“The Legal Accountability Center (LAC) has filed bar complaints against FCC Chairman Brendan Carr in Washington, D.C., and Maryland over his recent actions against Disney and Jimmy Kimmel Live!, the agency's conduct during Skydance’s purchase of Paramount, and his “leveraging [of] regulatory authority in a manner that appears retaliatory toward protected speech and selectively targets broadcasters who President [Donald] Trump dislikes.””
“The Justice Department is suing to block disciplinary proceedings by the District of Columbia Bar against attorneys who served in the Trump administration in a lawsuit that asserts politics not ethics violations is the key issue.”
“[A] federal workers union sued Trump Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins for Christian proselytizing to USDA’s 110,000 workers[:] The National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE), a Machinists sector, seven USDA workers, the Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and Democracy Forward—pro bono lawyers who help unions and individuals oppose Trump’s dictatorial actions—told the U.S. District Court in San Francisco on May 13 that Rollins violated the U.S. Constitution’s 1st Amendment.”
“U.S. President Donald Trump's administration expects hundreds of health department officials will lose civil service job protections, making them easier to fire, as it carries out a plan to revamp the federal workforce, according to an internal memo reviewed by Reuters.”
“Today, Attorney General Ellison led a coalition of 15 other attorneys general in urging several large donor-advised fund sponsors to carefully evaluate their decision to stop payments to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) following the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) highly controversial indictment of the SPLC. In their letter to the donor-advised fund sponsors, the coalition warns the institutions of the harm that could result from them helping the Trump administration target nonprofits for simply exercising their First Amendment rights.”
“A former immigration judge in Massachusetts has filed a lawsuit accusing President Donald Trump's administration of unlawfully firing him in part because of his past advocacy on behalf of people from Latin America.”
“The Treasury Department’s top lawyer resigned Monday as the government announced a controversial settlement with President Trump, according to people familiar with his departure. Brian Morrissey joined the Trump administration last year as the president’s pick to be Treasury Department’s general counsel, after previously serving at the agency and at the Justice Department during Trump’s first term. A former clerk for Justice Clarence Thomas, Morrissey didn’t respond to a request for comment late Monday.”
“New Mexico is expanding legal resources for some of the state’s most underserved communities, placing trained attorneys in acequias, land grant-merced communities and colonias across New Mexico. The Community Governance Attorney Program, housed within the New Mexico Higher Education Department, supports up to two eligible third-year University of New Mexico School of Law students each year. Recipients receive financial support for tuition, fees and a living stipend during their final year of law school.”
“To help meet the needs of these rural areas lawmakers passed a two-pronged plan. * Give law students $3,000 stipends if they promise to work in a rural area. * Give practicing lawyers $20,000 for each year they serve in a rural area for up to five years.”
“The report, titled "State of Nonprofits 2026: What Funders Need to Know," surveyed 380 nonprofit CEOs in February and found that 46% said their own burnout was "very much a concern," up from 29% in 2025.”
“A Cook County judge said the petitioners failed to show the state's attorney abandoned her duties by refusing to prosecute ICE agents involved in shootings last year.”
“At present, a limited amount of income needed to cover a borrower’s basic needs gets left out of the payment formula…the new Repayment Assistance Plan, an income-driven repayment plan from the U.S. Department of Education, eliminates this exception. This results in higher monthly payments for the lowest-income borrowers, according to the NCLC.”
“Solving a lawyer shortage in rural parts of Texas requires a coordinated pipeline effort involving law schools, the bar and the legislature, representatives from North Texas law schools told the Texas House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee this week during a hearing on how the state’s law schools can help address the crisis.”
“Concho Valley First Assistant Public Defender, Ted Wenske, drove over three hours from Abilene to the Texas Capitol to advocate for an increase in criminal attorneys in rural areas across rural Texas as his office faces bigger workloads.”
“Five justice reform bills championed by the Maryland Office of the Public Defender (OPD) have been signed into law, which has sparked a newfound sense of optimism within State Public Defender Natasha Dartigue around Maryland’s criminal justice system.”
“The launch follows Anthropic’s recent expansion of Claude for Legal, including new workflows, integrations, and practice-area tools for the legal profession. While the announcement marked a major step forward for legal AI, much of the focus centered on commercial practice areas, leaving a significant gap for the access-to-justice community. The 132 LSC-funded legal aid programs, hundreds of court self-help centers, and public-interest legal providers that serve low-income and vulnerable communities were largely overlooked.”
