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Volume XV, Issue I Legislature Considers Loan Repayment for Attorneys Working in Public Serviceby Scott O'Halloran and Mike Dunning This year, the 57th Session of the Washington State Legislature will consider a bill aimed specifically at assisting some young lawyers with their financial debt created by law school loans. The Loan Repayment Program for attorneys (LRAP) is a bill sponsored by State Senator Jeanne Kohl-Welles (D), 36th Legislative District. The LRAP bill provides for the establishment of a loan repayment program for attorneys working in the public interest in the state of Washington. Similar programs already exist for healthcare professional and teachers in Washington. A coalition of young lawyers, public service groups, and Washington law schools has formed in support of the bill. The coalition is headed by Paula Littlewood, Assistant Dean at the University of Washington School of Law. This past summer, the WYLD Board of Trustees requested that the WYLD Legislative Committee analyze the bill and submit findings and recommendations to the Board. The Committee's report was provided to the Board of Trustees on December 20, 2000. After discussion, the Board of Trustees adopted a resolution in support of the bill.
The purpose of the LRAP bill is to reduce the barriers for attorneys who wish to enter areas of practice that serve public interest groups, low income individuals and other disenfranchised groups, but are discouraged from doing so due to the financial debt loads they face upon graduation from law school. Research behind the LRAP bill revealed something most young lawyers know first hand: the debt burdens of young lawyers are extremely high and the compensation for public service is disproportionately low. A recent survey of Washington law schools reveals that the average debt burden of a graduating student (not including undergraduate loans) are $57,800 (Gonzaga University); $60,000 (Seattle University); $33,000 (University of Washington). However, the median salary for public interest attorneys and government attorneys is approximately $37,000.
Under the program eligible participants could receive up to $15,000 per year in loan repayment for each year the eligible participant worked in a public interest area of law. The maximum number of years an eligible participant would be eligible to receive funding is five years. Funding would cease once the attorney no longer practiced in a public interest area of the law and any participant who served less than their required service would be obligated to repay the program twice their grant. Thus, there is a penalty for not fulfilling a service obligation.
Any attorney who is a state resident and who is licensed to practice in Washington is an eligible participant. However, the eligible participant must practice in a public interest area of law in order to receive LRAP funding. The bill grants wide discretion to the advisory committee to determine what constitutes a public interest area of the law. Not all eligible participants practicing in a public interest area of the law will be eligible for LRAP funds. To qualify, the attorney must actually be selected by the advisory committee. The number of attorneys selected will be limited by the amount of funding available.
The Higher Education Coordinating Board (HEC Board) would be the program administrator with final oversight and rule making powers. The HEC Board would in turn establish an advisory committee. The advisory committee would have two powers: (1) to advise the HEC Board on program administration and rule making and (2) to select the attorneys who would benefit from the program based upon criteria listed in the bill. Currently the bill does not request an appropriation from the legislature. As a result of the significant budget constraints faced by the legislature, the bill sponsor determined that an appropriation this year might be difficult to obtain. However, the coalition feels confident that private funds can be obtained for this program and that a legislative appropriation might be secured in the future.
The WYLD Legislative Committee identified several potential problems in the bill. For example, the definition of public interest area of the law and the current selection criteria are very broad and could lead to potential problems. In addition, the early exit penalty provision may cause problems for men and women who take a leave of absence from the program on maternity or paternity leave or for other family-related reasons. The WYLD Legislative Committee is currently working with the coalition to tighten up these and other areas of the bill either before bill passage or during rule making once the bill has been passed by the legislature.
Although the bill is specifically aimed at assisting young lawyers, not all young lawyers are in favor of the bill. Generally, opposition to the bill is on ideological grounds. For example, those young lawyers in favor of small government and less government spending oppose the bill because it creates new bureaucracy through the increase in funding and staffing required to implement and operate the requirements of the bill. Other young lawyers oppose the bill because only certain lawyers in the public interest will be fortunate enough to be selected by the advisory committee. Further, there is some concern that the bill would tend to favor certain types of public interest work over other types. Finally, there is a feeling among some young lawyers that the bill is simply not a proper use of legislative funding as it uses public funds to pay private debts. Despite these concerns, the WYLD Legislative Committee and the WYLD Board of Trustees feel that the bill will provide significant debt relief to some young lawyers and at the same time will promote access to the legal system for all segments of society by ensuring that the State's best and brightest attorneys can pursue public interest jobs without fearing financial ruin. The WYLD Legislative Committee feels confident that the program's advisory committee, which is made up of a diverse group of attorneys, including young lawyers, will provide an adequate safeguard to the concerns addressed by those opposed to the bill. For a copy of the LRAP bill, the Legislative Committees full report on the Bill or other information about the Loan Repayment Program contact Scott O'Halloran, Chair, WYLD Legislative Committee at sohallor@WKG.com |