Attys call for state to increase law school loan debt relief
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Members of the Association of Legal Aid Attorneys called on Governor Kathy Hochul and the state legislature to include a measure from State Senator Jessica Ramos in the state budget that would increase the amount of student loan forgiveness given to public interest attorneys. Eagle file photo by Jacob Kaye
By Jacob Kaye
Hundreds of lawyers this week called on the governor and state legislature to include in the state’s upcoming budget a bill from a Queens lawmaker that would increase the amount of student loan forgiveness for public interest attorneys saddled with debt from law school.
In a letter to the governor and legislative leadership, around 600 attorneys at nonprofit public defense firms from across the state called for the expansion of the District Attorney and Indigent Legal Services Attorney Loan Forgiveness program.
The expansion of the program, which is administered by the Higher Education Services Corporation, is detailed in a bill from Queens State Senator Jessica Ramos, which the attorneys urged Governor Kathy Hochul and legislative leadership to include as a measure in the state’s budget, which is due on April 1.
According to the attorneys, the DALF program, which was created nearly two decades ago, no longer provides adequate relief to attorneys working in public interest jobs, including those who work at public defense firms or in district attorneys’ offices, which, on average, pay less than private law firms.
As a result, the program has only contributed to an attrition crisis currently affecting public defense firms and district attorneys’ offices in New York, made it difficult for attorneys to pay for other necessities and, ultimately, affected low income New Yorkers in need of public defense attorneys.
“Low salaries and high law school debt burdens mean that too often, it is impossible for attorneys to remain in these vital roles that serve fellow New Yorkers,” the attorneys said in the letter. “When attorneys turn to private sector jobs after being trained and gaining the skills to excel in these vital jobs, New Yorkers in need of their services are left behind as offices deal with larger caseloads and fewer experienced attorneys able to handle more complex cases.”
“By passing this crucial bill, one which crosses the aisle with the vociferous support of institutional defender offices, civil defender offices and district attorney offices; New York can lead the country in modeling debt relief for those of us working to serve the public,” they added.
Currently, the DALF program, which was created in 2009, is capped at $3,400 per year with six years of eligibility per law school graduate. In total, graduates can be rewarded as high as $20,400 in debt forgiveness.
However, attorneys are currently graduating with around $130,000 in debt, according to the American Bar Association.
“Astronomical student loan bills and increased living costs continue to force more of our union members out of public service careers,” Lisa Ohta, the president of the Association of Legal Aid Attorneys, said in a statement. “Yet, we know how much experience matters when it comes to legal advocacy. All New Yorkers deserve experienced lawyers by their side in court.”
“Increasing the HESC/DALF award will make it more sustainable for our members to remain where they belong, serving New Yorkers and their communities,” Ohta added.
Under Ramos’ proposed expansion, graduates would be able to receive loan forgiveness for up to eight years. Additionally, the amount received each year would jump from $3,4000 to $8,000 per year, increasing the total award to $64,000.
In all, the expansion of the program is expected to cost the state $4 million.
“Our public interest attorneys work day-in and day-out for their clients, and they deserve relief from the crippling student loan payments that are inhibiting their ability to both effectively serve their clients and pay their own bills,” said Twyla Carter, the attorney-in-chief and chief executive officer of the Legal Aid Society.
“Rising attrition levels across our organizations — a direct result of shouldering our attorneys with additional financial burdens like student loan payments — severely hinder the access low-income New Yorkers have to valiant, high-quality representation,” Carter added. “Governor Hochul and the New York State legislature must ensure that this legislation is prioritized in the upcoming budget to keep our justice system fair and accessible for all.”
In a statement, Ramos, who represents parts of Corona, Elmhurst, East Elmhurst and Jackson Heights, said that the consequences of failing to expand the student loan forgiveness program trickles down to her constituents.
“My constituents rely on free legal services,” the senator said in a statement. “It is in everyone’s interest to make sure public defenders are not so financially stressed that they are picking up second and third jobs outside of their legal practice.”
“Anything we can do in this budget to help chip away at my generation’s student debt is part of our overall goal of making this state more affordable for young people,” Ramos added.
By making the reforms to DALF, attorneys say that it will be easier for them to make it to their tenth full year of public interest service, at which point they’ll become eligible for federal student loan cancellation.
The call for the inclusion of the legislation in the state’s budget comes several months after the expiration of the pause on federal student loans.
“This crisis was again brought to a head by the October 2023 end of the federal pause on student loan repayments; restarting a grueling monthly loan payment regime that only has hope of relief after 10 full years of service to the public when we become eligible for federal loan cancellation,” the attorneys said in their letter.
Jane Fox, an attorney with the Legal Aid Society and union chapter chair at the firm, graduated from law school just as the DALF program was taking effect in 2009. She had all of her debt from law school forgiven in 2020, after benefiting from the debt relief program.
In a phone conversation with the Eagle, Fox said that DALF allowed her to continue working in public defense, an opportunity her younger colleagues are finding more difficult to take advantage of.
“As the cost of living in New York State has gone up, and the cost of law school has gone up, and the cost of monthly student loan payments has gone up, they are really trying to make these decisions of, ‘Can I stay in a job that I really love, that I went to law school to do you, that’s my dream to pursue? Or do I have to leave, maybe go work in the private sector because I just can't manage?’” Fox said.
Like most sectors, public defense firms, civil legal services firms and district attorneys offices have also been affected by an increased rate in attrition since the start of the pandemic.
Fox said that the stagnant DALF program is one of several contributing factors to the attrition issue in the public interest legal industry.
Combatting the attrition crisis will take more than reforming the DALF program, Fox said, but it could be a start.
“The way to fix the attrition crisis long term is to pay public defenders and civil legal services more money and to put more funding into those programs so that we can have higher salaries,” Fox said. “But in the short term, if you were going to do something, this is a very targeted way that you could give financial assistance.”