“In a recent article, “Unauthorized Practice: Assessing Available Evidence,” Professor Nora Freeman Engstrom and Rhode Center Associate Director Natalie Knowlton get to ground on this enduring debate. Compiling nearly a century of research on nonlawyer providers, conducted at different times, in different places, and using a wide array of methodologies, Engstrom and Knowlton tackle an enduring question—can nonlawyers offer high-quality legal services?—with fresh insight.”
Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives
Photo: Harris and Ewing Collection, Library of Congress
Hi Interested Public,
Lots of big stories this week, as the LSC and the White House release their (diametrically opposed) budget proposals for legal services in the United States and commentators analyze how DOJ might change with the departure of AG Bondi and how student debt may change with the myriad changes to federal student loan structures. More locally, an appeals court halted a contempt order against the San Francisco Public Defender in California, Nashville Tennessee reflected on the success of its right-to-counsel-in-eviction program, and a union in NYC prepares to strike to protect its employer-funded Legal Services Fund from cuts.
As always, these stories are in the links below.
Solidarity,
“The civil service has long treated attorney positions as distinctive precisely because attorney hiring depends on professional qualification and bar membership rather than ordinary competitive examination. The proposed rule would impair that structure. In practical terms, it would allow the employer to step between licensed attorneys and the independent disciplinary systems that regulate every other lawyer. That shift away from external professional accountability and toward employer controlled review is contrary to law and bad civil service policy, especially at a moment when DOJ’s own treatment of career attorneys and ethics personnel is generating extraordinary concern.”
“On April 7, 2026, the Acting Attorney General, Todd Blanche, issued a memorandum establishing the Department of Justice National Fraud Enforcement Division (NFED). The memo describes an ambitious, but perhaps redundant, vision for this standalone litigating division: a centralized, coordinated approach to investigating and prosecuting fraud against taxpayer dollars and taxpayer-funded programs such as Medicare and Medicaid. A close reading of the memo reveals that while certain organizational changes take effect immediately, many of the NFED's most consequential features—including its final scope, its relationship with the Civil Division, and its capacity to deliver on its prosecutorial ambitions—have yet to take shape.”
“The Trump administration in 2025 nixed an annual survey of federal employee engagement and morale, but polls from other organizations provide insights.”
“City funding for organizations that provide civil legal aid is plummeting as San Francisco looks to narrow a more than $600 million budget deficit. That’s why Danielson and other groups were shocked to find out the city’s homelessness department awarded a $4.7 million grant without a competitive bidding process to a single nonprofit that also provides civil legal services.”
“Governor Laura Kelly has signed Substitute for House Bill 2595 (Sub for HB 2595), establishing the Attorney Training Program for Rural Kansas Act to encourage and expand opportunities and incentives for licensed attorneys or Kansas law students to practice in rural areas. The bill also establishes the Attorney Loan Repayment Program for Rural Kansas.”
Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives
Photo: Harris and Ewing Collection, Library of Congress
Hi Interested Public,
Huge amount happened last week; catching you up on it all now. Big stories include the President’s invocation of a national security rationale to direct federal spending on government payroll during a lapse in Congressional appropriations, the sudden end of Pamela Bondi’s tenure as Attorney General of the United States, a report suggesting that 40% of college borrowers may not qualify for newly-necessary (standard) private education loans, a new Executive Order tightening restrictions on DEI initiatives for federal contractors (and sub-contractors), and much more.
As always, these stories are in the links below.
Solidarity,
“As President of the United States, I have determined that these circumstances constitute an emergency situation compromising the Nation’s security. Accordingly, I hereby direct the Secretary of Homeland Security, in coordination with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, to use funds that have a reasonable and logical nexus to the functions of DHS to provide each and every employee of DHS with the compensation and benefits that would have accrued to them if not for the Democrat-led DHS shutdown, consistent with applicable law, including 31 U.S.C. 1301(a).”
“The Legal Services Corp. has asked Congress to nearly quadruple its budget to more than $2 billion next fiscal year, even as President Donald Trump’s administration is again seeking to scrap the federally funded legal aid organization.”
DOL, HHS Must Face Unions' Claims In DOGE Data Suit (Law 360 UK; 1 Apr 2026)
“The U. S. Departments of Labor and Health and Human Services must continue facing claims that they illegally gave Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency access to employee records[.]”
