Attorneys Want to Give Back More and More at Equal Justice Works

November 23rd, 2010. By BrendaC

This new column at LawyersandSettlements.com looks at a side of lawyers you don’t hear too much about—the side that gives back…pays it forward..and shares the love. We’ve found quite a number of attorneys who log non-billable hours helping others—simply because they believe it’s the right thing to do. Their stories are inspiring, and hey, who knew lawyers were so…good? If you’ve got a story to share about an attorney who’s doing the right thing, let us know—we’d love to let others know, too. Today, we talk with David Stern, Executive Director for Equal Justice Works…

Attorney David Stern: “[We] were able to keep more than 1,000 families in their homes.”

There are thousands of Americans who can’t afford the high cost of justice. But since 1986, Equal Justice Works has worked to ensure that everyone has access to legal representation by engaging young lawyers through a variety of programs and putting some of America’s best legal talent where it is needed most.

“I think the reason we have been so successful is the impact our programs have on communities and individuals,” says Executive Director David Stern, who has been working with Equal Justice for 18 years. “Just looking at the foreclosure crisis, from August 2009 to September 2010, our AmeriCorps Fellows were able to keep more than 1,000 families in their homes.”

Although graduating lawyers can easily step into large firms and starting salaries of $150,000 a year, there is a growing interest in working in the public justice system. “The personal and professional satisfaction of doing public service in the legal field is well known,” says Stern. “They’re having a more direct impact, they’re trying cases earlier in their career; they’re doing work that young attorneys in large firms have to wait a long time to do.”

In fact, there is so much interest in doing public service work that Equal Justice Works has more applicants for fellowships every year than the organization can supply. “For 2010 fellowship positions we had a record number of applicants, which led to the problem of finding funding for applicants and sadly not being able to fund every project that was applied for,” says Stern.

Over the last decade the organization’s budget has grown from roughly $1.5 million to $8 million and the number of postgraduate fellowships has grown from roughly 20 to more than 100.

“We just recently held our Conference & Career Fair which attracted more law students than ever before,” Stern adds. “We had a record number of 1,300 attend the conference and career fair in October to have the chance to learn more about public interest law and to speak with public interest law employers from across the country—and that tells you a lot about how much interest there is.”

Starting salary in the world of public service world for lawyers is about $40,000 a year. Aware that many young lawyers graduate with large debts, Stern points out that there is a way for lawyers to go where their heart leads them and still manage to dispose of their student loans. “The good news for these graduates is that there is a recent law, the College Cost Reduction and Access Act (CCRAA), that allows people to pay back their debts as a percentage of income,” says Stern. “The less you make, the less you pay.”

“And the real kicker is that if a graduate stays in public service for 10 years, their federal loans are forgiven. That’s like winning the lottery,” says Stern.

David Stern is the Executive Director for Equal Justice Works. He is a graduate of the Georgetown University Law Center (1985). Prior to joining Equal Justice Works in 1992, Stern worked for a public interest law firm that represented whistleblowers in government and private industry as well as individuals in sex, race, sexual orientation or age discrimination cases.

Tags: David Stern, Equal Justice Works, Lawyers Giving Back

This was posted on Tuesday, November 23rd, 2010 at 9:35 am and is filed under Emerging Issues, Lawyers Giving Back . Feel free to respond, or trackback. Read our comments policy.