Court Opinion

ID: 9469530
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 02:43:05.921433+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:41:26.246823
License: Public Domain

MacKINNON, Circuit Judge:
I concur in the result and much of the opinion. My main difficulty with the result we reach is that I believe there are some sound grounds for differentiating between government lawyers and lawyers in private practice, but the grading cannot be as arbitrary as was followed here. Lawyers in private practice work for many clients and their experience may be much broader than that of a lawyer for government agencies— most of whom are practicing in a specialized field. The broader experience can be a great asset to the specialist because it brings in legal concepts that do not occur to one who is restricting his practice to a narrow field. The level of compensation is another factor. The present system may work out to be fair on the average but applying an average system to people who are above average can be grossly unfair and operate discriminatorily in certain cases. It penalizes those above average and overly benefits those below average. Some government lawyers at some levels of practice are superior to some lawyers in private practice and vice versa. The grading system, however, in my opinion must be based on factors that are more demonstrative of ability.