“Across the country, President Trump has installed handpicked loyalists as top federal prosecutors. Several have been pushed out after legal battles because they lack Senate confirmation to serve as U.S. attorneys. But in Los Angeles, Bill Essayli wields the power of a top prosecutor under a lesser title: ‘first assistant.’”
“Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen on Thursday demanded the Gallatin County Attorney rescind what Knudsen says is an illegal “policy” refusing to recognize U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement as a criminal justice agency and share confidential information. But County Attorney Audrey Cromwell refuted the AG’s characterization of a policy and said in a statement Knudsen was conflating an individual instance involving a civil matter with a county policy.”
“After broadly outlining his recommendations—one of which was to allow voluntary pro bono work, or free legal services, to count toward the required hours—Dietz focused on the aftermath.”
“Republican state lawmakers say Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul sidestepped state law in order to bring on several attorneys whose pay was bankrolled by private foundations. But Kaul and other Democrats have defended those agreements and accused GOP lawmakers of staging a “partisan stunt” during a year in which Kaul is seeking reelection.”
“The latest executive order signed on Thursday requires certain federal contracts to include a clause prohibiting contractors and their subcontractors from engaging in DEI, the White House said…It also directs agencies to cancel, terminate, or suspend contracts – and to suspend or debar contractors – for failure to comply, according to the White House.”
“At LawFi, our new legal fee-lending model takes a different approach, offering regulated point-of-need consumer loans that pay lawyers directly. In this model, clients finance the cost of the legal services needed and repay the loan over time in predictable, affordable monthly installments. Repayment of the legal fee loan is not based on the outcome of a case; it is repaid like any other installment loan used to finance other products or services. The borrower takes out a loan to pay for legal services and agrees to repay it over time. Unlike litigation funding, the legal fee lending model can be applied across a broad range of legal matters, including administrative, transactional, civil and commercial cases. Currently, payment options for these types of cases have been limited to credit card financing.”
“The Madison County indigent defense board met Tuesday afternoon to discuss the creation of the Public Defender’s Office. The board previously voted in favor of creating the office but had to reverse course after legal challenges from local attorneys.”
“Massachusetts is addressing a shortage of public defenders by offering a temporary pay incentive program. Some courts in the state have been operating without any defense attorneys present to take on the backlog of cases for indigent defendants. The Committee for Public Counsel Services is offering a one-time $500 payment to attorneys who take on additional cases in Suffolk and Middlesex counties through June 30.”
Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives
Photo: Harris and Ewing Collection, Library of Congress
Hi Interested Public,
Welcome to the end of another week. Big stories related to student loans and access to justice this week–particularly a noteworthy contempt order against San Francisco’s Public Defender as he refuses to represent more defendants than he believes his office is equipped to competently assist.
Solidarity,
“Jenkins is among scores of attorneys answering the call. Organizations have sprung up to train lawyers in immigration habeas claims—an uncommon practice until recently—and public defenders are increasingly taking on cases that would have been rare for them only 12 months ago. There are more than 22,000 active habeas cases pending nationwide, according to habeasdockets.org, a volunteer-run tracking group. And organizations working to file these petitions have been overwhelmingly successful.”
“University of Arizona students and organizations are urging the law school to stop ICE recruitment, contending the agency’s actions in Minneapolis and elsewhere show disregard for the rule of law and constitutional provisions that law students are taught to uphold. But university officials responded that to bar ICE recruitment would be a political decision that violates free speech. The UA also says it doesn’t limit employment opportunities for students.”
“Washington University School of Law is the latest law school to introduce a private supplemental loan program aimed at helping students bridge gaps after exhausting federal aid. The private, supplemental loan program available to incoming J.D. students who are U.S. citizens and have exhausted all federal loan options. Eligible students may borrow up to $25,000 per year, subject to the cost of attendance.”
“Called the “Federal Student Assistance Partnership,” the agreement will address what officials call “mismanagement” and collect defaulted federal loan debt. It involves three phases: * The first phase is focused on collecting defaulted student loans that total roughly $180 million. * The second phase will service non-defaulted student loans. * The third phase potentially has the Treasury Department manage federal student aid.”
