The University of Miami School of Law is pleased to announce the availability of a number of Foreclosure Defense Fellowships for May 2009 UM Law graduates who become members of the Florida Bar. Our goal is to provide meaningful and fulfilling post-graduate alternatives while helping local residents caught in the foreclosure crisis. In addition to the honor of being selected, participants will acquire real-world work experience, have the satisfaction of helping address a serious need in our community, and still have some free time to look for longer-term employment.
Winners of these Fellowships will receive a limited grant totaling $10,000, paid in monthly installments, in exchange for a commitment to (1) attend a three or four day training session in late September, and then (2) work at least three days a week for 27 weeks with either Dade Legal Services or Broward Legal Aid, commencing as soon as you are admitted to the Florida Bar.
Further details are available on the application form at http://www.law.miami.edu/4close/application.pdf.
This announcement, which I just sent to all of our recent graduates, represents a milestone in a project I’ve been working on for some time: trying to get one problem (the lousy market for law graduates) to help solve another (South Florida’s foreclosure crisis).
The need is great.
South Florida is ground zero for the national foreclosure crisis. The courts and the legal system are overwhelmed by this legal tsunami. In all of 2006, fewer than 10,000 foreclosures were filed in the Miami-Dade courts. In the first month of 2009, more than 6,000 foreclosures were filed in those same courts — more than half the annual number 3 years ago — and the rate of foreclosure filings has increased since then. Last year 56,656 foreclosures were filed in Miami-Dade County alone. This year we are on track to double that number. Although hard figures are difficult to come by, it is estimated that almost a third of these local foreclosure cases involve owner-occupied homestead property (“residential homestead mortgage foreclosures”), and that a very large fraction of the borrowers in those cases are unrepresented.
This is an unprecedented legal crisis for our community. As the Daily Business Review recently put it, “thousands of families are being displaced. Some end up on the streets or in shelters.”
The program I have created, with the help and strong support of Interim Dean Paul Verkuil and several other members of the UM faculty and administration, is only a beginning, and very much in need of funding support. I and others will be working during the summer to try to raise money for it, and also for an expanded version that would place our graduates in law offices where they would work as solo pro bono practitioners under the helpful eye of experienced lawyer-mentors. If you know anyone with a quarter of a million dollars, or even the odd thousand, who would like to help in this important work, please send them my way.
And if you are a Miami 3L looking for a job, but cannot find one, please consider this chance to do good and learn from top lawyers at the same time. I think the opportunity, while not very remunerative in dollars, will pay off in the satisfaction of doing good, in learning lawyering skills, and might just impress your next employer.
(In a further attempt to help struggling members of our community, the UM School of Law will also be offering a limited number of substantial scholarships to qualifying students who apply to the LL.M. in Real Property Development and agree to do 15 hours per week of supervised pro bono foreclosure defense representation. Participants in this program do not need to be members of the Florida Bar. Applicants for LL.M scholarships must complete both the regular application for the LL.M in Real Property Development and also a special scholarship application available from the LL.M in Real Property office.)
In the extended part of this post, I’ve put the (slightly reformatted) text of the Foreclosure Defense Fellowships application form.
APPLICATION
University of Miami School of Law
Foreclosure Defense Fellowship
Return completed application to Rm. 382
OR
e-mail to 4close@law.miami.edu
with “FELLOWSHIP APPLICATION” and your full name in subject line
Introduction
The University of Miami School of Law is pleased to announce the availability of a number
of Foreclosure Defense Fellowships for May 2009 UM Law graduates who become members of
the Florida Bar. Our goal is to provide meaningful and fulfilling post-graduate alternatives while
helping local residents caught in the foreclosure crisis. In addition to the honor of being selected,
participants will acquire real-world work experience, have the satisfaction of helping address a
serious need in our community, and still have some free time to look for longer-term employment.
Winners of these Fellowships will receive a limited grant totaling $10,000, paid in monthly
installments, in exchange for a commitment to (1) attend a three or four day training session and then
(2) work at least three days a week for 27 weeks in one of the programs described below,
commencing as soon as they are admitted to the Florida Bar.
