Senator Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) has written to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts asking about what he considers lavish accommodations at judicial conferences and courthouse construction, and questioning why that money couldn't go to the suffering federal public defenders instead. The letter questioned court officials' testimony that they lack flexibility to make sequestration cuts and fulfill their constitutional duties. The courts absorbed a $350 million sequestration reduction, which caused furloughs and other financial pain for federal public defender and clerk of court offices.
SUMMER HIRING DOWN
Law students seeking coveted positions as summer associates at large firms had slightly fewer job openings available to them in 2013 than they did last year, according to NLJ affiliate The American Lawyer' s Summer Hiring Survey. Among the 116 firms that responded to the relevant questions in the annual poll, the average summer class size was down by 3.4 percent from last year, to 34.6 associates. Heads of recruiting at several firms attributed the dip to the unpredictability built into the summer hiring routine on which most large law firms rely.
