Public Interest Law: It's Not About You

In a rough draft of an article about why he's not going to work at a firm, Jeremy Blachman recently wrote:

I have heard people defend their decision to work at a law firm by comparing it to public interest work. That you work the same hours doing the same kind of work but you get paid a lot less and don’t get free coffee. I might try and argue that there’s public interest work that’s more rewarding than firm work, because you might feel like you’re doing more good for the world. That might not be a very good argument. Even if it is, I’m not the right one to make it. Other people can make it better than I can. My argument is that even if that’s true, it misses the point. Even if law firms come out on top if you compare them to public interest jobs, it doesn’t matter. Because these aren’t the only jobs out there. There’s a whole world of other things people do. I feel like it’s easy to forget that. And if practicing law is your passion, maybe it’s okay to forget that. Maybe that really is the entirety of the universe of jobs that interest you.

I actually haven't heard that argument before—that public and private interest law are really the same except that one pays better. Is that really an argument people make to justify working at a firm? While Jeremy is right that there are lots of other things to do besides public interest legal jobs or working in a firm, there are also many more (and more important) differences between public and private interest law besides the money. First, I know lots of public interest lawyers and most of them do not work anything like the same brutal hours that firms are notorious for. They get paid less, sure, but their “benefits package” often includes good health care, a casual dress code (so they don't have to waste money they don't have on clothes for work and can wear what they find comfortable rather than what the partners or clients expect or demand), more flexible vacation time, and shorter hours. And, of course, one big benefit of working in the public interest is that you're more likely to be able to go home at night feeling proud of how you spent your day because you did something good for society. And that's just it: The most important difference between public and private interest law has nothing to do with what it does for you, the attorney. No, the real difference between these two career paths is what they do for other people. Simply put, if you work in the private interest, your clients will be mostly people with money trying to keep that money or get more of it, and the purpose of their litigation will often be their own private gain. Another term for private interest law (not all of it, but too much) could be: Greedy Law. On the other hand, if you work in the public interest, your clients will mostly be people without money trying to get justice or protect themselves from people with money, and the purpose of their litigation will often be the maintenance and protection of their own basic civil and human rights. Another term of public interest law could be: Public Protection Law. (I would include the dread “trial lawyer” or “plaintiff's attorney” in this category, as well.) So when someone suggests that private and public interest law are really the same except that one pays more, that's just not true. One attempts to make the world a better place for whoever can pay the most, while the other attempts to make the world a better place for all of us. And a good way to see the difference is to stop asking what a particular job can do for you, and ask instead what a job could allow you to do for other people. That makes the differences more clear for me, anyway. Disclaimer: I know there are thousands of terrific people working in firms and other “private interest” legal jobs who are doing great work that both pays well and also makes things a little better for all of us. Not all private interest jobs are “bad,” nor are all public interest jobs “good.” The above differences are generalizations made for the sole purpose of helping to clarify what appears to be some confusion about the differences between the two career paths.

Posted 11:20 AM | Comments (12) | law general