the class, he is now “inspired to actively pursue solo practice … I realize the process is difficult … as a career move but from what I've learned in class, it appears to be worth [it]. In response to your question about what I learned from the class, the biggest thing I've learned is that it is not a ‘solo’ practice but an ‘independent’ practice because of all the available assistance. I had no idea that there was so much support for a would-be independent law practitioner.”
Provide Faculty Members with Important Data About the Reality of Law Practice
Exposure to the practitioners in the networks provides faculty members with important data about the realities of law practice, the needs of their graduates, current trends in the legal profession (especially the impact of technology), and law practice management. All of this information can be incorporated into their institution’s curriculum and faculty scholarship.
One faculty member commented that involvement with the network presented a “window into a kind of practice I had no window into … [I]t definitely has given me lots of food for thought and changed my focus in teaching”.
As a direct result of its interactions with the network, the CUNY Law School faculty now has a better understanding of the necessity for its graduates to become technologically proficient and is incorporating this understanding into its work with students.
Enrich Law School Curriculum
The University of Maryland Law School Project Director developed and presented a Law Practice Management course, designed for students interested in starting a solo or small-firm practice, in which network members share their experience in starting, marketing, and operating their own practices. This course not only includes practical information about opening a law office, but teaches the students how to use time-keeping software as well. Students subscribed to this course in droves, resulting in it being oversubscribed even before the registration period had ended. Similarly, the Northeastern Law School’s Clinical Director, in conjunction with the ED network’s Project Director, created and taught a Law Practice Management course geared toward students interested in developing financially viable practices that serve underrepresented communities.
Provide Participating Law Schools with New and Stronger Connections to the Practicing Bar
At Northeastern Law School, the DV model was developed as a combined effort of the Law School’s DV Institute and the Women’s Bar Association. This collaboration proved valuable. Although the Institute had worked in a variety of contexts previously with many of the practitioners invited to serve on the Advisory Board and join the network, the meetings to plan the project revitalized existing relationships and formalized their joint commitment to improving family representation for domestic violence victims. The project increased the visibility of the Institute among, and strengthened its relationships with, the private bar and bar associations, in addition breaking down the perceived “ivory tower” walls. One faculty member explained: “[T]o some extent there is a gulf between academics and the practicing bar who see academics as in an ivory tower. [The network] helped alleviate that dynamic … [There is now] more trust and a closer relationship. We have built relationships that we can use for other collaborations and to pool resources.”
Provide Participating Law Schools with Strong Ties to a Significant Alumni Constituency
By providing support and services to alumni through the network, participating law schools can develop stronger ties with their graduates. One network member described the network as “a big alumni association [in which] the alumni are more actively involved [than in average alumni associations]”.
As alumni become involved in the practitioner network, it brings them closer to the law school in other ways as well. Alumni have not only enlisted as mentors in the practitioner networks, but network members have happily served as adjunct faculty members to help teach law office management courses and served as spokespersons at Admissions recruiting functions and on Career Services career panels.
And, having alumni involved in law school functions is critical to successful alumni fund-raising efforts. According to one faculty member, the existence of the project “gives life to the notion that the institution is a community [that does not] end when graduates cross the stage.”
Create a Synergistic and Beneficial Relationship with the Participating Law Schools
Law school-supported practitioner networks support and benefit various important law school functions. At the University of Maryland Law School, as a result of its relationship with the network, the Law School’s Economic, Housing, and Community Development Clinic receives valuable case referrals from network members. These case referrals (some of them high profile cases) provide clinic students with interesting educational experiences. And, both the CUNY and Northeastern DV networks provide student interns to network members. This creates valuable, practical and experiential internship opportunities.
At CUNY, the network has developed an important relationship with the Law School’s Admissions Office. CUNY utilizes the network in its recruitment efforts, publicizing it in marketing materials and having network members speak at Admissions Office functions. As a result, some applicants cite the network in their admissions applications as a reason for applying there. This clearly provides the Law School with a valuable recruitment and marketing tool.
The networks’ relationship with the law school can have employment-related benefits as well. As the networks grow and members’ practices develop, they provide additional sources of employment for new graduates. This has already started to occur: one former Maryland Law School student who participated in the Law Practice Management course contacted the Project Director about employment opportunities and was hired by one of the network members shortly after a notice was posted on the network’s listserv.
Provide Participating Law Schools With a Vehicle to Expand Access to Justice and Serve Their Communities
Many individuals are drawn to the legal profession and legal education as a way to expand access to justice and serve their communities. Being involved with the; practitioner networks enables faculty members and administrators to realize their personal missions of instilling professional values of access to justice by helping to develop and support professionals with a commitment to serve low and moderate-income individuals and communities.