The Foreclosure Crisis
South Florida is ground zero for the national foreclosure crisis. While California may have
more cases of foreclosure, they are spread out over a larger area. Here, the problem is highly
concentrated: in certain ZIP codes in places like Homestead and Florida City, about 25% of the
homes are in a stage of the foreclosure process.
The courts and the legal system are overwhelmed by this legal tsunami. In all of 2006, fewer than 10,000 foreclosures were filed in the Miami-Dade courts. In the first month of 2009, more than 6,000 foreclosures were filed in those same courts — more than half the annual number 3 years ago — and the rate of foreclosure filings has increased since then. Last year 56,656 foreclosures were
filed in Miami-Dade County alone. This year we are on track to double that number. Although hard
figures are difficult to come by, it is estimated that almost a third of these local foreclosure cases
involve owner-occupied homestead property (“residential homestead mortgage foreclosures”), and
that a very large fraction of the borrowers in those cases are unrepresented.
This is an unprecedented legal crisis for our community. As the Daily Business Review
recently put it, “thousands of families are being displaced. Some end up on the streets or in shelters.”
We propose to respond to this crisis by mobilizing our recent graduates to provide pro bono
representation to low-income homeowners facing foreclosure of their primary (homestead) residence.
The Fellowship Program
UM Law May 2009 graduates who are taking the July Bar Exam can apply for a Foreclosure
Defense Fellowship placement in either or both of the following programs. In each case Fellows
would attend a ‘boot camp’ put on by the University of Miami in late September 2009, then start
work for three days a week as soon as they are admitted to the Florida Bar.
Legal Services of Greater Miami, Inc. (10 Fellows)
Legal Services of Greater Miami, Inc. (LSGMI) will set up a new Mortgage Foreclosure
Defense Clinic to be staffed with ten Fellows who will work under the supervision of
experienced LSGMI attorneys. Participants will handle intake interviews, identify defenses
and issues, make court appearances as needed, and represent homeowners in the new 11th
Circuit Homestead Access to Mediation Program (“CHAMP”). Fellows will work out of
LSGMI offices, located at 3000 Biscayne Boulevard, Suite 500, Miami, Florida 33137.
Fellows will be asked to bring their own laptop computer, when possible. LSGMI’s stringent
conflict rules will apply, requiring advance approval before Fellows take on any legal work
during their days outside the office.
Legal Aid Service of Broward County (3 Fellows)
Legal Aid Service of Broward County (LASBC) will accept three Fellows who will work
under the supervision of experienced LASBC attorneys. Fellows will work in all stages of
the foreclosure defense process. (Broward is not covered by the 11th Circuit’s CHAMP order.)
Fellows will work out of LASBC offices located at 491 North State Road 7, Plantation, FL
33317. Fellows will be asked to bring their own laptop computer, when possible. LASBC
rules forbid Fellows from taking on any outside legal work during their Fellowship.
If we are able to secure additional funding, we hope to expand this program to include a third option:
direct placement with local lawyer-mentors. If this option becomes available, we will ensure that
early applicants to the programs above have an equal chance to apply for it, so please do not delay
your application for this reason.
The UM School of Law will also be offering a limited number of substantial scholarships to qualifying students who apply to the LL.M. in Real Property Development and agree to do 15 hours per week of supervised pro bono foreclosure defense representation. Participants in this program do not need to be members of the Florida Bar. Applicants for LL.M scholarships must complete both the regular application for the LL.M in Real Property Development (available online) and also a special scholarship application available from the LL.M in Real Property office.
Students may apply for both these Fellowships and the LL.M scholarship, but must choose between them if accepted for both.
How To Apply
Only graduating students of the University of Miami School of Law who have registered to
take the Florida Bar Exam in July are eligible for the Foreclosure Defense Fellowship program.
Final acceptance to the Fellowship program requires that you pass the Florida Bar Exam and secure
admission to the Florida Bar at the earliest possible date.
Fellowship applications are due by August 14, 2009, and should be returned to Rm. G382
in the Law School OR e-mailed to 4close@law.miami.edu with “FELLOWSHIP APPLICATION”
and your full name in the subject line. Applying early may increase your chances of receiving a
Fellowship.
