Student Loan Relief for Legal Services Attorneys

On August 14^th, the 2008 Higher Education
Opportunity Act became law, providing significant new student loan relief for
attorneys who commit to a three-year minimum of work on civil matters at
nonprofit legal organizations.

Under the act, such attorneys will be eligible for $6,000 in
annual student loan repayments, up to a cap of $40,000.

From an August 22nd New York Law Journal article:

Edwina Frances Martin, director of communications and
government relations for Legal Services for New York City, said the new federal program
is "something we've wanted to have happen for a very long time."
While some law schools offer tuition assistance for graduates employed at
agencies such as hers, she noted, most do not.

Read the full New York Law Journal article here (subscription
required).

In July 2007, Legal Services NYC inaugurated its in-house
loan forgiveness program.  Legal services NYC
distributed $60,000 to help its lawyers and social workers pay their
professional school debts.  Crushing debt
too often impacts the ability of law school graduates to choose public service
as a full-time career, particularly at a time when the typical beginning salary
at private law firms is more than double that of a public interest law firm salary,
and more than 80 percent of law school graduates borrow between $50,000 and
$80,000 to pay for their law degrees. 
The goal of Legal Services NYC’s loan forgiveness program – to make it
easier for public interest-oriented law students to take legal services jobs and
stay in the program – is critical to the continued viability of legal services
programs.  In New York State,
less than 14% of the legal needs of the poor are being met.  In order to not lose ground, the ability to
attract, hire and retain talented staff becomes ever more important.

Legal Services NYC’s loan forgiveness program is one of the
few programs of its kind.  While almost
half of the nation’s law schools and 13 states now have Loan Repayment
Assistance Programs (known as "LRAPs"), very few legal services providers have
such programs.  Legal Services NYC’s LRAP
program supplements graduate school and government programs and has a
progressive structure:  the level of
benefit to each participant is based on debt payments each year, household size
and total household income.  The benefit
is provided in the form of one-year loans with principal and interest forgiven
annually after the completion of two years of service.