How is Private Practice --> Public Defender possible?

[kn6542]

how many people would want to do pro bono type stuff for biglaw salaries (if that's what those directors actually make)?? if they make PI type salaries, well i can tell you're not interested.

rule of thumb: if the job is awesome, then everyone wants to do it. it's a pretty simple rule of thumb, really.

The only dude I know who does this makes biglaw salary. He also manages all the pro bono shit for all the offices of said firm, and works biglaw hours. It's a good gig, I think, but very rare.

[King]

how many people would want to do pro bono type stuff for biglaw salaries (if that's what those directors actually make)?? if they make PI type salaries, well i can tell you're not interested.
rule of thumb: if the job is awesome, then everyone wants to do it. it's a pretty simple rule of thumb, really.

Not trying to be all difficult, but that's a little presumptuous.. I seriously wouldn't mind taking a gigantic paycut after a few years in biglaw so that I can just work on the pro bono directing. In other words, I wouldn't mind taking home a PI type salary for the kind of work that I'd imagine pro bono directors do.

Maintaining a full-time practice in a law firm as well as directing the pro bono program would be a nightmare, in my opinion. But how does it work? Do law firms hire separate "PI type" attorneys to take care of the pro bono stuff, or is it a full-time associate, or a group of associates/partners, that carry a kind of secondary responsibility of managing the program?

Thanks

[King]

how many people would want to do pro bono type stuff for biglaw salaries (if that's what those directors actually make)?? if they make PI type salaries, well i can tell you're not interested.

rule of thumb: if the job is awesome, then everyone wants to do it. it's a pretty simple rule of thumb, really.

The only dude I know who does this makes biglaw salary. He also manages all the pro bono shit for all the offices of said firm, and works biglaw hours. It's a good gig, I think, but very rare.

Ahh, I didn't see this prior to writing the above post..

Although I'm more interested in getting a PI type position with less hours... Is this friend of yours considered an associate at the firm? Anything else that you know about his/her job would be great:D

[kn6542]

how many people would want to do pro bono type stuff for biglaw salaries (if that's what those directors actually make)?? if they make PI type salaries, well i can tell you're not interested.

rule of thumb: if the job is awesome, then everyone wants to do it. it's a pretty simple rule of thumb, really.

The only dude I know who does this makes biglaw salary. He also manages all the pro bono shit for all the offices of said firm, and works biglaw hours. It's a good gig, I think, but very rare.

Ahh, I didn't see this prior to writing the above post..

Although I'm more interested in getting a PI type position with less hours... Is this friend of yours considered an associate at the firm? Anything else that you know about his/her job would be great:D

Well, take this all with a grain of salt, because I am just talking about my "fwends" here. But that particular guy started working as a pro bono coordinator I think as a 5th year associate and is now a partner. Keep in mind that, like I said before, this stuff would vary a lot from firm to firm and that this guy got the job because of his particular circumstances and his connections, really.

If you are looking for something more PI-ey, there are a lot of organizations that have pro bono coordinators. Some legal aid organizations reach into the local legal community to handle a lot of their cases, and those orgs have a pro bono coordinator who connects clients with local attys who are willing to take on the case. I have another friend who does that and she works about 45 hours a week and makes a decent PI salary. I don't know precisely what it is but she's pretty comfortable. But this too is going to vary from community to community, org to org, so I don't really have much more insight than what I've just said.