To apply, submit the following:
- A copy of your official transcript;
- A c.v.;
- An essay of no more than 500 words explaining why you would like to be a
Foreclosure Defense Fellow. - A cover letter (or e-mail)
- Stating that you are taking/have taken the Florida Bar exam in July 2009.
- Ranking the programs described above (Dade, Broward) in preference
order, or stating which Fellowship program you are applying for, if you are only
interested in one. - Describing your fluency in any foreign language(s).
- Describing any relevant courtroom or mediation experience (e.g Litigation
Skills, Mock Trial, ADR courses, Negotiation Competition).
Applications are due by August 14. Please apply earlier if you can. Awards of Fellowships — conditional on admission to the Florida Bar — will be made on a rolling basis commencing no later than August 31. Interviews may be requested in some cases.
The best defense is not overpricing housing.
Get back to me when the U of M is against the mortgage interest deduction.
Tick.
Tock.
Yeah, that’s what I thought.
I love you — but you suck.
Good job, Michael. Congratulations on getting it off the ground!
I’m sorry but $15/hour with no benefits seems a bit insulting. What does one year at UM cost and you consider this an “opportunity” for those who don’t have jobs yet? People understand that academia and non-profits pay less than most of the alternatives, but you should be ashamed of this! If you had a son or daughter who asked you if they should do this as anything other than a last resort (no clerkship, no job) would you honestly advocate that they do it. Can you honestly say that you’re serving the needs of the target population when only the least qualified will be receiving this “honor”.
I wish it were more money, but I’m constrained by what I have to offer. I can honestly say without reservation that if my son had no paying job on tap, I’d absolutely prefer this to his staying at home and counting his toes. And the people in this program will, I hope and trust, do a very great amount of good for people who very much need the help.
And I also say — and have said often — to our grads, that if they’re offered a job in this market they should take it.
“I wish it were more money” is a cop out. Two motivations appear to be blinding you to alternative, better solutions. One is a desire to help people as quickly as possible and the other is the personal satisfaction you hope to gain in creating this project.
Except what you are most likely to get is substandard representation by newly minted grads in the bottom half of the UM class who have no other options. Have you considered sacrificing the short term gain for long term benefit by holding out for a more competitive renumeration or by shortening the time commitment (thus increasing the $/hour) with, instead, a task of creating screening questionairres, web content, and partnership with social agencies plus a set of seminars for homeowners or paralegals to sign up for and be presented with how to do a lot of this stuff themselves.
P.S. With no past history, the honor of the fellowship is likely to be neutral or negative for the winner in future employment rather than a positive. Until the fellowship has a track record, there is no prestige in taking sucky compensation because you had no other alternatives. Recruiters will now that instantly unless they’re dumber than I think. They may appreciate the experience, but I doubt it unless you can promise that their work was closely supervised by an experienced attorney.
I think you might want to go and read the actual application (in the extended part of this posting). The representations will be conducted under the auspices and supervision of two first-class legal organizations: Legal Aid & Legal Services. Your suggestion that they would be party to something substandard is baseless and wrong, and the sign of a sour disposition.
The new CHAMP mediations in particular, call out for representation, and are a procedurally light-weight forum with defined issues in which new lawyers — armed with the latest information on what sort of workouts are possible — can be expected to provide high-quality representation to people who otherwise might be at a serious disadvantage. Furthermore, the task of scanning a complaint and identifying certain classes of procedural defenses (especially in the area of chain of title) is something a properly trained law graduate can do (and we’re going to train them how in our ‘boot camp’) — but an unrepresented party wouldn’t know where to begin.
There’s lots here waiting to be done, and our graduates can do it.
I’d also like to push back at the suggestion that the people with these fellowships are somehow marking themselves as losers. This is entirely backwards. Many firms have withdrawn offers to great students. Everyone in the law biz understands that this year is extraordinary.
It never ceases to amaze me how people unhappy with their own lot must find fault with every attempt to make the world better. Even so, the suggestion that a legal recruiter would prefer someone who has sat around doing nothing to someone who had six month’s top-quality training and experience with Legal Services, and has represented many clients solo in that time, is even more ridiculous than normal. Not one single person I have spoken to about this believes anything of the sort: it stands to reason that people who went out and did something are more attractive than those who did not. That the actions are a form of public service, may not hurt either.
