ambivalent imbroglio: Good News (sort of)

« Consumer Identity | Main | Decision. »

December 10, 2002

Good News (sort of)

Held In Contempt is pointing to a two-week-old AP story that says:

Most new lawyers won't consider working for government or public advocacy groups because their need for money to pay off massive student loans leads them to the more lucrative private sector, a study being released Monday found.

That's actually the bad news. Now for the good news:

In the law study, about 68 percent of public interest employers surveyed�government offices, legal aid organizations, public defenders and other nonprofit groups�reported recruiting difficulties.

and:

"The bottom line is America's law school graduates are drowning in debt and shut out of public service at a time when the federal government is facing losses of over half its work force due to retirements, " said Max Stier, president and chief executive of the Partnership for Public Service.

So according to this study (and a huge helping of "the cup is half-full" optimism), those of us heading toward a public interest legal career will have a nice range of jobs to choose from, so long as we can find ourselves some good loan repayment assistance programs (LRAPs). Too bad that's such a big if.

Speaking of which, I should be hearing from Georgetown any day now: their "early decision" application track promises admissions decisions by December 13. Does anyone have any experience with or knowledge of Georgetown's LRAP?

Posted December 10, 2002 07:12 PM | law school

Comments

My school has a LRAP. It wouldn't have given me enough money so I couldn't do the whole public defender thing. I have heard good things about Georgetown's LRAP though.

Posted by: R.G. at December 15, 2002 07:06 PM

So, um, you couldn't be more specific, could you? I mean, like, which was your school? And what was not "enough"? I'm just trying to get an idea of what to expect, because I've heard a lot of stories like this -- LRAPs exist, but no one uses them becuase the don't help out enough. The one I've looked most closely at is Cornell's (and I'm not even applying there, but...). They pay up to half your adjusted *net* income each year. So if you were making $35k, they'd deduct living expenses based on where you live (say $10k) and call your net income $25k, which means you'd have to pay about $12,500/year in student loan payments. That's pretty hefty, but it certainly seems like you could still squeeze a modest living out of that. Does this sound anything like what you were offered, or...?

Posted by: mowabb at December 15, 2002 10:29 PM

I went to G-town, and had experience with their LRAP. Email me with the question.

Posted by: TPB, Esq. at December 16, 2002 10:50 PM