The New Public Interest Lawyers

The New Public Interest Lawyers' At a time when our society is badly demoralized and failing to meet the needs of many of its citizens, the traditional modes for public service by lawyers-through working in the government 1 or through combining pro bono activities with commercial law firm practice 2have lost much of their effectiveness and allure.Some law students now feel an angry despair, no longer believing it possible to play a positive role within their prospective profession.But others have decided to believe, with the poet, that you don't have to be a Weatherman-either to know which way the wind is blowing, or to be a force for necessary and fundamental change.A source of intense interest for the present generation of law students is the small number of practitioners outside government or corporate law practice whose prime goal is the promotion of significant social This Comment originated in independent work by a small group of students for Professor Charles Reich's course, entitled "The American Corporate State," at Yale Law School.Research was made possible by grants from the American Bar Foundation and the Urban Studies Committee of Yale Law School.Information was gathered through a series of in-depth interviews with numerous lawyers who are engaged in what the authors feel may be loosely termed "public interest law."The Journal expresses sincere thanks to these lawyers, whose names are listed in the Appendix, both for the primary contributions which brought them to our attention, and for their remarkably straightforward and insightful interviews.We are especially grateful to