It would be nice if the program could be opened up to 2008 grads still looking for jobs.
It never ceases to amaze me how those who are complacent and established underestimate how ridiculous it seems to people below them to be told that they should be happy with crumbs (or cake). For the record, I’m not unhappy with my own lot. Part of the reason is that I have refused great “opportunities” of this ilk 4 or 5 times in my life and have always been happy that I didn’t settle for less than I deserved.
Now I might be wrong and the job market is so devastatingly bad that less than 40% of your students have been placed, in which case, I guess the problem is not this program, but that a UM law degree has so little value after working so hard and paying so much. I really do think you underestimate the stench of failure that will be on these graduates. I suppose the Legal Aid organizations will be interested in identifying the best and hiring them if/when positions become available, but your documentation notwithstanding, there is no promise of how close the supervision will be. Next year, 27 weeks from the start of this program, new graduates will be turned out by UM and every other law school in the nation. What do you estimate the relative benefit of this program will be for those competing for jobs in terms of class rank against a new grad? Go look at the research on academics entering a down job market. They never regain what they lost even if they fill their time with adjunct positions or other useful experience.
CHAMP, which I was not aware of, certainly seems promising and it seems that the Florida judiciary is doing for people what the rest of the government (federal or state) can’t seem to accomplish which is forcing renegotiation of terms.
We actually have no firm idea what the eventual placement rate will be this year. Because the South Florida legal market is dominated to an unusual degree by small and medium size firms, most job offers are not extended until after the bar results are out. Much will depend on the state of the economy in the fall. The national market for new lawyers looks dire, though, so it seems prudent to prepare for the worst. From what I’m reading in the news, I think It is possible that a big fraction of the national graduating pool may not find work right way; right now it could be almost any number. Given that South Florida is being hit worse than many regions — not as bad as Detroit, but still bad — I don’t imagine we’ll do much better than the national average even though we’re the best school in the area. And because this is a truly national problem, I don’t think people from the class of ’09 who struggle to find work will have a “stench” of anything except bad luck. But again, the question is, given that there likely will be an oversupply of entry-level lawyers for at least a short time, if someone finds themselves without a job with long-term prospects, is it better to do something or nothing? I don’t see how anyone is worse off for being offered that decision.
As to the level of supervision, based on my personal conversations with the principals involved in both Broward and Dade, I am certain they will bring to this project the ordinary level of high professionalism that they bring to all their representations, and all their training of new lawyers. Dade in particular has an institutionalized one-month training program which sounds very rigorous. I feel very confident that the lawyers participating in this program will learn a great deal, and emerge professionally enriched from it — although financially impoverished. And, not least, that a large number of people will be helped, despite your unjustified sneers about the new lawyers’ skills.
Your problem, from my “complacent” perspective, is taking apples for oranges. Neither I nor anyone in any law school controls the national economy. When a bunch of bankers tank the economy, the result is bad for our students. That’s the baseline we face currently, through no fault of ours or of our students. Given that reality, we do what we can. The alternative is to do nothing. From the tone of your complaints that it is all inadequate you make it sound like there is some magic wand somewhere that we are spitefully refusing to wave, or that we believe that being paid a fraction of what they are worth is a good thing for our grads. But given the reality — that entering lawyers are in for a bad year or two — the question is, shall we do what we can, or do nothing. That’s not complacent. At worst it’s misguided.
Now, if it happens that you have a better idea for where to find either better funding or better employment, please do feel free to share.
How about only creating 10 fellowships instead of 13 and raising the compensation without increasing the commitment? You either have the funds or not and if you do then it really is a question of political will in allowing the $15/hour instead of raising it to closer to $20/hour. So if it’s not a magic wand or spite, why do you insist on this insulting level of pay?
How about eliminating the onerous restrictions on outside legal work AND instituting a way for outside (for profit) legal work to be channeled to these people. After all the money you are paying is less than what firms are paying to outsource to India. (Think about that.)
