I don’t know very many people who ring up grocery purchases or manage corporations or law firms as a hobby,
Not a “law firm” exactly, but the prosecutor’s office in Long Beach, California is looking for volunteers to prosecute criminals for free. This economy is rough.
Don’t most people work pro bono as defense attorneys or for non-profits trying to fight for some cause? I’ve never heard for a lawyer volunteering as a prosecutor.
You’re right. Traditional pro bono work generally is undertaken on behalf of parties who are unable to pay steep legal fees, or else in order to advance civil rights or some similar purpose.
Prosecuting low-level crimes is considered one of the ordinary functions of government, or at least it has been until now.
In the modern context, I don’t think there’s necessarily a principled distinction. The Long Beach city government is probably being pretty smart. Still, in a historical context, this is a big change. In the English-speaking world, standing national armies are relatively new, and government-paid firefighters and police forces are even newer. But employees of the state (or the king) have been prosecuting crimes since (checking Wikipedia)...at least 1243 .
Yeah, that’s my impression as well. Then again, most of what I “know” about the actual practice of law I learned from television shows, so I don’t take it too seriously.
Not a “law firm” exactly, but the prosecutor’s office in Long Beach, California is looking for volunteers to prosecute criminals for free. This economy is rough.
Pro bono legal work (not in any way affiliated with U2) predates the current economic downturn.
Don’t most people work pro bono as defense attorneys or for non-profits trying to fight for some cause? I’ve never heard for a lawyer volunteering as a prosecutor.
You’re right. Traditional pro bono work generally is undertaken on behalf of parties who are unable to pay steep legal fees, or else in order to advance civil rights or some similar purpose.
Prosecuting low-level crimes is considered one of the ordinary functions of government, or at least it has been until now.
There are two implications here I’m not entirely certain of.
The first is that enforcing laws is not a “similar purpose” as above.
The second is that the government soliciting volunteers to perform a task constitutes no longer considering that task a function of government.
In the modern context, I don’t think there’s necessarily a principled distinction. The Long Beach city government is probably being pretty smart. Still, in a historical context, this is a big change. In the English-speaking world, standing national armies are relatively new, and government-paid firefighters and police forces are even newer. But employees of the state (or the king) have been prosecuting crimes since (checking Wikipedia)...at least 1243 .
Yeah, that’s my impression as well. Then again, most of what I “know” about the actual practice of law I learned from television shows, so I don’t take it too seriously.