October 22, 2012

STATE BAR ASSOCIATION OFFERS GRANTS TO HELP
PUBLIC SERVICE LAWYERS REPAY LAW SCHOOL LOANS

Government and public interest lawyers burdened with large student loan debt can apply to the New York State Bar Association for grants to help repay those loans.

To be eligible for grants from the Steven C. Krane Special Committee on Student Loan Assistance for the Public Interest, attorneys must have practiced public interest or government law for at least five years. Priority will be given to civil legal services attorneys. The committee expects to confer four grants of up to $4,000 each.

“High student loan debt discourages recent graduates from considering a career in the public sector, let alone staying in the field,” said committee co-chair C. Bruce Lawrence of Rochester (Boylan Code LLP). “These grants help attorneys continue working to do the public good with limited resources.”

“Many public interest attorneys who have outstanding debt live paycheck to paycheck, while their colleagues in the private sector earn considerably more. Grantees have said even a modest grant helps them emotionally and financially,” said committee co-chair Edwina Frances Martin of Staten Island.

Applications are due December 14, 2012. Applications must be mailed to: SLAPI, New York State Bar Association, One Elk Street, Albany, NY 12207. Recipients will be announced in January.

For further information, please visit www.nysba.org/slapi2012.

The Special Committee on Student Loan Assistance for the Public Interest was created in 2001 by then State Bar President Steven C. Krane. It was renamed for Krane after he died in June 2010.

The 77,000-member New York State Bar Association is the largest voluntary state bar association in the nation. It was founded in 1876.

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