The Face of Public Interest Law
For some lawyers, providing legal services to unrepresented
or underrepresented individuals or groups is exactly the kind
of legal work they always wanted to do.
By Dianne Molvig
few years ago Madison attorney Bob Peterson appeared before
the State Bar's Board of Governors to advocate for creating
a new Bar section for public interest lawyers. A debate ensued.
Some board members questioned whether a new section was warranted.
Others pointed out that public interest attorneys already were
members of other Bar sections in their specific areas of practice.
And one attorney posed a question to Peterson that perhaps was
on the minds of many in the room: "Just what is public interest
law, anyway?"
"The room burst into laughter," Peterson recalls.
"My attempt to present a definition was halted in its tracks."
Bob Peterson, chair of the State Bar's newly created Public Interest
Law Section, established and is executive director of ABC for Health Inc., a nonprofit public
interest law firm based in Madison that focuses on health care access issues, such as appealing
insurance or HMO claim denials, for families across the state. |
Another board member piped up, chiding his colleague, "It's
not what you do!"
Public interest law does have a certain "you know it
when you see it" - or don't see it - element
to it, Peterson acknowledges. Nevertheless, he's willing
to take a stab at defining it. "I think it's the legal
representation of unrepresented and underrepresented groups and
individuals," he says. "It's for that part of
society that generally has a difficult time getting the services
of an attorney."
Peterson ultimately prevailed in winning Board of Governors'
support for creation of a Bar committee, which later became the
Public Interest Law Section. Peterson is section chair. Among
his fellow section members are law students and attorneys who
work in diverse settings: government offices, legal services
agencies, other nonprofit advocacy organizations, and private
practice. Their fields of practice are even more diverse: elder
law, consumer law, family law, environmental law, Indian law,
public defender work, and more.
Working for agencies that rely upon government funding, grant
support, and what little fees clients may be able to pay usually
translates into salaries that are at the low end of the spectrum.
Lawyers who choose careers in public interest law know they won't
realize the earning potential of their colleagues in traditional
law firms. What motivates them to head down this career path?
What are the drawbacks and rewards? What advice would they
offer to others considering public interest law as a career?
Here several attorneys present answers to such questions.
Opting for a different pace
Eleven years ago, Bob Peterson wrote a short story that opened
with a description of lemmings racing toward a cliff's edge.
It was no coincidence that Peterson also was nearing his law
school graduation. He looked around him and saw his classmates
driven by a competitive frenzy. "But no one knew where they
were going," he says.
Despite the peer pressures and the usual now-what-are-you-going-to-do-with-your-law-degree
questions asked by relatives and friends at graduation ceremonies,
Peterson decided to step back and out. He bought a one-way ticket
to Europe, where he traveled for six months, living out of a
backpack and a tent - and thinking about what to do next.
"I ended up in London," Peterson says, "and wrote
a letter to a friend and law school classmate, saying if I could
be a staff attorney at the Center for Public Representation,
I'd be happy." While in law school, he had worked at
CPR in a clinical program assessing the medical needs of the
rural uninsured in Polk and Barron counties.
"I think public interest law is the legal representation of
unrepresented and underrepresented groups and individuals. It's time for that part of society
that generally has a difficult time getting the services of an attorney." -- Bob Peterson |
He also knew job openings at CPR were infrequent. When he
got back to Wisconsin, he took a job delivering plants. Many
a time on his delivery routes he walked through the doors of
law firms, wondering if law would ever be his career. His resolve
to wait for the right job was being tested.
Then one day Peterson stopped by CPR to say hello. Director
Louise Trubek greeted him with the news that CPR had just received
a grant to follow up on the project he'd begun as a law
student. She encouraged Peterson to apply for the job; he eventually
was hired. "I've never felt such a sense of fate,"
he says. "The pieces just fell into place. I tell that story
to law students who are discouraged, because what I learned is
to maintain your passion and be patient. Wait for your door to
open. If you hang in there, it will."
Today, Peterson is executive director of ABC for Health Inc.,
a nonprofit public interest law firm based in Madison, which
he established five years ago as a spinoff of his work at CPR.
His agency focuses on health care access issues, such as appealing
insurance or HMO claim denials, for families across the state.
"We pulled together this organization for a lot less than
people thought it would cost," he says. "I had contacts
with funding sources, and I used some of the resourcefulness
I learned living out of a tent and a backpack."
He is, he says, where he belongs. "I have down times
when I feel discouraged," he admits, "such as when
you work hard on a grant and get notice it wasn't funded.
But then you have a day when you represent a client before a
hearing with an insurance company. The client needs a transplant,
and later you get a call from the client saying the insurance
company is going to cover it. You've changed that person's
life. That's very rewarding."
Changing people's lives for the better is one of the
key rewards Jennelle Joset cites about her job. She knew she
wanted to be a public interest attorney before she entered law
school. "I saw that people who can't afford attorneys
very often don't get justice," she says. "But
everyone is entitled to the same justice."
After finishing law school three years ago, Joset became staff
attorney for the Center Against Domestic and Sexual Abuse in
Superior. "The pay is low," she says, "but we
don't have the hectic rat race of a large law firm. It's
almost like a family atmosphere here. It's a very supportive
environment."
The job does, however, bring a harried tempo of its own. Joset
and a paralegal make up the entire legal team, representing clients
in four counties. The agency has a long waiting list. While there's
no push to accrue billable hours as in a private firm, the pressure
is still on. "You have to spend this many hours because
all these people need services," Joset explains. "And
you're the only one here to serve them. So it's hectic
in a different way."
What's more, the work itself is draining: dealing with
cases of domestic violence, child abuse, and sexual assault.
"It's the worst of the bad," Joset notes. "But
we have a relaxed work environment, which helps. And as an agency,
we spend time taking care of ourselves. We do a lot of stress
management and healing-type things." Yoga, massage, retreats,
and ample vacation allowances are some of the wellness techniques
Joset and other staff use to fend off burnout.
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