Many law students take on extraordinary amounts of educational debt to finance increasingly expensive legal educations.  But those students on public-service career paths in particular must confront the fact that the primary tool they’ll have to dig out of debt – their salary – seems alarmingly insufficient to the task.

The Problem:

The recently released Law School Survey of Student Engagement (LSSSE) report (which provides some fascinating insights into an array of issues affecting law students) tells us:

“The percentage of full-time U.S. students expecting to graduate owing more than $120,000 is up notably in 2009 from prior years. In 2006, 2007, and 2008, the percentage of students expecting to owe more than $120,000 at graduation rose gradually each year. For example in 2006, 18% of students fell into this category. In 2007 the percentage rose to 19%, and 23% in 2008. This past year saw a 6% increase; in 2009, 29% of students expect to graduate with this level of debt.”

Cliff’s Notes Version: Just about 3 in 10 full-time students expect to leave law school with over $120,000 in debt.  Further, according the the LSSSE report, the percentage of such students is rising more rapidly among students at public law schools.

This makes sense in light of ABA data on law school tuitions, which show that public school tuitions have risen at a much faster clip than private school tuitions.  In 1987, the median tuition for a state resident at a state law school was $2124.  In 2007, it was $14,313.  Correspondingly, the 1987 median tuition figure at a private school was $8690.  In 2007, it was $32,168.  The private school tuition attracts most folks’ attention because of its sticker-shock effect.  But it is the public school tuition figure that, while lower in dollar value,  has risen much more quickly.  And alarmingly so.  Between 1987 and 2007, in-state median tuition at state schools skyrocketed by 573% compared with the 270% increase on the private-school side.  Traditionally, state schools have been highly attractive options for students on public-service career paths because of the relatively low cost of tuition.  To be sure, tuition is still lower in state schools, but relatively speaking state schools are not the bargains they used to be.  (And remember, these are median figures; by definition half of the schools in the measurement pool have tuitions higher than the median.)

Of course another problem deals with salaries offered in public-service positions.  NALP’s 2008 Public Sector & Public Interest Attorney Salary Report (we’ll release an updated version of the report later this year) paints a…let’s say “realistic”…picture.  The national, median starting salary for civil legal services lawyers was $40,000.  For local prosecutors, it was $45,675.

This combination of a high, anticipated debt load and relatively low salary leaves even those students who are most committed to public service to wonder if the reward is worth the sacrifice.

The Solutions  

1. Become financially literate.  It was easy to sign that promissory note before your 1L year, wasn’t it?  Be honest: did you read the fine print?  (Your author, who is a former legal services lawyer and who knows what it is like to struggle with student debt, did not read the fine print.  He does not think he is alone.) If you do not have a firm grasp on the nature of your borrowing, now is the time to learn.  Make an appointment with your financial aid office.  Call your lender.  Check out the self-help, educational materials offered by the Project on Student Debt.  Knowing exactly how much you’ve borrowed, what kinds of loans you have, and how interest will accrue on the principals is a key to managing your debt.  If you ignore it, it will grow more quickly than if you pay attention to it.
2. Keep borrowing to a minimum while you are in school.  Cutting out $1000 here and there as you apply for loan disbursements is very, very meaningful in the long run.  Be mindful of the “bar loans,” too, which are typically made available by private lenders to folks who need to supplement their incomes during the bar-exam prep period.  Many 3Ls take this approach: “Well, I’ve already borrowed $80,000.  What’s another $10,000?”  The answer: it’s another $10,000.  Interest will accumulate on it.  Private loans may not be as easy to manage as federal government loans either, and the interest rate is likely to be higher.
3. Get to know about Loan Repayment Assistance Programs (LRAPs).  LRAPs can be God-sends for newly minted public service lawyers who are scraping by on low salaries.  For many grads they are the difference between being able to pursue their career goals and, well, not being able.  Learn more about LRAPs on PSLawNet’s Financing a Public Interest Career page. 
4. Become familiar with the College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007.  Heard of the CCRAA?  This federal legislation 1) created a new repayment option for qualifying public service lawyers – called Income Based Repayment (IBR), and 2) established a loan forgiveness program which will forgive eligible educational debt after a 120-month (10-year) period of repayment.  These programs are designed to work so that, after paying via IBR for period of time, a public service lawyer may be eligible to to have the rest of their eligible loans forgiven.  The CCRAA could have a huge impact in the public interest community – significantly lightening the load for debt-laden public interest attorneys and leading to a forgiveness of eligible debt altogether.
5. Take advantage of Equal Justice Works’ resources.  No organization has done more work on student-debt issues for public service lawyers than Equal Justice Works. Visit their Student Debt Relief page, and you’ll find links to educational resources on the CCRAA, details on various LRAP programs, FAQ’s, archived student-debt webinars led by a national expert on the issue, and more. 

In Summary…

A weighty student debt load can be a formidable obstacle for a student or recent grad on a public service career path.  It must be taken seriously, and each student/grad should “take ownership” of their borrowing by becoming as well informed as possible about its consequences.  While daunting, the student-debt obstacle need not be insurmountable.  Wise, fully-informed borrowing decisions, the aquisition of knowledge about how to manage debt, some perseverance, and some common sense may make all the difference in pursuing a unique and rewarding public service career.  Good luck!

– Steve Grumm

The New York Times wrote Monday about the American Law Institute’s (ALI) disavowal of the death penalty last fall, as well as other changes and developments in capital punishment-related law. This is a nice summary of the history of the modern death penalty and a bit of a look forward for what might be ahead. Must-read for anybody interested in criminal law or the death penalty.

