Firm to Pay Young Lawyers to Work for Poor

A major international law firm said Tuesday that it will pay the salaries of 125 young lawyers each year who are willing to work for the poor for two years after law school.

For five years beginning next June, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom will funnel $10 million to qualified public service organizations to pay the salaries of Skadden Fellows.

The lawyers would provide legal services in civil law for poor people deprived of civil or human rights and who, unlike persons accused of crime, are not guaranteed counsel by the Constitution.

The program also will instill in the lawyers a taste for pro bono, or public benefit, work, said Peter P. Mullen, executive partner of Skadden Arps.

The program will take the form of fellowships that pay about $32,500 a year plus fringe benefits, comparable to second-year salaries of federal judicial clerks, the announcement from Skadden Arps said.

Twenty-five Skadden Fellows will be named each year for the next five years, and each will serve about two years.

“There are many lawyers interested in and capable of dealing with the legal problems the disadvantaged encounter, and there are many organizations that provide needy persons with legal services,” Mullen said. “The problem has been that the organizations lack the funds to provide enough lawyers to fill the need, much less at a reasonable salary.”

A graduating lawyer applying for the fellowship must find a public service organization willing to employ him.

Skadden Arps, founded 40 years ago, has 177 partners and 675 associates in seven major U.S. cities and in London and Tokyo.