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GW Law Class of '06 Throws Down
I just learned that my fellow graduating (we hope) students at GW have been very generous this year in giving to the class gift. As the chart at right shows, 61% of the graduating class have donated money, with some sections (including 14, of which I am a member) reaching nearly 70% participation. If you're not impressed, just compare that with last year's participation of 51% and you'll realize that the class of 2006 has done a great thing here. Once we passed 52% participation, a group of generous alumni agreed to match all donations 4-1, so the more than $19,000 we've given is going to become over $95,000! Thanks to everyone in my class for their generosity! I take back all those bad things I ever said or thought about you. Well, most of them, anyway. Ok, some of them. Oh nevermind! Just thanks, ok!?
All this class gift money goes either to the LRAP or to incoming student scholarships for “deserving” students—each donor was supposed to designate his/her gift for one pot or the other.
<rant>
I've tried to tell everyone who would listen that the LRAP is a much more worthy cause simply b/c LRAP money goes to people people who have made a commitment to use their legal education helping needy and underserved populations. If you give scholarships to incoming students, odds are 99% at GW that those people are not going to practice public interest law. The counter argument is that if you give money on the front end people don't have to take out loans so the total cost of law school becomes much less b/c there's no loan interest involved. Therefore, the school's money goes further w/scholarships. In other words, if you give $100 to an incoming student, you'll pay for $100 of law school expenses. If you give $100 in LRAP you'll pay around $95 of law school expenses and $5 interest (at an interest rate of 5% ).
My point is: Who does the money ultimately benefit? If you give to an incoming student, odds are 99% that money will benefit corporations and other private clients who can afford to pay top dollar for legal services b/c odds are 99% that an incoming GW law student will end up going to private, non-public-interest law. If you give via the LRAP to an outgoing student who is already working in public interest law, odds are 100% that money will benefit needy and underserved people who may not have otherwise been able to afford legal services. So yeah, a small portion of LRAP money goes toward paying interest to banks, but the lion's share goes toward increasing access to legal services in this country. Therefore, LRAPs are much more worthwhile (at least at a school like GW) than incoming student scholarships.
<rant/>
Are you convinced?
Posted May 2, 2006 01:23 PM | 3L
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I think the problem is that even with a well-funded LRAP program, someone with a large debt load ($75K or more) will be very wary of taking a public interest job. They might think that one screw up could lead to them being fired and not being able to find the firm job that would allow them to pay the bills. Personally, I would still feel a little fearful. Additionally, LRAP programs don't help graduates who are providing necessary legal service but not to the neediest of the needy. The best example would be criminal defense lawyers who provide services to the middle class. Personally I think it's an equally noble goal to prevent someone from becoming the poor and needy as it is to help the poor and needy. The problem is seperating the seedy personal injury law on the back of the phone book, pulling in large contingent fees from the respectable lawyer who is helping an injury victim fight an insurance company, and if they cannot win their suit will likely loss everything.
I think there's also an argument that LRAP programs reduce the cost of law school. It's sort of any extension of the idea in these two posts.
Of course, I'm on a big scholarship, so I'm not totally neutral. The scholarship will allow me to pursue the career I want, which I readily admit has none of the noble goals of either public interest jobs or the type of careers I've talked about above, but which I could not possibly consider with a $100K debt load.
Posted by: Taco John at May 3, 2006 09:17 AM
we're working on our class gift right now, too. the gift committee (some 3Ls who work with the alumni office to organize it) recommends we give to the Fund for Public Interest, which funds our loan forgiveness program, as well as public interest internships.
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