Queen Mary PGCert – student representatives

David Musker from Queen Mary has been in touch to ask us to promote the opportunity for current attendees of the QM PGCert in IP to attend an upcoming meeting with the course organisers and management. This will be an opportunity to provide feedback on the course, and suggest any improvements that may help with next year’s course. I did this myself last year, and it was a great to be able to pass comments directly to those who are able to try and act on any issues, and to thank them for their teaching and support during the course. If you would like to be involved, please contact David directly: d.musker@qmul.ac.uk

Queen Mary PGCert – student representatives

Foundation Lecture today: Patent Searching

The second lecture of the CIPA Informals Foundation Lecture series will be held today (Monday 17th January) at 5:30pm. The topic will be Patent Searching, delivered by Matthew Hall from the UKIPO. The direct link to join the webinar is here: https://ift.tt/3qECHzx. Alternatively, go to https://zoom.us/join and input the webinar ID 956 1237 9476 and passcode 884865. All of the lectures are recorded, so that you can listen to them at your leisure and as often as you like. The recordings and slides are available via the Lecture Archive on the CIPA website (see https://ift.tt/352wIfq).

Foundation Lecture today: Patent Searching

Applying Learnings From COVID-19 to Disseminating Climate Change Technology Solutions

By: Jason Anterasian COVID-19 vaccines and new technologies fighting climate change face the same perils. COVID-19 has upended the world and we are entering our third year of the pandemic.  When the pandemic first emerged, private biopharmaceutical companies such as Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson quickly developed COVID-19 vaccines.  Such rapid vaccine development was possible in part because these companies benefited from receiving government funding for COVID-19 vaccine research and development, advanced purchase orders from the government for the vaccines, or both.  COVID-19 vaccines also built on prior decades of mRNA vaccine research that had been largely funded by the government.  The biopharmaceutical companies now have patents on the vaccines and trade secrets on the manufacturing and commercializing of the vaccines, which have been cited as causes of the inequitable vaccine rollout throughout the world.  According to the…

Applying Learnings From COVID-19 to Disseminating Climate Change Technology Solutions

Student Lawyer: What is Justice?

As Student Lawyer turns 50, we take a look at how law students can pursue justice in their careers. This includes career paths big and small, such as legislative work, public interest, and working in pro bono.

Celebrating 50 Years of Student Lawyer
While the specific advice on the usual hurdles law students face has advanced with the times, the thread that remains common to Student Lawyer through the decades is the wealth of practical advice our writers have provided.

How the legislative lawyer changes the world
Few people understand how lawyers who specialize in lawmaking can do groundbreaking and vital work. Here’s a primer on the role of the legislative lawyer in moving policies that can promote social justice.

So you want to work in the public interest?
Law school is a place to explore and learn about the universe of law in all its breadth and depth. It’s where you can seek advice from mentors and narrow in on the type of law to practice. Given the high cost of law school, it’s more important than ever to find a way to explore the practice areas in which you’ll best thrive.

Pro bono experiences these lawyers won’t forget
You’ve heard it over and over: Do pro bono. It’ll give you great experience, and you’ll enjoy it. That’s certainly true, but it doesn’t convey the depth of the satisfaction you can get from helping someone who can’t afford it achieve justice. Here, lawyers share their stories of what, for them, were almost routine legal matters but, for their clients, were life-altering.

7 ways you can improve justice
Justice is such a broad term and a seemingly lofty goal. But improving justice for others doesn’t have to mean only a win before the U.S. Supreme Court on a case that changes lives. Lawyers nationwide are working to provide justice. Here are their suggestions for how you can begin taking action during your law school career to have a greater impact during your legal career.

The anatomy of our oath as attorneys
The road to becoming a practicing attorney is a long and arduous one. After years of law school and months of studying for the bar exam, one more step remains before we’re officially licensed to practice: Every lawyer in the country must be sworn in and take their state’s oath of attorney.

2022 Summer Study Abroad Guide
One of the most rewarding ways to spend your summer as a law student is a study abroad program. Here you’ll find our comprehensive directory of study abroad options for law students. Please check with each school to ensure the program is still scheduled.

