by Eileen Korey
Krsna Avila ’17 had not yet enrolled in Cornell Law School when he wrote a profoundly personal article for the Cornell Journal of Law and Public Policy. Published in 2011, it was entitled, “My Life as an Undocumented American,” and it offers insight into the aspirations of law students intent on careers in public service. He wrote: “Laws shape our existence in profound ways. As social guidelines, created to make sense of a world in the pursuit of justice, laws cast a wide and often hidden influence. As a prospective law school student and future attorney, I aim to analyze laws in a critical, detached manner. However, as someone who has experienced the detrimental consequences of the United States immigration laws, I am forced to see certain laws personally and emotionally.”
Avila’s parents brought him to the United States from Mexico when he was four months old. Though he grew up as an undocumented immigrant, he didn’t really understand the implications until his application for financial aid for college was rejected. “Only then did I understand for the first time that I was actually imprisoned. After seventeen years (minus four months) of living in this country, I was confronting a different reality, borne from certain provisions of U.S. immigration law.”
Those who advise law students on their career options “can honestly tell students they can forge their own path. We don’t diminish the big law pathway, but we’ve also enhanced the viability of a public interest career pathway. Whatever path they choose, they are going to be exceptionally good lawyers and make a huge impact on the legal community.
— Shane Cooper, Senior Associate Dean for Admissions, Financial Aid, and Student Services
Once at Cornell Law, Avila had to find a way to square his personal passions with professional practicality. “I clearly remember that first week when a contracts professor asked the class why we went to law school. I felt like I was the only student on a social justice, public interest path, and I was pretty naïve about the cost of law school.” Ultimately, he graduated with a large debt.
Today, thanks to what is now the most generous loan repayment assistance program (LRAP) among the nation’s top law schools, Avila can continue to pursue his passion and look forward to a debt-free future. Cornell Law’s newly revamped LRAP program means that graduates and alumni who are pursuing careers in public service (including government, nonprofit, labor union, and academic work) could qualify to have their federal loans fully repaid if they earn less than $120,000 a year or partially repaid if they earn less than $150,000.
Avila previously qualified for the LRAP program when he graduated in 2017 and went to work for the Immigrant Legal Resource Center in California, earning less than $80,000, which was LRAP’s former cap. By 2021, he no longer qualified for loan repayment support because he was earning over the cap. “A third of my income was going to pay off the loans,” recalls Avila.
“I was struggling to pay for the basic costs of living in San Francisco.” When he heard about the new cap in the revamped LRAP program, he reached out to re-enroll. Now, Avila continues to practice his passion in California and help Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients as a staff attorney with a new Cornell Law School-based nonprofit project called Path2Papers.
“It brings such joy to be able to support these students and graduates in their chosen path,” says Bryan Vliet, director of financial aid. When an email blast went to alumni informing them of the new cap, Vliet said the response was “overwhelming joy and overwhelming support.”
Trace Maddox ’20 calls the new LRAP cap a “huge relief” as he moves forward in his career. “I started college when I was seventeen not fully understanding the impact of debt,” says Maddox, who first qualified for LRAP when he took a job in the Ohio public defender’s office after graduating law school. After two years as a public defender, he began clerking for a federal judge in the Southern District of Ohio and the salary bump meant he no longer qualified. “I wanted to return to public interest law in some form but the path forward looked dark,” says Maddox, who had moved to New York City to take a position as an acting assistant professor of lawyering at New York University School of Law. “When I got the news that I requalified for LRAP, I was so excited. There is now a much brighter light shining on the path forward. And it’s showing me that Cornell values the choice I made in my career.”
“Law students today are politically aware, passionate, and determined to carry out their responsibility as officers of the court to improve the quality of justice in this country,” says Beth Lyon, clinical professor of law, associate dean for experiential education and clinical program director. She sees many students excited by the clinical work they do in her own Farmworker Legal Assistance Clinic and other clinical programs. “They see how their clinical work achieves great outcomes, and they deeply care about their clients. All the while, the clock is ticking on the debt they are accumulating. It has been heartbreaking to see students who want to do this kind of public service work full time but can’t because their life circumstances simply won’t let them. Now, with the new LRAP cap, we will see students who work day and night in the clinics have more options ahead of them.”
“When I saw the announcement about the new LRAP cap, I was kind of taken aback,” says Luis L. Lozada ’19. “Not only did Cornell exceed the previous cap, they exceeded it beyond my imagination. They were extremely generous.” Lozada had originally qualified for LRAP following graduation when he clerked for a U.S. District Court Judge in Brownsville, Texas. But as he thrived in his career and moved on to a clerkship in federal bankruptcy court in Los Angeles, his cost of living rose and so did his salary—enough to lose his LRAP support. “I was racking my brain trying to figure out how to reduce costs, while budgeting student loan payments, rent, public transportation, insurance,” says Lozada. “I even asked myself whether or not I should go work for a law firm, because inflation had changed the calculus.”
Lozada, who is now a staff attorney at MALDEF (Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund), says he listened with interest to Dean Jens David Ohlin’s State of the Law School address, during which he heard the dean pledge more support for law students pursuing public interest careers. He calls the new LRAP cap “truly life changing. All the anxiety I had disappeared.”
Now, Lozada can look forward to continuing in the fields of civil rights and immigration law. He and his team at the Latino civil rights organization recently filed a lawsuit against a California credit union for unlawfully denying a loan to a DACA recipient. Last year, a judge ruled in favor of Lozada’s clients in a discrimination case in Washington. After that ruling Lozada told a public radio reporter: “It shows civil rights violations should be taken seriously. More attorneys should take on these cases.”
Lozada says it’s the kind of work that taps fully into his Cornell Law education and training. “I’m doing partner-level work early in my career, including all phases of litigation. And now, I have peace of mind because my loans will be paid off in another five years or so. Cornell gave me that peace of mind.”
