College Planning: Work-Incentive Programs Ease Tuition Pressure
Rachel Solomon, SmartMoney.com – July 26

Nonprofits, corporations, colleges and state and federal governments are all offering work-incentive programs. … But perhaps the biggest payoff of these programs comes at the graduate level. One of the most generous is the Loan Repayment Assistance Program (LRAP), which helps repay loans for law students who practice public-interest law following graduation. … To navigate through the sea of options, Heather Wells Jarvis, program manager for Law School Advocacy at Equal Justice Works, an organization promoting the work of public-interest lawyers, points students and graduates to the E-Guide to Public Service at America's Law Schools — an online tool that searches LRAPs by school, state, or type of practice.

Utley honored for legal aid work
Sun Herald (Biloxi, MS) – July 23

The Corporation for National and Community Service last week presented Equal Justice Works and AmeriCorps attorney Crystal Utley with the Spirit of Service Award at the National Conference on Volunteering and Service in Philadelphia.

People of the Bar
New Jersey Lawyer – July 23

To better address the needs of the state's Asian-American community, the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund has opened a second office for its New Jersey Asian American Legal Project – the first in the state – at 89 Market St., Newark. Over the past year, NJ-AALP director and staff attorney Alexander Saingchin has expanded project services and resources with a multi-lingual helpline and free legal clinics.

Lawyer honored for work with Katrina victims
Clarion-Ledger (Jackson, MS) – July 13

A Mississippian received a national award for her service to Hurricane Katrina victims. Crystal Utley, an attorney based at the Mississippi Center for Justice, received a Spirit of Service award from the Corporation for National and Community Service. The award was presented at the National Conference on Volunteering and Service in Philadelphia, Pa.

Judge faults Missouri's cutoffs of children's health care
Kansas City Star – July 12

A federal judge has blocked Missouri's method of cutting off health coverage for children whose parents failed to pay required monthly premiums.

U.S. District Judge Nanette Laughrey on Monday ordered the Department of Social Services to stop terminating benefits without mailing a warning letter 10 days before coverage would end and giving parents a chance to request a hearing. Laura Redman, an attorney for the National Center for Law and Economic Justice, called the lawsuit the first of its kind regarding a state's Children's Health Insurance Program. "We are grateful the state has been told it needs to follow the law and that these young people’s rights cannot be trampled upon," Redman said.

Law Grads Can't Afford to Fight the Good Fight
Travis Altman, TheStreet.com – July 6

The rising costs of a law degree is depleting the ranks of public prosecutors, defenders and public interest lawyers. The problem has been overshadowed recently by scandals in the student lending industry. But some say the real issue is not the way loans are marketed to students but the fact that students need to borrow so much money in the first place. Nicholas Carlisle, a 27-year old 2006 graduate of the University of Alabama School of Law, estimates he spends $250 more per month than he makes. … Heather Jarvis, program manager for law school advocacy and outreach at Equal Justice Works, says debt levels are starting to dwarf starting paychecks for all but the most fortunate graduates. "The truth is unless you go to certain elite law schools, most lawyers earn more modest salaries," she says. … Glinnesa Gaillard, 32 years old and also about to graduate Albany Law, says she is determined to help others, even though she owes $115,000 and is a single mother. "I think that is the duty of being a lawyer" she says. Gaillard plans to work for a nonprofit that counsels low-income people with housing problems, thanks in part to a fellowship from Equal Justice Works. If she is lucky, she will end up like 29-year-old Harvard graduate Lea Weems, who says she lives a relatively comfortable lifestyle working public service in Chicago. Weems handles complex cases involving mortgage rescue fraud. One client, who speaks only Spanish, says he was conned out of his house by a broker who made him sign documents written only in English. Weems gets financial help from Equal Justice Works and her alma mater. "I am in a very lucky position," she says.

New Scheme Preys on Desperate Homeowners
By Gretchen Morgenson and Vikas Bajaj, New York Times – July 3

With the housing market in decline, financial predators are finding yet another way to take advantage of people who fall behind on their payments. The schemes take various forms and often involve promises to distressed homeowners of cash upfront, free monthly rent and a chance to retain their houses in the long run. But in the process, someone else takes over the deed, borrows as much as possible against the value of the house and pockets the cash. And, almost always, the homeowners still end up losing their homes. … Lea Weems, a lawyer at the Home Ownership Preservation Project at the Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago, represents Ms. Muhammad and has helped keep her client in her home. A hearing in her case is scheduled for mid-July...