Last May, New York Court of Appeals Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman announced a program that would require 50 hours of pro bono service to be performed before an attorney can be admitted to the bar of New York. In September, the Court of Appeals announced the rules which will govern the program. The requirement will take effect in 2015 and will be implemented through law school course work, clinics, internships, legal offices that perform legal services for the poor, and by work in courts and for nonprofit organizations in New York, across the country and in a foreign country.
The proposal has not received universal praise. Some argue that the program would put an onerous responsibility on inexperienced attorneys and a burden on supervising lawyers who must certify to the work done at the expense of representing low-income clients themselves. However, most attorneys, judges and law school professors appear to believe the plan is beneficial, although it will not alone satisfy the need for representation of the needy in the civil courts of New York. On the other hand, it will certainly increase needed representation for those who cannot afford it.
