Sowing the seeds of public service at HLS, continued
"Getting a job in public service is hard," Kagan agreed. "You have to knock on a lot of doors and make a lot of phone calls. Some students get lazy. It's our job to say, 'Don't get lazy!'"
With more resources for OPIA, including additional full-time advisers, the numbers of students and alumni it assists are soaring. Ten years ago, OPIA staff held 733 appointments with students and alumni looking for guidance in finding public service jobs. By last year, that number had leapt to 1,100, which included advising appointments for 65 percent of the 1L class.
Getting Top Students
When it comes to attracting law school applicants, the benefits of attention to public service work can't be underestimated, Shabecoff says. Many top applicants are focused on public service and are seeking a school with both practical support and a vibrant public service community. HLS's Low Income Protection Plan is one of the most generous in the country, says Natasha Onken, assistant director for LIPP and summer funding, and there is no question that it draws students who have carefully examined similar programs at other schools. "Students are very savvy about this," Shabecoff said. "They look beyond the surface, and a lot of students who do that feel this is the place to come, because of LIPP."
Plunkett seriously considered rejecting HLS because she wasn't sure about its commitment to public service. "I was very concerned about coming to Harvard," she said. But after looking at LIPP and the services offered by OPIA, she changed her mind.
The school improved LIPP further last year by raising the qualifying asset and income limits. Graduates can enter LIPP at any time, so someone who leaves private practice for public service can receive assistance with loan repayment. And both undergraduate debt and debt incurred in joint-degree programs at Harvard are eligible for coverage. Even non-law-related public service can now be covered by the plan, a very important change, says Shabecoff. "It used to be you had to use the unique skills of a lawyer, so that ruled out becoming an elementary school teacher," she said. "Now you can come in knowing that if you don't want to practice law, you're not stuck."
Kagan, who praises the staffs at OPIA and LIPP, said there will be even more emphasis on public service in the future: "We're going to keep our foot on the accelerator, and try to improve every one of these programs and provide all the clinical opportunities we should, and keep talking about the importance of this, and why public service is an integral aspect of a lawyer's life."
Asked why she sees public service as so important, Kagan said, "Because we live in a world bigger than ourselves, and we should take an interest in that bigger world--in other people, how they're faring. I think that's part of being a good person and part of being a good lawyer.
"If you tap every student at this law school on the shoulder and ask whether part of his or her professional life should be dedicated to public service work, most would say yes. That makes me proud, because that's what they should say. In one way or another, all of us here at Harvard Law School have been fortunate, and we should find a way to give back."
Elaine McArdle is a freelance writer living in Watertown, Mass.
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