Advocacy Efforts

Law Student Division

Advocacy Efforts

Welcome

Welcome to the Law Student Division's Advocacy Information Page. Due to exciting new bills that have recently been signed into law and are currently being debated in Congress, this page will feature updates as we learn them. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact any of our Division Delegates, whose contact information can be found below.

Delegates to the ABA House of Delegates

Marc Baranov
Southwestern Law School
Los Angeles, CA

Ashley Ligas
Florida State University College of Law
Tallahassee, FL

Christopher Sprowls
Stetson University College of Law
Gulfport, FL

Background Information on Law Student Debt

What are We Doing

Law Student leaders from across the country will be joining forces with the greater ABA for ABA Day April 18th-19th in Washington DC. Over this two-day span, the ABA will be lobbying members of Congress on Capitol Hill. Each year the ABA lists certain issues as legislative priorities and ABA members lobby on those issues to their representatives. There are currently several bills concerning law student debt before Congress. Because of all this activity, law student debt is a top ABA priority.

You can be a part of our advocacy efforts on behalf of these bills by contacting your member of Congress, telling us your story or joining us on ABA Day in Washington, DC. Updates of the ABA Law Student Division advocacy efforts will be posted as they become available.

References

What is the Law Student Division Assembly?
What is the ABA House of Delegates?
Preparing a Resolution for Presentation to the ABA Law Student Division Assembly
Return to ABA Law Student Division Home
Contact an Officer or Delegate
Student Loan Forgiveness
Thurgood Marshall Legal Educational Opportunity Program
ABA Legislative and Governmental Advocacy -- Grassroots Legislative Action Center

Law Student Take Active Part in ABA Day

On April 16-17, 2008, the ABA Law Student Division Chair and the Division's three Delegates to the ABA House of Delegates took an active part in the American Bar Association's annual visit to Washington, DC. Among the many one-on-one meetings scheduled during the two-day event, law student leaders sat down for frank discussions about the cost of higher education with Senator Barack Obama (D-IL), Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Congressman Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Congressman Pete Visclosky (D-IN). Tell me more about the Law Student Division's participation in ABA Day in Washington

Learn About New Loan Repayment Programs For Recent Graduates

President Bush Signs College Cost Reduction and Access Act
Highlights of the College Cost Reduction and Access Act
College Cost Reduction and Access Act Article
Loan Forgiveness Tool Kit - Check back soon for additional materials.
A PowerPoint Presentation (available as a PowerPoint or in PDF format)
Other National articles on this recent change
See if your member of Congress voted to support this legislation:
- House of Representatives
- Senate
  Note: Votes for or against the College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007 were in support or against much more than IBR and ICR.

Share Your Story

Please share your personal experiences or hardships facing you as a law student, whether they relate to law school debt, the rising cost of tuition, admissions standards, and so on. Your story will be shared with Congressional representatives and ABA leaders, and will aid our efforts to fight for law students on a wide range of issues.

Visit Share Your Story

Developments in the 110th Congress

This Congress has seen a great deal of activity on the issue of student debt. In September, the House and Senate both passed legislation on federal loan repayment assistance programs. At the end of September, President Bush signed this piece of legislation into law. Tell me more about this legislation

Congress is also currently discussing Senator Durbin's Prosecutor and Public Defender Incentive Act (S.442), which allows eligible attorneys to receive student loan debt repayments of up to $10,000 per year with an aggregate over time of $60,000 for those employed as prosecutors and public defenders for three or more years.