I have no idea! What I do know, is that the City has proposed to end the 18B system because they think it costs too much (instead creating coordinating coverage between the different relevant agencies in the event of a conflict.) This is the cause of much consternation among the private defense bar.
In Ontario, the ticket system for family law strictly limits the number of hours in a case: typically, a dozen or so hours to take a matter up to trial, and if you can convince the administrator, another dozen or so hours. For trials, courtroom hours are covered but there is very little trial prep time covered. The hourly rate is between one-half and one-third of what a cash lawyer would charge. To put it in real terms, a typical legal aid family matter that is basically he said/she said over custody, support and child support, including trial, would pay about $3K, whereas a modest cash file would pay five to ten times that, partly due to a higher hourly rate, and partly due to the number of hours.
For court appointments in my hometown hours are limited to what the judge thinks is reasonable. If you bill 20 hours for a case that ended in a guilty plea a week after you got it, the judge is going to pay you for a couple of hours and put you on his mental shit list. If you actually spent more hours on a particular case than would be considered usual, it’s wise to include a note of explanation to the judge.
Here is DC Legal Aid. Their website says they’re hiring.
Beyond that, there are a lot of non-profit groups in DC organized for free or low-cost legal services. They’re likely to specialize by subject area (landlord-tenant, family, immigration, social security, VA).
In the programs I am familiar with, entry level positions are called staff attorneys. Some experience is preferred, but people can and do get hired while the ink is still drying on their license. With your level of experience, you’d be extremely competitive for a staff attorney opening. Possibly a lock. You might be a candidate for a more senior position, either as a supervising attorney, managing attorney, or department head, depending on how the program is organized and what openings exist. On the downside, funding is always a problem in Legal Services programs. Positions are limited. Travel is limited. Research is limited. Discovery is limited. Everything is limited. Except clients. You’ll never run out of those.
The work is challenging in more ways than you can imagine. The rewards are…not particularly tangible. Or fungible. An aptitude for tilting at windmills is an asset, but Dulcinea is prolly gonna run off with the guy that made partner and drives a beamer.
I’d expect a big city program will face different challenges than a rural program. Odds are a big city program will be larger, and at least loosely organized along practice areas, allowing for more specialized practice. Rural programs tend to have fewer lawyers trying to handle a wider variety of cases.
On the plus side, the legal services community has some tolerance, and maybe even a certain fondness for…unconventional personalities and non-traditional practice. Judges are often supportive and appreciative of the sacrifices legal services lawyers make to do the things they do.
If you’re up for it, I say do it. A program may ask you for a two year commitment or something similar when you get a job offer. That’s long enough to see if this is your path, or not. And even if you decide to move on later, at least you rode with the Jedi for a little while.
Flipshod, I would recommend that you try this out on a part-time basis before taking the plunge. The place you currently work would probably love to have you put some pro bono hours up on the ol’ scoreboard for them.