Pro bono work anti-social?
Here’s something you don’t see everyday. A 2d Circuit judge has criticized pro bono work as being “anti-social.”
It seems Judge Dennis Jacobs, Chief Judge of the 2d Circuit, does not like it when pro-bono work is used to expand judicial reaches into legislative matters. In a summary of the Judge’s remarks posted at the American Constitution Society Blog ,Judge Jacobs is purported to have said:
Pro bono work primarily is an "antisocial" and self-serving activity lawyers use to develop their skills, firms use to recruit and "give solace" to associates, and nonprofits use to further a political agenda.
A G.H.W. Bush appointee, Judge Jacobs, Chief Judge since 2002, spoke at a Federalist Society meeting in Rochester New York. He also criticized public interest lawyers for failing to take responsibility for their wins and losses. "No public good is good for everybody," the judge said.
See the stories:
2nd Circuit Chief Judge Says Pro Bono Work is 'Anti-Social',at ABAJournal.com.
And U.S. Judge: Pro Bono Is Antisocial at LegalBlogWatch.com
"No public good is good for everybody," the judge said.
Well, it's hard to argue with that. There are competing interests on every issue, and there are non-profits at all points on the political spectrum.
When I was in law school and the idea of loan forgiveness programs was being floated for students who went into "public interest" work, I always wondered if new lawyers going off to work for the Pacific Legal Foundation and new lawyers going off to work for the ACLU would have the same chance at loan forgiveness.
UC Irvine dean and Constitutional Scholar Erwin Chemerinsky has some unkind words for the Judge's position.