News Scrapbook 1988

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L1i~AL~lBig Firms ASked to Volunteer Continued horn Pace 12 cially "hen you're for help Fletcher and Mack, San Diego's those who have donated their on the omplex cases, said Steven third largest firm confirmed that llm ," Nis e11i executive director for Pub- trend. ' Lu , Forward lawyers who vol- lie Collnsel In Los Angeles. "We "When I was recruiting actively unte r are not given er dit toward have )lad to wo~k a Jot qarder lo for the firm 10 years ago, almost blllabl hours. But the work Is find attorneys willing to volunteer every applicant would ask about counted toward another firm re- their time, and it's largely because our pro bono policy" dlid Higgs

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who was among the founders of th~ Volunteer Lawyer Program. "Now you very rarely hear that ques: ,1

in th era of big salaries, firms are looking more and more al the

qulrem nt-that attorneys spend a minimum amount of time each year on grof s lonal development. In' an effort to develop a fruitful re tlonship with thl! top 35 firms In town, Ned llunllnglon, the pr si- dent of th county bar association, r c ntly s nt out a letter request- Ing lh t senior p rtn r grant Poir - ot a(l opportunity to make his pitch. "{ think th burden Is on us to du at th m about th Importance of doing pro bono work and the ben fit~ it actually can bring their rlrm," Huntington said. "It's my expectallon th t one w g1 ve them the opportunity. th y'll seize It and an Dt go will do as well m this r as other parl.8 of the state." in ddillon to th traditional guilt argument that lawyer have an obllgallon to donate their services to th poor, Poirot said he has veral Incentives to use In his cfforl to woo large firms. For start rs, pro bono work gives - you,1g lawyers courtroom experi- ence ttnd direct chcnt contact-two things many employed by large firm m y not enjoy for years. Attorneys who typically handle comp! x cas that last for years lso may enjoy shepherding a sim- ple landlord-tenant dispute from st.art to finish. "I.don't want to glamorize it, but this :kind of work can be very satisf.}'ing bee use you usually have, a very direct Impact on a person's Ure," said Wright of Pro- cop o,Cory. "That's mething you don't get In b .. mg OT ccMm r- clal•,real est.ate case that won't mak~ or break your client.'' And, while much of the work is nuts-and-bolts material that does not mak headlines, there are occa- sional c,iportunltlea for good pub- licity not to mention the stature performlng pro bono work earns a firm among its peers. So far, Poirot has had meetings witli two law firms-both of which wer4! 1 'encouraging and receptive." One' partner-with Latham and Walkins-agreed to end a memo to aAsdciates, urging them to get involved In the program. The sec- ond~at Baker & McKenzie- agreed to present Polrol's case to attorneys and encourage participa- tion: ' Neeper, Marshall and others In- terviewed, meanwhile, said they would gladly listen to Po1rot's appeal and, depending on their reaction, see what they could do to muster support. Marshall noted that Jennings, Engstrand already Is considering establishing a pro bona committee that would seek significant pro bo-no cases for the firm-mostly those that would have some sort of impa<:t on pobey. A similar proposal Is under study at Gray, Cary. Neeper said the firm may allocate a certain number of pro bona hours to each associate or volunteer a chunk of time to one organization. ' De~pite the promising start, Poirot and his colleagues face some some tough realities as they push for help from large law firms. Nationally, the pressure on first- and second-year associates at ma- jor firms to log billable hours is more •inten e than ever, largely because salaries for those positions have ~oared in recent years. That trend, coupled with the oft-m\mtloned effect the "Me Gen- eratlo!'" has had on attorneys' Interest In performing volunteer work, has had an Impact on pro bono programs In Los Angeles and San Franci co. "Tljcse have been hard times for volunteer lawyer programs, espe- App al tor upporl

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Craig ll1&gs, a partner at Higgs,

San Diego, CA (San Diego Co .) San Diego Union (Cir . D. 217,089) (Cir. S. 341,840) AUG

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Planning suit the big water not small wa1 on blue-water skills, to the neglect of nea green-water capabilities. In turn, this has the Navy from understanding some impo about modern warfare, including (1) the R nerability of a large unit to surprise low-I in a brush-fire war or in a low-intensity and (2) the economic vulnerability of cost to cheap and readily available weapons. In Vietnam the U.S. Army learned to fi front lines, and to move using helicopter l defenses-in-depth, reconnaissance elemen • ;t possible man on point. When enemie \ denly, from any direction, with a vari 1pons, we learned that it is suicidal to \ .ely packed formations, which only p ?llent opportunities for dying in quan n the last stages of Vietnam, after th namese army acquired highly mobil nissiles, the Army also learned that i H>ns, helicopters, no longer could be tively as they had been earlier. The if rotary wing aircraft in 1972-1975 ~rdable.) Continued from C-1

