UNIVERSITY
Public interest fund is helping out law students
By Jason Keuter
Emerald Contributor
The rewards of pursuing a
career in public interest law
rarely include the reward of fi
nancial gain. With escalating
tuition prices and smaller fi
nancial aid packages, more and
more law students are graduat
ing heavily in debt.
These financial facts mean
students will usually avoid
low-paying public Interest
work because first-year salaries
don't leave room for paving off
their debts.
Two years ago, a group of
University law students found
ed . the Oregon Law Students'
Public Interest fund. Because
of the low or non-existent sala
ries for legal interns in the pub
lic interest field, Ol.SPIK was
founded to provide financial
assistance to students wishing
to work in public interest posi
tions.
1A student would
find it difficult... to
keep up with their
student loan
payments on a
first-year, public
interest law job.’
- Diane Coyne,
OLSPIF co~directur
in tin: spring of 1990, OLSPIF
conducted its first pledge drive
Law students and faculty were
asked to pledge one day of their
summer salary to the fund. The
drive raised $7,000.
Diane Con rad i and Dob
Shavelson were the first recipi
ents of OLSPIF stipends, get
ting SI,000 and $2,500 respec
tively.
During the summer of 1990,
Conradi worked for DNA Legal
Services, an American Indian
legal assistance organization in
Mexican Hat, Utah.
Shavelson was a legal intern
at the Natural Resource* Coun
cil of Maine. He is presently in
terning for Son. F r a n k
Luutenburg, D-N.J , In Washing
ton DC., and will return to the
law school winter term
OLSPIF was able to award
throe stipends for summer
1991. One recipient, second
year law student Michele Co
ker, received u 52,500 stipend.
Coker worked for the Oregon
Coalition Against Domestic and
Sexual Violence from May until
mid-August.
Coker said she came to the
law school to pursue public in
terest law, particularly wom
en's legal issues.
I want to neip women use
the legal system to their advan
tage," she said.
Coker credits getting her cur
rent job at the University's Of
fice of Student Advocacy to tho
contacts und experience she
gained from her internship.
"It's openod up career oppor
tunities 1 wouldn't have had be
fore, " sho said. Coker deals
with issues of sexual discrimi
nation at hor new job as well.
She is also a co-director of tho
Women's Law Forum.
The number of stipends
available for summer 1992 will
be determined after OLSPIF
collects pledges made during
last spring's pledge drive. Last
year. 14 students applied for
ihe throe available stipends
Any law student In g(x>d aca
domic standing can apply for a
stipend Applicants must sub
mil an essay telling why they
want to work in public Interest
law. They must also get u letter
from a prospective employer,
and that employer must dem
onstrate an inability to pay for
that student's work, said
l)LSI’IF on-director Diane
Coyne.
The job must last for at least
10 weeks and not extend Into
fall term Although students are
free to work for groups that
may do political lobbying, the
student's work cannot be di
reeled toward lobbying efforts
"Wo don't want to discour
ago students from working for
organizations that may have a
political agenda." C.oyno said
"But because of our tax status
its u non-profit organization,
thut student cannot lobby them
sitlvrs, nor cun their work be
directed toward thut mid."
\pplications are anonymous
and are reviewed by a com
bined student/faculty commit
tee Coyne said shit hopes tii.it
OLSl’l!-' will eventually estub
Ush u fund to assist graduates
with debt payments who go
into public interest law
"A student would find il dif
ficult, if not Impossible, to keep
up with their student loan pay
ments on a first year, public in
terest law job," she said
Such a lund would expand
Oh Si’ll-" s efforts to encourage
students to go Into public inter
est law, an area of law students
are finding increasingly diffi
cult to commit to because of fi
nancial burdens
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