How about sponsoring a swanky $xxx/plate dinner for the fellows to raise funds and allow them to network with South Florida’s finest. Get a lot high-powered people there and maybe, at least for one evening, be a real prestige value to being a Fellow.
Make sure that Fellows are aware of and eligible for public service loan forgiveness for this first 27 weeks of their career.
Longer term, if there is going to be a glut of lawyers that makes this level of compensation attractive then consider graduating fewer lawyers or drastically lowering tuition. Some law schools should simply shut down (probably not UM). It happened to dental schools.
The conflict of interest rules are required by the hosting institutions. They are not in my power to alter. If we raise more money and have additional students working as solo pro bono counsel on a modified externship model where they are placed under the eye of a lawyer-mentor, the conflicts rules might in some cases be looser, but at the price of a reduced quantity of formal training, less community among participants, and the risk of mostly looser supervision. Intake also becomes a complexity; it’s solvable, but not as straightforward as with these two programs. Also, with the placements in these first two groups I don’t have to worry about quality control among the supervisors: I know they are very very good, and will be committed to careful supervision since the cases will be handled in their organizations’ names.
I don’t know what the profit percentage is on a “swanky dinner” but it seems to me to be a high-expense proposition, one fraught with risk if you book and no one turns up. (Keep in mind that many law firms in town, our natural source of attendees and the folks you think would be the networking targets, represent banks and it’s awkward to ask them to support something adverse to their clients’ interests.) I’ve spent my time pursuing funding channels that play to what I know, grants from foundations. If someone with experience in doing dinners would like to volunteer to organize a dinner — and stand up for the costs if it craters– I’m all ears, but I would not feel comfortable risking the capital based on no experience. As for the networking opportunities, I think they’re much better if you’re going to court and doing something real day after day than one night at a hotel ballroom trying to talk over loud music. The idea that you get a job based on showing up in a tux seems to me somewhat unrealistic in the best of times, and doubly so in a market where the jobs do not exist.
I have explored the loan issue, thanks to my research assistants, and I am told it is quite complex and very sensitive to the particular portfolio of loans that graduates are carrying. There are opportunities, and the law school makes this information available to all grads, not just Fellows, but it’s hard to give good generic advice since the rules for different public and private loans vary so much. I may try to draft a memo for fellows about the major programs, if time permits. I’d certainly welcome volunteers if anyone has relevant expertise and would like to donate it.
I was not aware that pro bono work was being outsourced to India, much less foreclosure defense. I’d be interested in any references you have on this.
More generally, and probably for the last time, I’d like to reiterate one of the main point you repeatedly seen to have missed: the objective of this program is not only to provide a useful and meaningful option for UM grads struggling with a bad job market. It is also the help some of the folks in our community who struggling with the foreclosure crisis. The optimality of the proposed package needs to be weighed on both these axes.
So will these “lawyers” be expected to roll-up their sleeves and help strip the property bare of appliances, fixtures, and copper piping?
Anyhow, I’m sure this project will help to put things back the way they ought to be in lower-income Miami. Make it as hard for banks to get out of bad loans as possible, so they will be unlikely to make them again to anyone but well-financed slum lords. I mean come on, it worked for decades, what were we thinking? All that Republican non-sense about home ownership improving communities, phooey. The slum lord system was working, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.
I’m also glad you’ve finally warmed to the notion that UM Law grads ought to expect assembly-line legal work when they get out. This will help forge their expectations. They will have great skills to represent themselves pro se when they start getting harassing phone calls regarding their unpaid student loans.
More generally and definitely for the last time, I want to emphasize the main point you seem to have missed. $15/hour with no benefits and onerous restrictions on outside work is insultingly low compensation for a member of the Florida Bar. SOMEONE (was it you?) made the decision that this was acceptable without pushing for more. UM has put its imprimatur on this farce and has thus told its graduates and the community that this is the best that can be expected. I do care whether there is a whole lot of good that can be done by these newly minted lawyers, but you promised something more than this when you enrolled them and taught them. You have, if you will, an ethical obligation to these graduates. You act like there was no choice, but there was and it was to walk away, but you’re desire to help the folks in your community (in conflict with your obligation to help your law students) and your desire to notch a success overrode this. You just don’t see and won’t see that this is a bad precedent.
