Law School Loans and Lawyers in Public Service
There was a time not so long ago when being a prosecutor was an honorable and decent paying career. Today, however, while the career is still an honorable calling, financial realities are having a significant impact on the profession. Prosecutors are forced to compete with private law firms to recruit good lawyers, and new lawyers, saddled with sometimes staggering law school loans, are forced to choose between a rewarding career in public service or a financially lucrative career in private practice.
Over the years, the National District Attorneys Association (NDAA) has wrestled with ways to help prosecutors deal with the problems of recruitment and retention of quality lawyers. Anecdotally, many prosecutors blamed low salaries and the high levels of loan debt carried by young lawyers as the primary factors that affected recruitment and retention. In an effort to generate empirical evidence to support NDAA in developing a case for loan forgiveness programs that could help bring and keep lawyers in state and local prosecution, the American Prosecutors Research Institute’s Office of Research & Evaluation (OR&E) and the National Association of Prosecutor Coordinators (NAPC) conducted a national survey to document the extent of the problem. The survey yielded a number of very interesting results from both the perspective of managers and the chief prosecutors as well as the younger attorneys who are still burdened with significant loan debt.
Almost all (89.4 percent, in fact) of the 2,119 prosecutors who responded to the survey had taken a loan to offset the costs of law school tuition, and 85 percent still owe money on their loans. Most are struggling to pay off loans between $45,000 and $90,000, and spend an average of 19 percent of their monthly salary ($251-$500 per month) to do so. It is not unusual for young prosecutors to hold a second job to make their law school loan payments, with many working between 10 and 20 hours per week at their second job alone.
This burden of loan debt takes a considerable toll on the quality of life for younger prosecutors, influencing many life decisions. According to the OR&E/NAPC survey, most prosecutors reported that their loans are a significant consideration in the decision to buy a home or a car and even to start a family or become a career prosecutor. In fact, more than half of the prosecutors reported that they would work an average of 22 years in prosecution if loan forgiveness were an option.
Chief prosecutors and supervisors also reported that loan forgiveness is a very significant factor in recruitment and retention of staff. The majority of offices that responded to the survey were small ones, employing an average of 10 or fewer prosecutors with turnover rates of 50 percent or higher. They attribute much of this turnover to the weight of law school debt on young prosecutors. More than half of the chief prosecutors or supervisors who responded reported that in the past year, between one and five prosecutors left their office, and nearly a third of them left because of law school loan payments.
The implications of not being able to recruit or retain qualified attorneys are tremendous for small and large offices alike. OR&E/NAPC’s survey found that the most significant effects of loan debt on prosecutors’ offices include increased costs for repeatedly training new prosecutors, fewer experienced attorneys to prosecute complex or violent cases, increased caseload per attorney, decreased morale, and increased risk of prosecutorial error.
The National District Attorneys Association is looking forward to continuing and expanding its work in support of student loan forgiveness. Armed with these compelling findings, NDAA will continue pushing for federal legislation and plans to approach state legislatures and universities, law schools and other academic institutions seeking support for this important issue.
With loan forgiveness programs in place, prosecutors’ offices can gain ground in the battle with private firms and employ qualified prosecutors who are interested in spending their entire careers in this rewarding field.