How the ABA drives careers
Seeking to learn more about the profession I was about to enter, I joined the ABA. At the time, I didn’t understand how my ABA experience would shape and enhance my career prospects. But it did, and I’m encouraging you to jump into the ABA, too.

Your Money
Student loan policy: Where do we stand now?
In March 2021, I laid out the state of play for federal student loan policy regarding things like debt cancellation, Public Service Loan Forgiveness, and income-driven repayment. Since that time, there has been a mix of action and stagnation on the part of Congress and the Biden administration. So where do we stand?

Careers
What happens when a legal career path isn’t right choice for you?
If you choose not to pursue a career in justice, remember that the law isn’t bad—and you’re not bad—it’s just that the fit is wrong. Figure out where you do fit, and then use the amazing skills you gained on the way to becoming a JD to pursue most any path you like.

I Wish I’d Known
Tommy Sangchompuphen: Seeking Help Shows Strength
There needs to be a similar shift in the narrative of mental health in the legal profession. Lawyers and law professors, like me, can help normalize conversations about mental health in the legal profession through leading by example. By sharing my personal story of vulnerability, I hope I can touch just one law student needing help and prevent that person from saying, “I wish I’d known.”

Bar Passage
Why it helps to craft a personal mission statement and declare your law school purpose
We have much to work on as a profession. But we also have much to be proud of. What are you committed to working on? And what would make you most proud of if you were looking back on your legal career 20 years from now? What’s in your mission statement?

The post Student Lawyer: What is Justice? appeared first on ABA for Law Students.

Student Lawyer: What is Justice?

Celebrating 50 Years of Student Lawyer

Imagine, as you open your latest copy of Student Lawyer magazine, you begin by reading a discussion of eliminating the LSAT for law school admissions or finally reforming the bar exam. You find concerns about the rising tally of debt faced by law students. Another writer wonders when the legal profession will finally open the doors for women and minorities.

It may sound like current events for you, the 21st century law student. But, as Student Lawyer celebrates 50 years of covering legal education and our profession, we found these issues in our back pages in our beginnings in the early 1970s.

Sure, some things have changed in our pages. You’ll find far fewer incidents of poetry, serialized legal science fiction, or cartoons in the margins, and your bar prep software no longer comes on 5 ¼ inch floppy disks. No mail-in subscription cards will fall in your lap out of a 2022 issue. And Legal Lunacy, a yearly rundown of news of the weird for the legal field, has gone the way of many a dated hairstyle.

It has been our duty and pleasure to help law students figure out how to face new challenges. Yet so many of these scary “new” became parts of our everyday life: The “invasion” of Westlaw and Lexis and the dawn of computer-aided research. The proliferation of legal “blawgs.” And the worry that computers could collect too much of your personal and private data—albeit using 1983 technology.

While the specific advice on the usual hurdles law students face has advanced with the times, the thread that remains common to Student Lawyer through the decades is the wealth of practical advice our writers have provided. And while we hope that somebody, anybody, figures out a solution for paying off law school debt, we look forward to bringing future generations of law students the same great information that helps them succeed in their careers.

We hope you enjoy this look back at some of the facts and figures and headlines and highlights as we look back at 50 years of Student Lawyer magazine.

October 1972
Many 1972 ABA Annual Meeting fashions survive only in this early issue.

November 1972
Reposted from Harper’s, this four-page spread asked: “Do Americans have a right to heroin?”

January 1973
From the Women & The Law issue: “Until male lawyers are willing to become active feminists, your profession will remain sullied.”

March 1977
Editorial cartoons from New Yorker cartoonist William Hamilton include the quip: “You’re a lawyer? That’s funny—you come on sort of creative.”

May 1977
Which cop show had the most constitutional violations? Police Woman edged out Kojak 7 to 5. Only S.W.A.T. was clean in this one-week census.

May 1982
Attorneys examined the legal concepts surrounding euthanasia using the release of the Richard Dreyfuss film Whose Life Is It Anyway? as a reference.

September 1983
Boldly going where no student law mag has gone before: Justice Beyond, a serialized sci-fi story.

