Still Hating America.

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop
If there is an opportunity cost, the subsidy comes from those who bear the opportunity cost -- as Burger said, the partners who could be make more money if those guys were taking paid work. They're making less than they could elsewhere.

Unless the nation's top firms conspire to avoid competition by agreeing to all take cases of this sort. But the victims of that conspiracy are the partners who don't want to pay for pro bono work, not the clients.

never try to predict the behavior of a GP with his finger on the trigger of a client bill. The "pro-bono" guys will probably pad their paying files, and the non-pro bono guys will spike their billings to look better against the pb guys.

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally posted by SlaveNoMore
I'm sure Henry Waxman just assumed that starving Iraqis would prefer gift cards.

Or Waxman's personal method of choice - having funds wired directly into his account.

it's an example of irony that he is "reviewing possible waste, fraud and abuse," correct?

[SlaveNoMore]

Hank Chinaski
actually I drive a 7-Up delivery truck. I started thinking about going to college to be a lawyer so I started lurking here. Is it a good job?

The 7-up Route could have lots more upside.

[Secret_Agent_Man]

Originally posted by SlaveNoMore
Thanks for the link.

I now have another reason to dislike Cleary, and more importantly, a quick review of the attached comments indicate that Ty might be the only person in the world that will still only use the word "subsidize" when referring to handouts from the government.

I liked this comment to the blog piece: It is as if he wrote it with Slave in mind.

"Casting aspersions on the pro bono representation of Guantanamo detainees — efforts that the United States Supreme Court found had profound merit of constitutional proportions — bespeaks a fundamental ignorance of the nature of pro bono representation and the ethical obligations of the legal profession. The provision of free legal services to those in need who cannot help themselves, like prisoners who may be unlawfully detained, is in the finest tradition of the legal profession. It is deeply disturbing that any government official — let alone one who is a member of the bar — would fail to appreciate this bedrock principle."

Comment by Partner Steven A. Reiss, Chair of the Pro Bono Committee at law firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP -

[Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)]

Originally posted by SlaveNoMore
I'm sure Henry Waxman just assumed that starving Iraqis would prefer gift cards.
.

That worked well after Katrina!

[sebastian_dangerfield]

Originally posted by Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)
How do you figure that? If the pro bono work has no opportunity cost, and no marginal cost, why would it affect a paying client's bill, any more than a GP's affinity for fine Scotch?

Research -- library books are sunk/fixed costs. Using them to research Gitmo issues adds no costs. Westlaw.-- large firms are on fixed-price contracts, so they're not passing on hourly billing to clients. Lawyer time--for associates it's coming out of their own hide, and usually doesn't increase their salary or bonus. For GPs it's the same--they're not originating business, so they're not getting comp. for it.

And all of this assumes that any costs the firm actually incurs are passed along to other clients. That's a mistaken assumption--it reduces the partners' draw. And if the partner doesn't like this form of charitable giving, he goes to another firm that doesn't do it.

You and I both know how much of that pro bono time gets shifted onto paying clients' bills. A .6 here, a 1.4 there...

[Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)]

Originally posted by sebastian_dangerfield
You and I both know how much of that pro bono time gets shifted onto paying clients' bills. A .6 here, a 1.4 there...

Ah, so what slave is objecting to is just fraud? I'm sure none of that occurs in Fortune 100 cos.

[SlaveNoMore]

Secret_Agent_Man
I liked this comment to the blog piece: It is as if he wrote it with Slave in mind.

"Casting aspersions on the pro bono representation of Guantanamo detainees — efforts that the United States Supreme Court found had profound merit of constitutional proportions — bespeaks a fundamental ignorance of the nature of pro bono representation and the ethical obligations of the legal profession. The provision of free legal services to those in need who cannot help themselves, like prisoners who may be unlawfully detained, is in the finest tradition of the legal profession. It is deeply disturbing that any government official — let alone one who is a member of the bar — would fail to appreciate this bedrock principle."

Comment by Partner Steven A. Reiss, Chair of the Pro Bono Committee at law firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP -

Actually, I read that bunk and immediately assumed Reiss was throwing his hat in the ring for a Democratic appointment.

Then I looked up his bio and saw that he was both a former Brennan clerk and tenured NYU professor.

And then I knew for certain that he was throwing his hat in the ring.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by Hank Chinaski
never try to predict the behavior of a GP with his finger on the trigger of a client bill. The "pro-bono" guys will probably pad their paying files, and the non-pro bono guys will spike their billings to look better against the pb guys.

I'm sure you'll agree that if they're going to do that shit, they're not going to wait until the firm is representing Gitmo detainees to try it.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by SlaveNoMore
I'm sure Henry Waxman just assumed that starving Iraqis would prefer gift cards.

When the shooting starts, I'd rather hide behind a pallet of Benjamins.

[Secret_Agent_Man]

Originally posted by Yankee Doodle Greedy
You're not going to make me post that picture.

There's one of those socks he asked me about!

S_A_M

[ltl/fb]

Originally posted by SlaveNoMore
I'm sure Henry Waxman just assumed that starving Iraqis would prefer gift cards.

So, what, they're going to eat US currency? Why the hell would they need billions in actual bills?

[Secret_Agent_Man]

Originally posted by Hank Chinaski
actually I drive a 7-Up delivery truck. I started thinking about going to college to be a lawyer so I started lurking here. Is it a good job?

Not for most of us, but it pays well.

[eta: You'll be middle class in no time!]

S_A_M

[Secret_Agent_Man]

Originally posted by Hank Chinaski
I've been at Biglaw where senior trial guys spent tons of time on pro-bono. the firm comped him like he had done something paid.

And the chance to argue on cases that are as high-profile as Gitmo cases? Shit the biggest egos in these firms will be fighting for the files.

I agree with Hank and Slave that, sure, there are some costs to the firms for doing any pro bono work -- much less a complex international case such as these can be. (In one case, for example, I know that the lawyers have flown to Egypt more than once to interview witnesses and family members.)

It is also rather unrealistic to assume that: (a) these costs are never passed along to the paying customers in any way, although there is no direct link; or (b) that these cases are being handled by junior associates just like a pro bono Social Security appeal. And its not just a matter of profile, it is a matter of competence to handle the representation.

These seem to be pretty basic points not worth arguing about.

S_A_M

[Secret_Agent_Man]

Originally posted by ltl/fb
So, what, they're going to eat US currency? Why the hell would they need billions in actual bills?

U.S. dollars are used as currency in Iraq, right alongside the dinar.

Plus, the cash went to the Iraqi "government" of the day, which held it as foreign currency reserves.

S_A_M