Copyright 2000 The New York Times Company
The New
York Times
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August 21, 2000, Monday, Late Edition - Final
SECTION: Section A; Page 24; Column
4; Editorial Desk
LENGTH: 159 words
HEADLINE: To Ensure That the Poor Get Legal Services
BODY:
To the Editor:
"Legal Firms
Cutting Back on Free Services for Poor" (front page, Aug. 17) should be
disturbing to those whose sense of injustice is aroused by our underprivileged
population's being denied access to the legal system.
There is a
solution. Congress should restore the financing cuts made in 1996 to the
Legal Services Corporation and remove the restrictions on legal
services providers. Second, states should provide permanent financing for legal
services. And at a time when there is competition among law firms to recruit the
top graduates of the elite schools, these graduates should make it clear that
they will not work for firms that do not permit them to work a significant
number of pro bono hours, and that these hours must be credited toward the
hourly goal set by the firm for associates.
WARREN J. SINSHEIMER
New York, Aug. 17, 2000
The writer is managing attorney of
Legal Services for Children. http://www.nytimes.com
LOAD-DATE: August 21, 2000 