By Author E. Hughes

tional average for private universi- ties. Tuition is the price a student pays to receive a college education which includes not only the cours~ work leading to a degree, but the complementary non-academic ser- vices and activities that comprise the total college experience It is im- portant to disting11u;h between tui- lion, or price, charged by an inde- lion charged by a state-s~pported institution such as CSD or SDSU. State-supported tuttion levels charged to student! are lower be- cause they are heavily subsidized. pendent college su as USD and tui- college within the California State University system is the amount the student pays plus the government The price, therefo of attending a

Commentary Tbe Vaion welcomes commentaries from its readers. Submissio ty~, doubl~-s~a.ced, and not more than 750 words. lnformatio provided on mdiv1dual commentaries because of their daily volut1 about them, therefore, shoo.Id not be made. Manu cripts will not I

V. ith the co t of college education the public deserves to While higher education is not the only segment of the economy whose e ts have risen faster than the cost living, it is under public scrutiny. any families are concerned about their financial abilities to send their 1ldren to college, and some are questioning whether it is worth the It i.s easier to deal with the second from an economic per- spect1ve, analy is of income earned over a lifetime increases dramatical- ly for those who attend college. Many careers are simply not open for those who do not have a college degree. Even if the practical considera- t ons are disregarded. there is anoth- er ~ompellin_g reason for continuing ones education. In this society, the future of our policy and civility are dependent upon the informed mind. imply no promising fu- lure for a people that neglects the mrnds of its youth. The matter of fi- nancing education, giving it econom- 1c pnonty, is another and more diffi- quest!on - There is 1ncreasing know why. investment.

crease, th y hould. A recent study shows t professor's salary at "average professor" has doctorate, at least IO to J college teaching experier subject to the same costs 1 anyone else. Even more the begmning salary for c fessors. On the average, an at a college or university teach.mg at $23,000 per yea If htgher education hoJ tract the brightest student! tial lP~"h"":';nuii uieux 3'

port for student grants and loans which are also tuition subsidi • Need for colleges to attend to building maintenance, which had been deferred on many campuses ' • Emphasis on expensive research and high-tech supportive equipment. • Increased expectations for uni- versities to provide expensive non- academic services such as medical Th~ disappointin~ view is that tui- hon rncreases which reflect rising during the '70s. care a nd job placement.

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which relies heavily on tuition, was required this year to increase tuition by 8 percent, 1 percent below the na-

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senior adviser in the office of policy development for Reagan_ It was there the pr sident learn- ed of Ghouga sian's capabilities. In 1982, Ghougas ian became a director for the Peace Corps in , ·orth Yemen also known as the Yemen Arab Repubhc, m the outhern area ol the Arabian Peninsula. Three year later he received a call from the White House in- forming him that his name had been submitted for the presi- dent's consideration as am- bassador lo Qatar. A week later Ghougas ian learned of his :.ip~ pointment. There were fears mrnlved, but Ghouga ian prefers not to dwell on them, except to say that he 1s escorted by secret police 24 hours a day when in Qatar Ghougas ·ian believe· the cur- rent C' S administration played its role 111 the Iran Iraq war .suc- ce ·sfully b) remaining n('ulral while applying diplomatic pres ure, prot cting interna- tional navigation in the gulf. and howmg Iran through their lo cs that O\ er eight years of \\ arfare the) have a Jot less than when they started

etter part of 22 years m San icgo His four children \\ ere )Orn here; his brother. a phar- naci,t, lives here; and he has a treat love for the city He com- are, 1t favorably to many cities r~mghout the world that he has 1s1ted. B~rn in Cairo Ghougassian's am,ly ~trongly believed in a rm_al education. His father, an rch1tect, . ought the fmest chools for his son. The am- >assador has ·ix univer itv legrees, including master's P.,,:ees in philo ophy and inter- iat10nal relat10n and doctorates philosophy and psychology. Ghougas ian wa. just fimshing nud1e. m LoU\ am. Belgium, in 19 ,6 w h n he wa offered till' pportumtv to teach m the Unit- 'd Stall' He accepted , not nowmg he'ct be placed in an Diego. an arr he now calls poss1bb the fmest arc•a of the ·orld." Ghougassian, who .speaks six .:3ngua_ges, left the t:nh crslty of ,an Diego in 1981 to become a

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