The Wayne Morse
Commons,
named after a
former dean of the
School of Law, is a
popular place for
law students to
study and visit.
Jessica Waters
Emerald
Debt pushes law students into
private practices
A report says more students are
going into private practice, but
40 percent of 2002 University law
graduates are in public service
By Ayisha Yahya
Reporter
The call of the dollar is drawing re
cent law graduates away from public
service and into private practice, accord
ing to an /American Bar Association re
port released Aug. 5. The study found
that more students chose to work in
private practice to finance huge debts
they accumulated in college.
However, at the University School
of Law, many graduates still choose
the public interest path.
"You'll probably discover that the
University is one of the top four or
five schools where the first job for
graduates is going into public service,"
said Merv Loya, law school assistant
dean and career services director. He
said the school had collected data
from 92 percent of 2002 graduates,
and out of that segment, 43 percent
took up public interest, nonprofit or
government positions as their first
job. He added that the average over
the years has been more than 40 per
cent, compared to a national average
of 26 to 27 percent.
About a third of those in the public
interest workforce are in judicial clerk
ship jobs in judges' offices. Others work
as a public defenders, in legal service
programs that serve poor communities
and other nonprofit services.
Loya said the survey, which was
compiled by the ABA Commission on
Loan Repayment and Forgiveness, re
flects national trends that may not al
ways apply to a local level.
He said the higher numbers of Uni
versity law graduates joining public sec
tor ranks may be attributed to the Uni
versity's long tradition of public service
"We're a public law school and so
part of our mission is to serve the
public," Loya said.
Students at the law school have
won the Oregon Bar Association
Young Lawyer's Pro Bono Challenge
Award two years running for their pro
bono work. Loya said one student
even dedicated more than 400 hours
to public service.
According to the ABA report, stu
dents may be saddled with as much as
$80,000 in debt after law school.
With public service salaries starting at
about $36,000 a year, students may
opt for the higher-paying private prac
tice jobs, which offer an average salary
of about $90,000 nationally.
Loya said the debt burden for Uni
versity law graduates is about
$50,000, adding that the salaries for
2002 University graduates in the pub
lic sector ranged from $24,000 to
$61,000, with a median salary of
$39,000. Meanwhile, those in private
practice have salaries ranging from
$20,000 to $125,000, with a median
salary of $50,000.
But Loya said finances are not the
only factor behind student choices af
ter graduation. If they are passionate
about public interest, then students
may pursue their goals even if the jobs
do not pay much.
"Financially, it's not always feasible,"
he said, giving an example of a student
who started in a judicial clerkship posi
tion but decided to join a private firm
to finance his student loans.
Still, some students are up for
the challenge.
Jennifer Gleason started working as
a staff lawyer at E-Law — a nonprofit
organization that works to protea the
environment and human rights
around the world — as soon as she
graduated from the University in
1993. She said she went to law school
because she wanted to find ways to
best serve the public.
"Even though it's hard to pay stu
dent loans on a public interest salary, I
never thought of doing anything
else," she said. Gleason added that
she still has about 10 years more to
pay her loans, but she doesn't plan to
change jobs.
Not all students go into private
practice for the money, however.
"We have students who want to ex
perience what is done at large firms,"
Loya said. 'They'd be there regardless
of the salary."
Wendy Baker, who graduated from
the University in 2002, works at local
firm Harrang, Long, Gary, Rudnick
P.C. She said while many students go
to law school to make a contribution
to society, it's a misconception that
the only way one could help people is
to work in a public service, like legal
aid. She added that public interest
jobs in the area were really scarce.
"After working a year in two private
firms, 1 found there are all kinds of ways
to help people," she said, adding that
student loans did not play a bit rote in
her job choice "I feel I'm doing that"
Contact the reporter
at ayishayahya@dailyemerald.com.
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