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Law Grads Can't Afford to Fight the Good Fight

Travis Altman

The problem has been overshadowed recently by scandals in the student lending industry. But some say the real issue is not the way loans are marketed to students but the fact that students need to borrow so much money in the first place.

According to the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, fewer than one-third of all four-year college graduates left school with student debt in 1993. By 2004, the percentage was two-thirds.

And law students are racking up mortgage-sized debt loads. Attorneys from the class of 2005 borrowed nearly $80,000 on average if they went to private school and just over $50,000 if they attended a public institution. That's on top of any debt they may carry for an undergraduate degree.

All that debt makes it very difficult for them to pursue careers in public service.

Nicholas Carlisle, a 27-year old 2006 graduate of the University of Alabama School of Law, estimates he spends $250 more per month than he makes. Carlisle spearheads a program protecting the legal rights of Alabama residents living with HIV -- a job he loves. However, his $37,000-a-year salary makes it hard to put a dent in the $60,000 he owes on his student loans.

Still, he says he could never turn his back on his clients. Carlisle currently handles 75 cases, many involving seriously ill people in culturally conservative communities who have nowhere else to turn.

"I will always do this kind of law -- I'll just get another roommate." Or, he says, he might sell his house.

Carlisle's work is made possible in part by Equal Justice Works, a group that provides financial assistance to young attorneys practicing public service law. They helped him find a fellowship funded by the pharmaceutical firm Pfizer that includes loan repayment assistance.

Heather Jarvis, program manager for law school advocacy and outreach at Equal Justice Works, says debt levels are starting to dwarf starting paychecks for all but the most fortunate graduates. "The truth is unless you go to certain elite law schools, most lawyers earn more modest salaries," she says.

Richard Ludwick, vice president for enrollment management and student affairs at Albany Law School in Albany, N.Y., says financial concerns are ever-present on campus. Tuition at his school is around $37,000 per year. Some who attend will be repaying loans into their 40s and 50s, complicating efforts to buy a house, start a family or save for retirement.

Low-paying but vital jobs working as prosecutors, defenders or public interest lawyers are not an option for many. "As students' debt load goes up, that clearly affects their choice of employer and where they feel like they can practice," Ludwick says.

Jay Goodman, age 32, says he "really didn't appreciate some of the realities" when he enrolled at Albany Law three years ago. Goodman wanted to do "good work" for a nonprofit environmentalist group such as the Sierra Club or the Conservation Law Foundation. Now that he is graduating with a wife, a 21-month-old baby and more than $50,000 in debt, he says his plans have changed.

"After 10 years, I want the debt paid off," Goodman says. Most likely, that means seeking out a higher-paid position in the private field.

Glinnesa Gaillard, 32 years old and also about to graduate Albany Law, says she is determined to help others, even though she owes $115,000 and is a single mother. "I think that is the duty of being a lawyer" she says.

Gaillard plans to work for a nonprofit that counsels low-income people with housing problems, thanks in part to a fellowship from Equal Justice Works.

If she is lucky, she will end up like 29-year-old Harvard graduate Lea Weems, who says she lives a relatively comfortable lifestyle working public service in Chicago. Weems handles complex cases involving mortgage rescue fraud. One client, who speaks only Spanish, says he was conned out of his house by a broker who made him sign documents written only in English.

Weems gets financial help from Equal Justice Works and her alma mater. "I am in a very lucky position," she says.

Albany Law's Ludwick, whose school also offers a loan repayment assistance program, says help is out there for some graduates, but acknowledges it is not enough. He says the debt problem has become a major focus of concern for law school administrators all over the country.

According to Ludwick, law schools try to educate students and parents about the challenges, but many miss the message. "I think they are so concerned about getting into law school that the financing may not be on their radar screens as much as it needs to be," he says.

That could eventually change, if degrees become so expensive that they no longer appear to be a good investment.

"There will come a time when students decide the cost exceeds the benefits," Ludwick says. "When that happens, the market will respond to it in a way to resolve the situation."