Conflicts Over Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility
“[A] panel on the appeals court decided 2-1 that federal law doesn’t require a shot at bond for undocumented immigrants, even if they have lived inside the country for years without a criminal record….At issue is a federal policy issued last summer, and backed by the Board of Immigration Appeals, which called for mandatory detention of nearly all undocumented immigrants. It was a pivot from the longstanding practice allowing migrants who had lived years in the country a chance for bond. The mass detention policy fueled a legal morass, including a historic number of legal challenges nationwide and dozens filed on behalf of migrants in Nebraska.”
“Brasel mandates all detainees held at the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building in Hennepin County, Minnesota, to be provided a signed order outlining their rights, including unlimited and free phone calls and attorney visits — and for the government to uphold those rights to a tee.”
“National public defense organizations are condemning a $26,000 contempt fine imposed on San Francisco Public Defender Mano Raju, warning the penalty underscores a broader crisis of excessive caseloads and chronic underfunding in public defense systems nationwide.”
“Acting Chief Justice Sabrina S. McKenna established a Task Force on Hawaiʻi Legal Services to examine emerging trends affecting the state’s attorney workforce and to develop recommendations that support continued access to justice in the years ahead.”
“According to the partnership’s data, which was collected last November and December…[j]ust 7.5% of respondents agreed with the notion that political leaders at their agencies generated high levels of motivation for employees. And only 22.5% said they felt confident that they could report a suspected violation of law or regulation without retaliation.”
“Yesterday evening, the DOJ moved to abandon an appeal against four big law firms targeted by President Trump. But this morning, government lawyers reversed course, told the court, never mind and asked to continue the appeal.”
“The Trump administration said in a memo it wanted to “avoid the risk of impaired objectivity” by hiring former staff members to wind down operations at the U.S. Agency for International Development.”
“Hundreds of students and dozens of organizations across Georgia’s five major law schools demand ICE be uninvited to the schools’ Public Sector Career Fair[.]”
Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives
Photo: Harris and Ewing Collection, Library of Congress
Hi Interested Public,
Welcome to the week’s end. Several major stories laid out for you below as editor’s choices. In other news, an appeals court has allowed President Trump’s anti-union effort within the civil service to proceed, while another court considers his plan to liquidate the CFPB. At a meeting of AILA in Oklahoma, attorneys shared that ICE is courting their labor with generous compensation packages, while Democrats in several states are proposing rules that would restrict ICE employees’ future ability to work in civil service at the state level. A possible strike is brewing among court clerks in San Francisco that could affect judicial operations there, while defense counsel in Massachusetts warn that prosecutors’ efforts to re-introduce cases previously dropped during that state’s work stoppage could re-ignite their crisis. As always, these stories and more are in the links below.
Solidarity,
“For the first time since President Donald Trump took office in 2025, legal experts said, one of his Justice Department lawyers was found in contempt of court. And the chief judge has threatened even harsher sanctions.
It’s an extraordinary moment during a crisis that has engulfed the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Minnesota, one that exposed how an exodus of legal talent has left the office in tatters, unable to comply with even its most basic responsibilities.”
“The reason for the refunds is related to student loan forgiveness. Thousands of borrowers who recently were notified that they qualify for a discharge under income-driven repayment, or IDR, plans may be reimbursed for excess payments they made after they reached their eligibility threshold for a discharge. And because many of these borrowers may have continued making monthly payments on their student loans long after becoming eligible for a discharge (without even realizing it), a sizable portion of these borrowers may be due for big refund checks.”
“The condition of federal courthouses around the country is in a deepening state of crisis, compelling the Judiciary to ask Congress (PDF) for authority to directly manage properties that are essential to carrying out its constitutional mission.”
“The annual meeting of local members of the American Immigration Lawyers Association with a liaison from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement usually serves as a space to voice concerns and ask questions about new policy. But this meeting took a turn as multiple Oklahoma City attorneys say they were pitched to work for ICE, complete with discussions of incentives that included handsome signing bonuses and student debt repayment.”
“The 46-year-old department signed seven other interagency agreements in 2025 as part of an ongoing effort to dismantle itself, including with State and HHS, as well as Labor and Interior.” [other agreements here]
“The lone Democratic appointee on a Ninth Circuit three-judge panel suggested that he and his colleagues may reach a different conclusion with the benefit of a “fully developed factual record.””
“Parent borrowers taking out loans for students through the federal direct PLUS program will soon be locked out of more affordable repayment plans. They'll also face tighter loan caps that could leave some scrambling for funds to pay for the final college years. Student loan experts say these changes could lead to a rise in parent defaults as well as some challenging fourth-year borrowing situations.”
