i disagree, free legal aid is very good, it just depends on your experience. i assume you are in the US and free legal aid there is the public defender where they are underfunded, overworked and probably not motivated by the system. In the UK where legal aid has been a part of the system for so long there is little difference between the quality of advice and representation. Some of the top firms for employment rights do both private and legal aid funded work and the same people work on both. Yes there are corporate law employment lawyers who dont do legal aid but I would bet dollars to donuts that most of them cut their teeth doing legal aid funed work and it is that work that gave them the experience and knowledge to move onto private paying work.