FYI: Layoffs pending at legal aid centers nationwide
Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2011 5:01 pm
Congress has been cutting federal contributions to legal aid services, and has proposed another $104M in funding cuts for fiscal year 2012. Funding cuts are already hurting staff levels nationwide:
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This news is unfortunate, but necessary to share. Funding cuts and layoffs are a double-whammy for those interested in PI jobs; they reduce the number of job openings and put more experienced attorneys back into the job market. PI is not some kind of safety net or backup, and these days it looks harder and harder to find work anywhere.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/sto ... 50179062/1Idaho Legal Aid Services has started unpaid monthly furloughs, and offices are closed one day each month. Several employees have been downgraded from full-time to part-time status.
"It's not a good situation for us," says Jim Cook, deputy director of Idaho Legal Services.
Legal Services of New Jersey plans to lay off 100 employees by the end of the year.
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http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/08/09/ ... fices.htmlFacing budget cuts of more than $2 million, Legal Aid of North Carolina plans to eliminate about 30 positions and close its offices in Smithfield, Boone and Henderson by the end of September.
--LinkRemoved--The New Hampshire Legal Assistance program – an advocate for impoverished people who can’t afford a lawyer – has shuttered its East Pearl Street office because of state budget cuts.
The nonprofit program had for years earned bipartisan support in the state legislature, but suddenly saw its funding drastically cut this year in the Republican-crafted budget.
This news is unfortunate, but necessary to share. Funding cuts and layoffs are a double-whammy for those interested in PI jobs; they reduce the number of job openings and put more experienced attorneys back into the job market. PI is not some kind of safety net or backup, and these days it looks harder and harder to find work anywhere.