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Politics : View from the Center and Left -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Ilaine who wrote (8213)	12/31/2005 9:54:37 PM
From: KLP	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 541674

Earlier, LB posted on his thread this article by a Stanford law student, from todays WaPo....Seems like this would be a good idea.... And you're right...it would be helpful for the general public to know more about the legal system, how to get help if need be, and how it works, plus what costs are involved. cafehayek.typepad.com December 31, 2005 A Sighting of David Ricardo in Palo Alto I'm genuinely delighted to learn that students at Stanford's School of Law are learning the meaning and benefits of the principle of comparative advantage. This fine op-ed in today's Washington Post by Josh Sheptow, a Stanford law student, explains why the widespread practice of high-priced corporate attorneys devoting some of their time to do pro bono work for poor people is "staggeringly inefficient." Here's the core of Mr. Sheptow's argument: My argument is straightforward. First, note that there are nonprofits such as the Legal Aid Society that do nothing but provide free legal services to low-income clients. Their offices are not fancy and their attorneys command much lower salaries than their counterparts at large, prestigious law firms. As a result, it costs these organizations (or, more accurately, their donors) less than $100 for each hour of legal services they provide to low-income clients. Now consider a lawyer who charges paying clients $500 an hour (roughly the going rate for an upper-level associate at a large corporate law firm). If she donated 10 hours of fees to Legal Aid, she could fund roughly 50 hours of legal service to low-income clients. That's five times the amount of service she could provide if she spent those 10 hours doing pro bono work herself. Thus it is much more efficient for her, and for high-priced lawyers generally, to donate their fees rather than their time. Well done, Mr. Sheptow! Posted by Don Boudreaux in Law \| Permalink 888888888888888888888888888888888 Earlier, TP provided this link.... justice.uaa.alaska.edu From the above link, came this one below.... State-Funded Indigent Defense Services, 1999 Presents findings from data collected as part of the 1999 National Survey of Indigent Defense Systems in the 21 States where the State government provides virtually all of the funding for indigent defense services. It examines the type of defender programs used in the 21 States and how the programs are organized. State operating expenditures for criminal indigent services are presented in the aggregate and by program type. Staffing and caseload data also are presented for public defender, assigned counsel, and contract attorneys programs. Highlights include the following: The 21 States, accounting for 27% of the U.S. population, spent $662 million on indigent criminal defense services in 1999, more than double the total amount in 1982 in constant dollars. In 1999 State governments provided 90% or more of the funding for indigent criminal defense services in 21 States, an increase of 4 States since 1982. 09/01 NCJ 188464 ojp.usdoj.gov