The deferrals that first-year associates were faced with in 2009 proved beneficial to both law firms and young lawyers alike. Mary Gay Scanlon, Pro Bono Counsel at Ballard Spahr, underscored the benefits of deferrals for young associates, who gained experience in advocacy and developed professionally.
Ms. Scanlon said she is a proponent of deferral programs but acknowledged the difficulty of "withdraw(ing) offers to (young lawyers) who we had an investment in. We didn't want to leave them in a lurch." She went on to state that, when the recession hit hard and Ballard Spahr couldn’t immediately bring numerous newly minted lawyers on board, deferral was the firm’s solution: "We quickly said: 'Wait a minute, maybe we can salvage something for everyone here. We can make sure that these young lawyers—some of the best and the brightest—have good work to do for this year.'"
Lisa Swaminathan, one of Ballard Spahr’s deferred associates, was a trial attorney in family law at Community Legal Services during her two-year deferral. She handled child-welfare cases and saw each case through from start to finish. Ms. Swaminathan said, "That was the experience that I was looking for … (to get) to court … to know the people who I was representing, to learn how to work for a client. … I learned that (my clients were) the driving force behind everything I was doing, and it can be harder to learn that when you're just starting out."