New York City Mayor Eric Adams has unveiled an innovative fellowship program aimed at attracting private attorneys to work within city agencies. This initiative comes in response to a significant drop in city attorneys choosing to leave for private firms that offer better flexibility and higher salaries. According to a report by Katie Honan for The CITY, the administration plans to onboard eight attorneys starting in January. These attorneys will be compensated by their private firms while providing their services to the city on a pro bono basis. However, some critics argue that this approach fails to adequately address the underlying staffing shortages.

The Civil Service Bar Association, representing attorneys across 40 city agencies, has reported a concerning membership decline of 22 percent since the onset of the pandemic, dropping from over 1,000 attorneys to just above 800. Mayor Adams has emphasized the urgent need to make city attorney positions more appealing in order to counter the trend of legal professionals opting out of public service roles. He stated, “The city government has relied on past successes for too long; everyone used to come to us. Now we must adopt a more competitive approach to attract top legal talent.” This shift in strategy aims to revitalize the legal workforce within the city government.