As the blog has been fairly dead this school year, some members of the Class of 2009 would like to extend our thanks to the faculty, staff, and administration of CUNY Law for providing several members of our class with employment during this tough economic time. Between professors finding research assistant positions for members of the class of 2009 and the introduction of the CLRN LaunchPad program (described below), a number of students can pay their rent for a few more months.

We know that it must have taken some serious work to find money for these programs, and we are very grateful. CUNY really came through for us again and we appreciate it.

Thank you!

The idea behind the creation of the CUNY School of Law LaunchPad for Success flows from the devastating impact that the current economic downturn has had on the legal profession. Hard hit are lawyers at almost every level of practice – from large corporate firms to public service positions and perhaps most affected, attorneys in small firms and solo practices. While many in society would not necessarily lament the plight of unemployed lawyers, CUNY Law is particularly concerned because its graduates play a huge role in fostering access to justice in New York City through their work in public service organizations like Legal Services, Legal Aid and programs dealing with issues like domestic violence, human rights, elder law, immigration, landlord/tenant and criminal defense. In the arena of private practice, CLRN has been in the national forefront of programming designed to support lawyers working in solo and small firm practices located in legally underserved communities throughout New York City. At a time when access to justice is at an all-time low, a further decrease in the corps of attorneys who assist New Yorkers with unmet legal needs will further exacerbate the already critical access to justice situation. The time is now to support community-based lawyers, ready, willing and able to serve New Yorkers of modest means. With so few employment opportunities available for members of CUNY Law’s Class of 2009, we are looking for ways to harness the talents of recent graduates without job prospects, simultaneously doing our part to respond to the justice gap. The CUNY Law LaunchPad for Success is designed to train our graduates between the time they take the New York State Bar Exam in July 2009 until they receive the results of the exam at the end of November 2009. During this interim period, we intend to train graduates in the practical implementation of the law in areas such as immigration and landlord/tenant, and pay them to provide paraprofessional services in a myriad of justice initiatives for which CLRN receives New York State and City Council funding. Experiences gained in the LaunchPad will enable participants to effectively transition into jobs that become available as the economy improves or into private practice.