Loan Repayment Assistance Program July 31, 2015 NCBF Annual Meeting District of Columbia Bar Foundation

History & Purpose of LRAP 2  Began in 2007  Public: DC Access to Justice Initiative  Private: Board created  Goals:  Increase the number of experienced, skilled lawyers working on behalf of low-income individuals based in DC; and  Assist DC poverty lawyers who have incurred significant educational debt.  To date: nearly $2.3 million to190 poverty lawyers through both programs

Comparing Public and Private LRAP 3 Eligibility Requirements Law degree DC Bar standing Eligible employment Salary less than $81,954.53/year (FY16) Can receive a one-year, forgivable, interest-free loan of up to $ 12,000/year

Comparing Public and Private LRAP 4 PUBLIC LRAPPRIVATE LRAP Funding Source Publicly fundedPrivately funded ResidencyDC residentNo residency requirement Eligible Debt Only law school and law- school related debt (i.e. bar study) Undergraduate, graduate and law school debt Lifetime Cap$60,000 per participantNo lifetime cap Awards Granted Biannually (Dec & June*)Annually (Dec) *Contingent on funding

Administration of LRAP  Application released (Oct)  Application due (Nov)  Board approves award recommendations (Dec)  Staff creates loan packages and schedules meetings with recipients to sign loan packages (Jan)  Awards disbursed quarterly (Jan, April, July, Oct)  Eligibility certified quarterly (March, June, Sept, Dec) 5

Adjustments & Repayments  If a recipient’s loan amount decreases or receives law school LRAP, recipient’s award must be decreased  Staff calculates new award and creates new loan package  If a recipient becomes ineligible for LRAP, recipient must repay the entire amount received  Staff works with recipient to create a payment schedule  If a recipient is laid off due to inadequate funding, recipient does not have to repay  Staff creates new loan package, and recipient is forgiven for the amount he/she has received 6

Partnership with Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP  Team of lawyers who volunteer their time to help with administrative tasks  In FY14, volunteered 345 hours  Application:  Enter data from applications into master Excel sheet  Verify loan amounts and determine funding eligibility  Calculate preliminary data (e.g. number of DC residents and average years of experience in law)  Certifications:  Update information in master Excel sheet  Verify monthly loan payments  Calculate adjustments and determine repayment amount  Also, assist with revising LRAP-related legislation in the DC Code 7

2015 LRAP Recipient Profile 8 Public LRAPPrivate LRAPTotal Number of Recipients Avg Total Debt$146,373$165,363$155,868 Avg Annual Salary$54,906$56,139$55,523 Avg Yearly Loan Pmt$7,384$7,740$7,562 Avg Award$5,436$3,139$4,288 Board Approved Total$232,455$100,450$332,905 *Numbers do not include those who withdrew application

2015 LRAP Recipient Profile Of the 72 applicants… 9 LAW SCHOOLS ATTENDED  DC law schools: 40  Eastern law schools: 12  Southern law schools: 9  Midwest law schools: 8  Western law schools: 3 YEARS EXPERIENCE  10+: 3  7 to 9: 16  4 to 6: 32  Under 4: 21 GENDER  Females: 63 (87.5%)  Males: 9 (12.5%)

DC Cost of Living Based on a single DC-resident living in an average one-bedroom apartment 10 Monthly Income Take-home pay$3, Monthly Expenses Educational loan payment$ Rent$1, Miscellaneous expenses*$1, *Based on MIT 2015 individual living expenses for 1 adult living in DC. Includes food, medical, transportation and other expenses. Monthly Net Income($102.40)

LRAP Quote “With the cost of living in the DC area and my law school debt to income ratio, I would never be able to continue my dream of serving as a public interest attorney without LRAP. Even with LRAP, things are sometimes tight, but without it, it would seem impossible to fulfill my life-long goal of serving low-income clients with legal needs ; I am an advocate for folks who are often overwhelmed by a scary legal system, and it is truly rewarding. ” LRAP Recipient 11

Private LRAP Funding  Private fundraising  Call to Action Campaign  Individual appeals  Go Formal for Justice Gala  Go Casual for Justice  DoMore24/Giving Tuesday  Interest on Lawyers Trust Accounts (IOLTA)  Administrator since

Appeal Letter Example “…thanks to our generous donors, we provided $103,000 in loan forgiveness assistance to 22 public interest lawyers employed by DC-based legal services organizations. These loans to legal aid lawyers help them meet their staggering educational debt obligations while earning modest public interest salaries. And the legal aid organizations are able to attract and retain top-notch talent to serve DC’s neediest residents.” 13

Appeal Letter Example “Our loan repayment programs make it possible for legal aid programs to hire and retain high quality, dedicated attorneys who otherwise might not be able to afford to work for legal aid. With loan repayment help, many public interest lawyers can continue doing the work they are most passionate about – serving the District’s most vulnerable residents.” 14

Private LRAP Funding 15

Public LRAP Funding  DC Access to Justice Commission advocates for and secures funding for the Access to Justice Initiative Program, which funds a grant program and public LRAP Chair: Peter Edelman, Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law Center  DC Council Committee on the Judiciary Chair: Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie, Ward 5  Grant administered by the District Office of Victim Services 16

Public LRAP Funding 17

Number of LRAP Applicants 18

LRAP Awards 19

In Summary  LRAP benefits the poverty lawyers as well as their employers and the underserved community  Demand typically exceeds available funding  Managing Public LRAP is administratively intense  Create partnerships or implement ideas that reduce administrative expenses  Strategic and creative fundraising  Recruit strong supporters to advocate for funding 20

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Contact Information 22  Kirra L. Jarratt Executive Director ext. 12  Christina Lynch Programs Assistant ext. 11