Conflicts Over Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility
“Nonlawyers who receive training will now be able to help with civil matters in D.C., as part of a new order issued by D.C. Courts earlier this month that expands access to legal assistance for people without an attorney.”
“Despite bar associations and legal organizations across the state urging the governor to expand a public fund for civil legal services, the governor made no changes to the budget item in the slate of amendments to her proposed financial plan released last week.”
Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives
Photo: Harris and Ewing Collection, Library of Congress
Hi Interested Public,
It’ll be a two-digest week as I catch up from last week. A few eye-catching stories are in “Editor’s choices,” below. In other news, the federal executive is terminating union contracts, multiple states are struggling with shortages of prosecutors and public defenders, and the ABA is weighing the repeal of its diversity standard. As always, these stories and more are in the links below.
Solidarity,
“Her criticism was presented in an order dismissing her contempt finding against military lawyer Matthew Isihara earlier this week over the U.S. government’s failure to return identification documents to an immigrant she previously ordered released.”
“A preliminary list of at-risk schools compiled by the Army for troops enrolling in law school and reviewed by CNN characterizes the following schools as being at “moderate to high risk” of being banned…”
“A Bexar County district judge on Friday ruled that Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton does not have the legal authority to sue Bexar County over its immigration legal services fund, blocking the state’s attempt to halt county funding for the initiative.”
“The director of New York’s Office of Indigent Legal Services called on the state legislature to prevent the governor from taking over $120 million in funding from the office, and warned the funding sweep could have a dire impact on low-income New Yorkers’ ability to access free legal services.”
“A recent court update from the Department of Education reported an increase in the backlog of buyback processing. The filing said that 83,370 applications were pending as of December 31. Over the month of December, the department approved 1,690 buyback applications and received an additional 5,090.”
“The new program provides an opportunity to third-year (senior) law students. HB 1270 would extend the apprenticeship opportunity to existing graduates of the University of South Dakota’s Knudson School of Law.”
“A student-led coalition has gathered more than 2,600 signatures from law students, legal academics, and law student organizations across 109 law schools calling on Congress to pass the Federal Officer Accountability Act.”
“A federal judge on Feb. 12 ordered the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to improve access to phones and lawyers for detainees at the Whipple Federal Building, while also barring the federal government from transferring detainees out of state during the first 72 hours of detention.”
“Criminal defendants must receive a court-appointed lawyer within a set time or their charges will be dismissed, the Oregon Supreme Court ruled last week.”
Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives
Photo: Harris and Ewing Collection, Library of Congress
Hi Interested Public,
Lots to cover this week as many of us batten down for the incoming storm. Students begin to respond to national headlines about federal immigration activity in Minnesota and elsewhere. The federal government continues its layoff drive at various agencies, while the new year gives some an opportunity to assess the effects of these efforts to-date. The Department of Education delayed its plans to garnish student debtors’ wages, and various communities look at new avenues for legal aid related to various immigration concerns. As always, these stories and more are in the links below.
Solidarity,
“Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) condemned the development as ‘the latest sign that President Trump is pushing nonpartisan career professionals out of the Department of Justice and replacing them with his sycophants.’ Walz’s statement referred to resignations of ‘at least six prosecutors.’”
“While the subpoenas did not cite a specific criminal statute, the inquiry as a whole was said to center on whether elected officials in Minnesota had conspired to impede the thousands of federal agents who have been in the state since last month looking for undocumented immigrants. But the investigation is likely to run up against stiff pushback for examining political speech and conduct that is traditionally protected by the First Amendment.” [emphasis added]
“U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Tina Smith (D-MN) are calling on the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to follow federal law and the Constitution by allowing people in detention to have access to legal counsel. Reports indicate that some of those detained, including at least one U.S. citizen, are being denied their constitutional right to access an attorney.”
“The president claimed without evidence that all federal workers forced out during his first year back were now in “better” jobs in factories making double or triple their government salary.”
“ University of Arkansas, Fayetteville law school students protested Tuesday what they contend is the university’s apparent capitulation to political pressure in rescinding an offer for Emily Suski to become dean of the law school…UA rescinded its offer less than a week after it announced Suski’s hiring, citing feedback from “key external stakeholders,” including Republican state lawmakers. ”
Conflicts Over Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility
Get a weekly summary of news items that affect the public service legal community, with an emphasis on funding, job market, law school initiatives, and access-to-justice developments.
