June 2006

The WSBF Loan Repayment Assistance Program Selects Its First Five Recipients

by Paula Littlewood

After several years of pulling together the details of the Program and securing the necessary funds for the first year, the Washington State Bar Foundation (WSBF) began accepting applications last September for its Loan Repayment Assistance Program (LRAP) — and the response was fantastic! More than 60 applications were received in this first cycle, making the selection of five recipients extremely difficult for the LRAP Advisory Committee, as all merited consideration.

The five recipients selected this year will each receive $5,000 as a forgivable loan to help repay educational debt and will be eligible to receive $5,000 each for four additional years so long as they remain in qualifying employment and there is funding to continue the Program. Under the terms of the Program, forgiveness of the loans will begin after three years in qualifying employment. Loans are not forgiven in full until completion of five years of qualifying employment.

The debt loads (i.e., amount owed on educational loans) for the recipients this year ranges from $55,000 to $123,000, and their salaries range from $38,000 to $50,000 per year.

Here is a little about each recipient:

Sara Beigh

Sara graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. in elementary education from Saint Martin’s University, then earned her J.D. from Gonzaga University School of Law in May 2004. Since November 2004, she has served as deputy prosecutor for the Skamania County Prosecutor’s Office in Stevenson. Sara has also served on the fundraising committee for United Way and tutored developmentally disabled women in reading and math for the Literacy Network.

Karey Gallagher

Karey graduated with honors with a B.A. in sociology and political science from Gonzaga University, then earned her J.D. from Gonzaga University School of Law in May 2004. Karey represents victims of domestic violence for the YWCA Domestic Violence Civil Legal Assistance Office in Spokane. Karey has also served as an intern at the Spokane County Superior Court and at Columbia Legal Services.

Mary Neil

Mary graduated with a B.A. in law and diversity from Western Washington University and earned her J.D. from Gonzaga University School of Law in May 2003. Since August 2003, Mary has been the cultural and natural resources staff attorney with the Lummi Indian Business Council in Bellingham. Mary worked as an intern for the Lummi Nation in their Public Defender’s Office while in college and also did an internship with their Office of the Reservation Attorney in the summer of 2001.

Amy Dempsey

Amy graduated with a B.A. from Gettysburg College in 1996, spent a semester studying public law at American University in Washington, D.C., and earned her J.D. from the University of Vermont School of Law in May 2001. Since 2004, Amy has served as a trial attorney for the Associated Counsel for the Accused in Seattle, providing legal representation to indigent clients. Amy has worked as an attorney for the Pacific Legal Foundation on appellate environmental cases. Before moving to Washington, she served as a staff attorney at the Fulton County Public Defender’s Office in Atlanta, Georgia. While in law school, she externed for the Supreme Court of Georgia. Amy is admitted to practice law in both Georgia and Washington.

Soren Rottman

Soren graduated with honors with a B.A. in international and Latin American studies from Yale University and earned his J.D. from the University of Washington School of Law in June 2001. Soren works for the Eastern Washington Office of the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, providing legal representation to low-income immigrants in Granger. He joined NWIRP as a staff attorney in June 2002 and became the directing attorney there in August 2005. Soren has worked as an extern for the U.S. Court of Appeals and for the Ninth Circuit, and as a paralegal for the Border Association for Refugees from Central America. He holds a second job as an ESL instructor for Yakima Valley Community College.

Congratulations to the LRAP’s first five recipients, and thanks especially to the three WSBA sections (Administrative Law, Family Law, and Labor and Employment Law) who made donations to help ensure this Program became a reality! In addition to the sections’ contributions, an affiliation relationship with Sallie Mae (which will offer loan-consolidation services to WSBA members) provided the funding to get the Program off the ground this year.

Dependent on funding, the WSBF hopes to add five additional participants next year and will begin accepting applications for the 2006 cycle August 1, 2006. For more information, please check the WSBA website at www.wsba.org/lawyers/lrap.htm or contact Paula Littlewood, WSBA deputy director, at paulal@wsba.org or 206-239-2120.