Post-graduate fellowships can be a great way to put your newly acquired law degree to good use. The Daytona Beach News-Journal reported on the success of Shelly Campbell (a recent law school graduate working at Community Legal Services of Mid-Florida thanks to an Equal Justice Works Fellowship) in helping a homeless veteran navigate the benefits system in order to get into subsidized housing.

You can learn more about EJW fellowships and many other post-graduate fellowship opportunities on the PSLawNet Fellowships Page, and search for hundreds of fellowship opportunities in our jobs database.

Many public interest employers – particularly those who run litigation-heavy offices, like public defenders and prosecutors – evaluate interviewees by putting them on the hot seat.  So-called “stress interviews” may take many forms, from courtroom-hearing role play, to a very difficult hypothetical, to an interviewer being purposefully stand-offish and combative.  Such exercises are designed to test an interviewee’s mettle. 

Want to know what to expect in a stress interview, and how to beat the interviewer’s expectations?  Download “Surviving Stress(ful) Interviews” from the NALP Bulletin archives.  This article, written by former legal services lawyer Nicole Ayala, reviews commonly asked questions and offers strategies for success.

As the number of threats made against federal judges and prosecutors increases – more than doubling since 2003 – a Justice Department report has identified “critical deficiencies” in its own protection system, according to the Washington Post.

The Indiana Supreme Court recently announced that it would award $1.5 million in grants to legal aid providers in the state in 2010 – the first half to be distributed in January. Read more about this development here.

The National Law Journal reports on the Supreme Court’s dismissal of a case challenging the principle of full prosecutorial immunity after the parties came to a monetary settlement at end of 2009.

As was reported by the Washington Post when the case was argued at the Supreme Court last November, two former prosecutors in Iowa were alleged to have failed to disclose exculpatory evidence (another suspect) during a murder investigation and to have made a star witness of a minor who had key facts wrong.  Ultimately two men were jailed for 25 years, but were later released when evidence of the other suspect surfaced.  The Supreme Court was to determine whether, if the prosecutors in fact mishandled evidence during the pre-trial criminal investigation, they could be sued for it, or whether the absolute immunity that prosecutors enjoy for conduct in the courtroom extends to pre-trial investigatory work.  The Iowa-based Daily Nonpareil had also covered the case’s move to the Supreme Court.

As regards the Court’s dismissal of the case, the NLJ quotes J. Douglas McCalla, counsel for one of the plaintiffs, as saying, “I would have liked to see what the Supreme Court had to say about the case.” But “there are a lot of risks in that,” he added. “This is a good solution for my client.”

We posted a link earlier to an article about the increase in the use of food stamps, and accompanying decline in the stigma attached to them. This seemed like a positive response of the social safety net to the economic crisis.  However, the New York Times reported this weekend that there has been a 50% increase in the past two years in the number of people reporting food stamps as their only source of income – no TANF (cash welfare assistance), no unemployment, no nothing. The Times estimates that about 6 million people now survive on food stamps alone. After the major welfare reform efforts of the mid-90s, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) rolls have decreased to about 75% of their 1990s and have not increased substantially during the recession. We also linked earlier to an op-ed on the role of TANF during the recession.

Some policy advocates are increasingly concerned about this reliance on the food stamp program. ‘“The food-stamp program is being asked to do too much,” said James Weill, president of the Food Research and Action Center, a Washington advocacy group. “People need income support.”’ The FRAC has substantial resources on the current state of hunger in the United States, as well as federal programs to address hunger. And when food stamps are an increasingly important factor in families’ survival, lawsuits ensuring the timely processing of applications (such as this one in Texas) become ever more important.

The ABA Young Lawyers Division’s January 2010 Young Lawyer newsletter includes a piece on the civil-right-to-counsel (or “civil Gideon”) movement.  John Pollock, the ABA Section of Litigation’s Civil Right to Counsel Fellow, notes that the Gideon’s promise of counsel for criminal defendants has not extended to litigants in civil matters, even when their liberty and welfare hang in the balance:

“…the Sixth Amendment’s right to counsel does not reach civil cases, and in 1981 the Supreme Court held in Lassiter v. Dep’t of Social Services that there is a presumption against a due process right to appointed counsel in civil cases except where physical liberty (confinement) is at stake. Under Lassiter, even when confinement is a possibility in a civil case, a court must balance the strength of the litigant’s interest, the risk of error, and the state’s interest to determine whether it should appoint counsel.”

Pollock goes on to write about the work of the National Coalition for a Civil Right to Counsel, whose supporters “drive the litigation, education, and legislative advocacy efforts around this issue.” 

Civil Gideon proponents had received some good news last October when California was poised to implement a pilot program guaranteeing access to counsel in some civil cases.  The program prompted foes to predict an increase in litigation and other costs, while supporters argued that the opposite would occur as lawyers for the poor would help them to better navigate the justice system and ease the burden on courts.  Read Wall Street Journal coverage of that development in “Civil Gideon Trumpets Legal Discord.”  Additional coverage of the program came from the North County Times of Southern California.

Co-sponsored by the American Bar Association and the National Legal Aid & Defender Association, the Equal Justice Conference “brings together all components of the legal community to discuss equal justice issues as they relate to the delivery of legal services to the poor and low-income individuals in need of legal assistance.”

The conference is a terrific coming-together point for legal services attorneys, judges, pro bono attorneys, and  many other public interest advocates who share an interest in access-to-justice issues.The 2010 EJC takes place in Phoenix, AZ from May 13-15.  Registration is now open.