I hope at a minimum, you track your Fellows scientifically over the coming years to see how they fare relative to your non-Fellows of similar class rank. Hopefully, I’ll be proved wrong and you will have done a great deal of good for the Fellows and not just the folks in the community.
Elliott,
If you feel like you can do better then let’s see it! To counter some of your allegations about UM. I have many friends who are fello ’09 grads headed to big law. Yes some have been delayed. I also have friends who are ’09 grads at ivy law schools who are in the same boat. So if it’s that time of month, go to cvs and get yourself a box of tampons. I’m sitting in barbri with FIU, Nova, and St. Thomas grads who may get jobs washing dishes or cleaning toilets after the bar… so I’d think this fellowship for UM grads is a decent deal compared to whatever else is out there…
Also, you make a ridiculous comment that this fellowship will “pigeon hole” grads… Let’s say they did get an insurance defense job – are you suggesting that such would all of a sudden jump start their carreer after the bar? Ridiculous…
Elliott, stop hating and let’s see you do better.
Huh? I make more is that what you mean by do better? Pigeonhole or precedent whatever. I know the right amount to offer next time I need “better than nothing” representation. I guess I was a sucker for ever considering that it was worth more.
yeah well on your “better than nothing” representation – now you are hating on the public defender’s office too… and I mean “do better” – let’s see you employ some recent grads for more money than the fellowship.
I promise my students the best legal education I know how to deliver. That’s it.
It’s really lame how so many at UM bash graduates of other Miami area law schools as well as anyone at UM who isn’t in the top 1% of the graduating class. Many people from Nova, St. Thomas and the middle of the UM class go on to do fulfilling things. One of the worst things about going to law school at UM was having to listen to so many whiners who aggressively gripe and complain to no end. I’m happy not to be at UM law right now and dealing with those people. It isn’t pleasant. Maybe a large number of people at local law schools won’t find employment as attorneys – so what? Life goes on. Life is about a lot more than a job. I feel badly for those who won’t be able to pay back their loans; maybe they should become more involved politically and make the government do something to help them. I think it’s a wonderful idea for people to donate their time to public service in programs such as this one whether it’s for 15 dollars or for nothing. I think UM would do well to have MANY more programs like this one for its students too. One thing severely lacking at UM was clinical experience. With more clinical experience, more graduates might feel comfortable going solo and jumping into their own legal practice with skills and experience they gained while in school when they graduate and can’t find a job.
bullseye by howard. thank you.
Thanks for your hard work in setting this up. Creative and useful – a Froomkin trademark.
howard and umlaw’10 – come sit with us in barbri and kaplan – you’ll see how much the FIU and other tier 4’s hate on us… I overhear it all the time. A friend who graduated from FSU law told me that he’s overheard them hating on us and FSU/UF… they’re the ones who are haters. Everyone knows those schools are like a 3 year bar course.
Thank you for doing this. I hope that Indiana University adopts something similar. It gives students networking opportunities, court experience, community experience, and a chance to use the law to change lives.
Every State U Should Do This.
The Universities are supported by the state for the good of the people in that state. Great work.
As for the income, this is in fact not really about the *lawyers* but about the *clients*. Just like when other professions assist those in need.
As an aside, to RecentEmployedUMgrad: what is indicated by “get a tampon” directed as a scathing insult to the recipient does not insult the target. Rather, it indicates instead that you think that the most potent attack on a human is declare them, god forbid, female. And then indicate that of course a woman’s intellect is not to be trusted based on our inherently emotional and hysterical nature. Instead of insulting Elliot, you insulted all the female readers of the blog with your bigotry and showed yourself in the worst possible light. I cannot imagine that a man who addresses another with that foulest of epithets, “woman”, would be very empathetic towards any female client, victim of crime, or defendant who has the bad luck to have you representing them. I hope that you learn and change. I will not further explain the nature of the world to you in this discussion, because either you accept this identification of your behavior and learn to change, or not.
1st Amendment Violations at the University of Miami. One student withdraws in response to back\slash magazine ban.
New Times Reports: http://backslashonline.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=328:student-drops-out-after-magazine-banned&Itemid=41