Providing law students and graduates with more options and peace of mind is what drove the changes in the LRAP program, says Akua Akyea, associate dean for career development. “Our students have worked really hard to get to Cornell and we want them to be able to make career decisions that are right for them,” says Akyea. “The LRAP is part of a continuum of opportunity at the law school, which includes working in the clinics, summer programs, and fellowships in public service. The new cap creates a strong web of support for our students and allows for greater flexibility in how they choose to use their law degree.”
That continuum of opportunity is also enhanced by a distinctive clinical course offered to first-year students. The 1L Immigration Law and Advocacy Clinic is a three-credit spring semester elective taught by Jaclyn Kelley-Widmer, clinical professor of law. Cornell Law is one of only two law schools that currently offer clinical courses specifically designed for first-year students. The other is University of Michigan Law School where Kelley-Widmer earned her degree. “Students are more aware of geopolitical issues than ever before, more aware of social injustices in general, and many of them feel that it is imperative to work to mediate these issues,” says Kelley-Widmer.
In an article designed to encourage more law schools to provide 1L clinical courses, Kelley-Widmer writes that for public interest students “the dominant postgraduate career opportunities in corporate law can cause law students to become disillusioned early in their law school careers, as their goals may not match their educational experience. However, early involvement in live-client public-service work can provide balance and inspiration for students. Further, experiential work, especially early on, makes all students better learners and sets them up for their legal careers. Whether they go directly into public service after law school, into corporate law, or into fields like academia or government, law-school opportunities to engage in practical projects ‘for the greater good’ are formative, often profound experiences that may establish a student’s career path or pro bono practice area.” Kelley-Widmer serves on Cornell Law’s faculty public service committee which has worked to strengthen the web of support for students interested in public service. The committee offers students opportunities “to find their people” and build community through social and informational gatherings to learn about the support available. She says the faculty and students have found a “listening ear” in Dean Ohlin and administrators who recognize the importance of funding legal education and pursuits that broaden the meaning of serving the public interest.
“The proliferation and popularity of our clinics, practicums, and experiential programs ensure that our graduates are practice ready,” says Ohlin, Allan R. Tessler Dean and Professor of Law. “That’s one reason why the biggest law firms in the country seek Cornell graduates. Still, there are countless organizations, firms, and entities serving vulnerable communities that also deserve the best-trained lawyers. We are essentially amplifying the impact of a legal education when we broaden the options for our graduates and afford them greater opportunities to serve the public.”
Through alumni engagement and philanthropy, Fred Rubinstein ’55, has provided support for new graduates through fellowship programs that fund public service work. He believes the increase in the LRAP cap goes a long way in “bridging the chasm that has been increasing over the years between public service compensation and the private sector.” Rubinstein is exceedingly proud of his alma mater for essentially rewarding the sacrifice of those lawyers who choose a less financially rewarding legal career. “A career in public service is not measurable in dollars as much as it is in courage and human decency. There is great value in the virtue of public service.”
Kelley-Widmer says alumni who donate to public service fellowships are supporting both the law students who receive them and the clients they serve. “The fellowship may be temporary but it nurtures the students’ passion while providing support to communities in need of legal services.”
Shane Cooper, senior associate dean for admissions, financial aid, and student services says alumni like Rubinstein “kickstarted” the increasing support, which he thinks will help change perceptions and open doors. “The constraints of debt can limit a student’s perception of choice” says Cooper. “Typically, financial reality hits in their 1L year and that’s also when the corporate law track is already well-defined and predictable. The public service track is more amorphous because hiring doesn’t take place predictably. It might seem a riskier path, but by helping them pay down their loans, we are saying, ‘We’ve got you covered’ if they want to pursue that path.”
Miriam Mars ’24 started down a public interest path on day one of law school. Mars participated in the 1L Immigration Law and Advocacy Clinic, Afghan Assistance Clinic, and Asylum and Convention Against Torture Appellate Clinic, among others, and helped put together a public interest career “boot camp” to connect students with nonprofit and government employers. Mars believes it’s vital for the law school to expand staff support and resources for students on the public interest path, in addition to the increased LRAP cap. “It was a huge relief when the cap was raised. I was able to sign a lease on an apartment in New York City where I’ll be clerking for a federal immigration court, making just over the former $80,000 cap. Now, with the new cap, I can truly live my values in my work.”
A Cornell-funded fellowship allowed Amy Godshall ’23 to live her values when she accepted a job as a legal fellow at the ACLU of Florida. Her fellowship focuses on addressing issues in immigration detention that disproportionately impact women of color and LGBTQ+ individuals. “We do not have enough public service attorneys to do this kind of work,” says Godshall. “Cornell is so well-known and respected and, as such, can use its platform to push for change that makes our country better.” When her fellowship runs out, Godshall can rely on Cornell Law’s LRAP program to help her continue the work she loves. “I simply could not afford to do this work if I had to pay off my $200,000 in loan debt. It’s an amazing program.”
Cooper believes that the new LRAP cap, along with the fellowships and clinical programs strengthen Cornell Law’s promise to produce “lawyers in the best sense.” He says those who advise law students on their career options “can honestly tell students they can forge their own path. We don’t diminish the big law pathway, but we’ve also enhanced the viability of a public interest career pathway. Whatever path they choose, they are going to be exceptionally good lawyers and make a huge impact on the legal community.”
“Cornell fosters an awareness of the power and responsibility that the profession brings and the capacity for lawyers to effect meaningful and fundamental change in society,” says Maddox. “That power is important whether you’re in big law or academia or public interest. To be lawyers in the best sense means to approach whatever field you choose with intention and meaningfulness.”
