New York City Bar Revises Results of Study

The New York City Bar has issued revised results of a study released earlier this month that said a “culture gap” had emerged between deferred associates and their colleagues at public interest groups in the city. Instead, the study now concludes deferred associates “were largely happy with their placements.”

The New York Bar explained the error with the following statement.

“We have learned of an error, for which we apologize, in the interpretation of one aspect of the online survey data in the report,” the statement reads. “We had reported that the deferred externs reported a lower satisfaction rating with regard to colleagues and integration into the workplace than was the case; in fact, the externs reported a high degree of satisfaction in their interactions with colleagues.”

In the revised results, 92 percent of respondents said they would recommend their placement to a future deferred associate; 89 percent thought the skills they had acquired in their placement would be helpful to them in their future career; and 73 percent responded that their interest in pro bono had increased as a result of their placement.

Almost 95 percent of those responding rated their experience as rewarding our moderately rewarding.

There are also details to the structure of the deferrals. More than 75 percent of respondents were in placements of more than nine months with 25 percent on deferrals of 12-24 months. Over 90 percent reported they were receiving a financial stipend , 50 percent had health insurance, and over 60 percent received a bar exam stipend.

The study estimates as many as 140 deferred associates from major firms were placed with public interest groups.