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Nonprofits Making Cuts Forced to Rely More on Deferred Firm Associates
The Recorder
May 12, 2009
Image: Jason Doiy / The Recorder
Reductions in funding have forced two Bay Area legal services nonprofits to restructure.
The Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area has cut six of its 22 positions, including one lawyer, and the Volunteer Legal Services Program of the Bar Association of San Francisco is implementing three-week unpaid furloughs starting in July.
Both nonprofits say they will shift some of the work to law school graduates who have had their start dates deferred by Big Law firms. Dozens of firms have offered to pay associates a stipend while they take jobs in public interest law until the economy improves.
The organizations made the announcement in a joint press release Friday.
All programs at both nonprofits remain intact, they said.
Lawyers' Committee board co-Chairwoman Nancy Harris said that the organization has restructured and responsibilities will be shifted among existing staff, who will be relying on deferred associates for support in handling an increase in work. Referrals to its clinic are up by about 30 percent, Harris said.
"This was an extremely difficult decision for us to make," said Lateefah Simon, executive director. "However, like many organizations across the country, both in the private and nonprofit sectors, we are also dealing with the uncertainty of today's economy. As a result, we are taking steps to reduce costs throughout our operation so that we can continue to serve Northern California's most vulnerable populations for decades to come."
VLSP Executive Director Tiela Chalmers said that $2 million of its budget comes from private foundations and federal and state grants. Funding from these institutional donors is down 8 percent, or $160,000.
Chalmers said that she hoped the 10 percent furlough would help VLSP avoid layoffs. For exempt employees, it translates into three weeks of unpaid leave taken in week-long chunks between July 1 and the end of the year. VLSP has 35 full-and part-time employees.
No programs will be cut, Chalmers said, but VLSP will serve fewer clients.
"Our employees don't make a lot of money to begin with, so to make that percent cut is a significant cut financially for them," she said. "We're hopeful that as the year progresses and our individual donor campaign gets rolling, we may be able to roll back the furloughs."
VLSP won't fill open positions through the rest of 2009. But deferred associates "will step in to handle some of the workload," the release said, "at no cost to VLSP."
