(Photo by Ana / CC BY 2.0) A decade ago, in the depths of the Great Recession, Leigh Ferrin first came to work at the Public Law Center, which provides pro-bono legal services to low-income residents of Orange County, California. In helping clients deal with debt collection, bankruptcy and foreclosure, she noticed that it was no longer just banks staring her clients down from the other side of the table, looking to be repaid — it was private equity firms mining for profits.