Wheels of justice could turn slower because of Central Valley attorney shortage

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- The wheels of justice may be turning more slowly in the Central Valley right now because there aren't enough lawyers.

Vacancy rates are climbing at local district attorneys' and public defenders' offices.

Courtrooms aren't often empty at the Fresno County criminal courthouse, but filling them with lawyers is getting a lot harder.

"It's never been this bad," said defense attorney Antonio Alvarez, a partner at the public defense firm Fitzgerald, Alvarez, & Ciummo. "Previous to the pandemic, I always had a stack of resumes."

Alvarez has had the same two jobs posted for more than a year and can't fill them.

A couple of his current attorneys hosted a table at the first-ever job fair at San Joaquin College of Law in Clovis on Friday.

They're finding out law students have higher expectations about their jobs now.

Most of them understand there's a huge time investment right away to learn the process, but they also want more time with their families as soon as possible.

"I just want to pick a position where I know I'm helping others out in the community, and just so I can have a balance between my family and also my work life as well," said second year law student Sumeet Kaur, who attended the job fair along with fellow student Nancy Flores.

"I still want to have my own life," Flores said. "I know I'd need to put in more hours since I'm new to it and I'm learning."

The attorney shortages actually start upstream, at law schools.

The Law School Admission Council says applications are down 12% nationwide since last year.

SJCL enrolled 45 students this year after averaging more than 75 in the 14 years before the pandemic. That's a 40% drop in the pool of attorney candidates down the road.

"When you have fewer applicants to choose from because there are fewer law school graduates, we're going to just naturally see a decline and we've seen that decline," said assistant Fresno County district attorney Jerry Stanley.

The DA's office has a job vacancy rate of about 15%. So almost everybody's workload is up and even managers are now taking court cases to keep the justice system moving.

"I don't want the public to be alarmed," said Stanley. "We're all trying to step up to work together to overcome this crisis. I'm confident things will change in time. I just don't know how long it's going to take."

The public defender's office is facing a similar shortage.

Both offices are increasing salaries and considering telework options, hoping to make the jobs more attractive.

Law students told us debt is not their top concern, but it is a consideration. If they choose to work in the public sector and pay their debts for ten years, they can have the remaining amount wiped clean.

Students did express concern, however, that the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program -- launched in 2007 during the George W. Bush administration -- could be ended by future presidential administrations.

President Trump and his administration tried to end the program in 2020 and denied 99% of applications.