National Jurist - October 2008 - (Page 17) Future HARVARD LAW SCHOOL graduates who will be participating in the law school’s new Public Service Initiative Program aren’t just saving themselves from further law school debt. Their committment to public service work during law school and after will continue to strengthen the public service community. loans at the same time. Yet the program isn’t just about money. It’s about public interest community building, said Kenneth Lafler, Harvard Law’s Director of Student Financial Services. “This is really based on what you do while you’re in law school,” Lafler said. “We really want this program to strengthen the public service community we already have.” He added that the school’s Office of Public Interest Advising will work closely with the new program and offer related community-building events throughout the school year. The school did decide against limiting the number of students that can participate in the Public Service Initiative Program. Rather than picking a hand-selected group from a relatively small group of applicants, the school wanted to offer the program universally. “Many great public interest graduates had little or no public interest experience before law school,” Lafler said. “So the school chose to focus on public service commitments during law school.” Students may opt into the program as long as they have the required credits, which can be achieved through activities that prepare students for public service — such as public service clinical programs or community events. Students also have to complete 10 weeks of public interest summer work. They may finish another 10-week summer for the additional credits. Lafler said the law school plans to keep track of students’ work every six months, much like it does through its loan repayment assistance program for those who work in public interest positions. If a student in the program doesn’t complete the requisite five years of service, Lafler said it will expect that the student repay the last year’s tuition. The school has developed a sliding-scale repayment system, depending on the number of years a student worked in a public interest job. The initial reaction has been favorable by students and the public interest community alike. Lafler and Kagan both expect to see a sharp rise in the number of students who choose a public interest track as a result of the program, though it’s hard to tell where the program will lead. “To some extent, there are risks here,” said Lafler, adding that the school had to make sure it could afford the program before offering it. “We don’t know how many students will want to take advantage of it. We do expect that this will increase the number of students who go right into public service positions.” 17 THE NATIONAL JURIST October 2008 http://www.law.unimaas.nl http://www.law.unimaas.nl http://www.animalbillofrights.com http://www.animalbillofrights.com
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