By Noel Brinkerhoff and David Wallechinsky
Washington D.C. - Tight
on money but loaded with cases to prosecute, the U.S. Attorney’s office
in Kansas City has been using unpaid attorneys fresh out of law school
to help out.
According to The Kansas City Star, U.S. Attorney Beth
Phillips implemented the program because of a hiring freeze that
prevented her from adding any more salaried positions to her staff.
With unemployment among lawyers at about 5% in Missouri, and
underemployment among young lawyers close to 30%, Ryan Hershberger
decided to spend a year serving as a special assistant U.S. Attorney
without getting paid in order to gain valuable career experience.
A member of the narcotics unit, Hershberger has handled an
eight-person drug conspiracy case, while another unpaid special
assistant has indicted more than two dozen gun defendants as part of her
work for the violent-crimes strike force.
What is happening in Kansas is part of a larger trend across the
nation. Unpaid lawyers are known as “Special Assistant U.S. Attorneys
(SAUSA).” A typical call
for unpaid attorneys reads, “The Office of the United States Attorney
for the District of Connecticut is seeking applications from attorneys
who are willing to accept an unpaid temporary position that offers a
valuable opportunity to gain exposure to the office while also obtaining
litigation experience and conducting trials.
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