NYC Mayor Fills City Vacancies With Pro Bono Lawyers
Eric Adams will hire eight lawyers paid for by their private firms but listed as New York City employees to fill a shortage caused by lawyers opting for private firms.
Landwebs
New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced a new fellowship to secure private lawyers for jobs with city agencies following an exodus of city lawyers opting for private firms with more flexibility and wages, Katie Honan reports for The CITY. The administration will bring in eight lawyers in January, all paid by their private firms to work for the city pro bono, but critics say it doesn’t fill the holes.
According to the Civil Service Bar Association, a union representing attorneys at 40 city agencies, membership dropped 22 percent since the pandemic’s start, from more than 1,000 attorneys to just over 800. The mayor said it’s time to make the positions more appealing to help buck the trend of lawyers opting against city jobs. “The city government for far too long, rested on their own success, everyone came to them,” Adams said. “So we have to now be competitive and recruit talent.”
