Loan forgiveness programs keep public interest lawyers on the job Assistant EditorIt has been said that an obstacle is something you see when you take your eyes off the goal. But, for law school students today, student loan debt can be difficult to overlook, especially for those entering the legal aid and public interest arenas.The goal for lawyers in this area of law is obvious — to provide legal assistance and services to some of those who need it most — the poor and children. What is not so obvious, though, is that this passion to help the needy can cost young lawyers in excess of $80,000 in loans, while the average annual salary earned by lawyers in public interest work in 2002 was just $36,000, according to the ABA.Cognizant of this growing problem, The Florida Bar Foundation and St. Thomas University School of Law have followed suit in what has become a catalyst campaign against the burdens of law school debt. In their efforts to help bear this burden, both have found early success with their respective Loan Repayment Assistance Programs.In a recent report put out by the ABA, the culmination of a special two-year project, the ABA Commission on Loan Repayment and Forgiveness recognizes the problem and addresses prospective ways to alleviate it.The report, “Lifting the Burden: Law Student Debt as a Barrier to Public Service,” focuses largely on loan repayment assistance programs. A loan repayment assistance program (LRAP) provides financial aid to law school graduates, typically those working in the public interest or government sector. In most cases, this aid is given to graduates in the form of a new and forgivable loan to help them repay their annual educational debt.According to the ABA’s report, assuming a standard repayment schedule of 10 years, an $80,000 debt means payments of more than $1,000 per month. With median law school tuition steadily on the rise (up to $24, 920 in 2002, for private law schools, as opposed to just over $7,000 in 1985) 86.4 percent of law students borrowed an average of $77,300 in 1999-2000.Ft. Lauderdale lawyer Bruce Lyons, liaison to the ABA’s Criminal Justice Section, worked on the ABA’s special commission. He said the panel “had to really stop and think to figure out what was going on” and how to address the problem. One thing the group found that seemed to work was the LRAP program.The St. Thomas University School of Law began their LRAP program this past December/January and are in the second round of applications. John and June Mary Makdisi, former dean and professor, respectively, along with alumni Mark Brown, started the program.“They have such a personal commitment to helping students,” said Cheryl Chapman, St. Thomas’s assistant dean for external relations. Chapman said the school had to research other schools from around the country to find out what format would best fit their law school. Taking into account the nature of the work, debt-to-income ratio, total debt, annual gross household income, and any additional income, the process for choosing recipients is extensive.“The first time we did it [the program], we were able to make awards to all four applicants,” said Chapman, who also said the one-year stipends paid anywhere from $50 per month up to $130 per month.“Programs like these are so important,” Chapman said. “Our graduates. . . they are so committed to [public service] and they have all this loan debt. Part of our mission is to help them in the trenches.”“We just wanted to help students who didn’t have the funds because of tremendous debt,” said John Makdisi. “It has been impressed upon me that this is one of the best things we can do for law students.”Following that same philosophy, The Florida Bar Foundation has found great success with its LRAP program.“It is a wonderful program that is tremendously needed for public interest,” said Anthony Karrat, executive director at Legal Aid Services of Broward County, who has seen a lot of talented advocates pass through his office because they were unable to live on the pay.Paul Doyle, the Foundation’s director of Legal Aid for the Poor and Law Student Assistance Grants, said the Foundation’s program “meets a critical need.” He said the young recipients of the forgiveness stipends perform highly in legal service, and genuinely want to do the work.Some said the issue faced is larger than just debt, with a steady annual rise not only in tuition, but also in the cost of living. Stephen Everhart, immediate past chair of The Florida Bar’s Criminal Law Section and professor at Stetson, said the problem is within the law schools themselves.In his new book Screwing Students & Society, The Truth About Some Law Schools, Everhart suggests shortening law school to two years with one year of apprenticeship, and switching regulation of legal education to The Florida Bar and away from the American Association of Law Schools and the ABA.Moving forward on faith, both St. Thomas and the Bar Foundation are convinced that LRAPs are a step in the right direction.Jack Wallace, a 2000 graduate of the University of Miami, said he came out of college with between $80,000 and $90,000 in loans.“If you have $1,000 per month in loan payments alone, it can be tough to work at a place that pays $35,000 to $40,000 per year,” said Wallace, who said he found the Bar Foundation’s LRAP program to be very well managed.Wallace explained that many students have a genuine feeling of responsibility when it comes to this type of work.“I think when somebody decides to go to college or specialized school, it is an investment,” Wallace said. “They [the government] can take your car or your house, but not your education.. . not your ability to help others.”Wallace said it would have been very difficult for him to stay in public interest work if not for the funding provided by the LRAP. But Wallace said even though he still owes about $60,000 in loans, he feels like he is better off than some young lawyers.“I don’t have any kids, and I’m not married, so it makes it a little easier,” Wallace said.Ann Siegel, a 39-year-old mother and lawyer, had two kids and a mortgage when she graduated from Nova Southeastern University in 1998, and she found herself with a combined undergraduate and law school debt of approximately $180,000. Siegel said she couldn’t do the work that she loves without the assistance.“I could not make the payments prior to getting the assistance,” said Siegel, who admitted the stress made it difficult at times to sleep at night. “I would think ‘How am I going to make ends meet?’”In a country where society-serving lawyers owe such a large debt in student loans, a paradox arises: What about the large debt that society owes them?“You still have to make your payments,” said Siegel. Loan forgiveness programs keep public interest lawyers on the job September 15, 2003 Daniel Staesser Assistant Editor Regular News
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