April 1989
Shortly before her start on CNN, Greta Van Susteren talked trials in our pages.

April 1993
Much computer-assisted research we now take for granted was novel. Others—BBS? CD-ROM? Huge floppy disks?—did not share similar longevity.

December 2004
Weblogs + law = blawgs. Some of the example sites from the early days are still around. (The Student Lawyer blog came on the scene 11 years later.)

In September 2017, the late Chadwick Boseman discussed playing Thurgood Marshall in Marshall: “He believed in the ideal core of the system. He believed it could work and that it should work. If you make people adhere to it, then it’ll work for us.”

The post Celebrating 50 Years of Student Lawyer appeared first on ABA for Law Students.

Celebrating 50 Years of Student Lawyer

Student loan policy: Where do we stand now?

In March 2021, I laid out the state of play for federal student loan policy regarding things like debt cancellation, Public Service Loan Forgiveness, and income-driven repayment. Since that time, there has been a mix of action and stagnation on the part of Congress and the Biden administration.

So where do we stand?

Congress got right to work on another COVID-19 bill in early 2021. The American Rescue Plan Act included $40 billion in funding for the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund to support students and institutions of higher education. It also included a provision that would exclude from taxable income forgiveness or discharge of a federal or private student loan through 2025.

The new Biden administration also began filling positions at the U.S. Department of Education, allowing it to get started on rolling out the administration’s priorities and initiatives.

With that done, what has changed since early 2021, and what hasn’t?

No word on debt cancellation

Cancelling at least some part of student loan debt has become a major political talking point in recent years. Doing so could help struggling borrowers who may be at risk of delinquency or default, especially those who lost their jobs during the pandemic. Freeing up that monthly expense could make it easier for borrowers to pay other bills or otherwise invest in the economy.

During his campaign, Joe Biden said he’d support legislation to cancel $10,000 of federal student loan debt. However, Democrats, who control Congress, don’t all agree that federal tax dollars should be spent in this way. With only the slimmest of majorities in the U.S. House of Representatives
and U.S. Senate, and a focus on other domestic spending priorities, it’s unlikely they’ll be able to pass a student debt cancellation bill this Congress.

Instead, some members of Congress, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, are calling on the president to use his executive authority to wipe out $50,000 of federal student loans per borrower. While President Biden insists he doesn’t have the power to do that, in April 2020, he asked lawyers at the U.S. Department of Justice and the DoE to analyze this issue and outline whether he can cancel student debt or whether it must be done by Congress. The memo hasn’t yet been released, and the White House has given no indication when it will be.

In the meantime, the Biden administration has cancelled more than $10 billion in student loan debt by tweaking existing loan forgiveness programs, such as borrower defense to repayment, total and permanent disability discharge, and PSLF.

Repayment will begin again

In March 2020, then-President Trump temporarily paused student loan payments, interest accrual, and collection activities to assist borrowers who were struggling financially due to the pandemic. As the pandemic has dragged on, the pause has been extended several times. Most recently, the Biden administration extended it to May 1, 2022.

Turning off repayment for 42 million borrowers is easy. Turning it back on is a herculean task.

By the time payments are due again, most borrowers won’t have paid their student loans in more than two years. Surely a lot has changed for borrowers in that time.

Some, such as recent graduates from the classes of 2020 and 2021, may have never made a payment. They may not know they need to pay or may ignore notices from a loan servicer they’ve never heard of. Others will have moved and will be difficult for loan servicers to find. For many, their financial circumstances may have changed, making it harder for them to repay their loans now. All of these possibilities could lead to an increase in delinquencies and defaults.

The DoE must work closely with loan servicers to make sure borrowers have all the information and support they need to restart their loan payments.

Forgiveness is easier—for now

Individuals who work for at least 10 years in public service for the government or certain nonprofit organizations and are in an eligible repayment plan can have their federal Direct Loan balance forgiven through the PSLF program. PSLF was created with bipartisan support in 2007 to enable Americans to enter into and persist in public service careers to the benefit of countless communities across this country. It allows these public servants, such as public defenders, social workers, and teachers, to take lower-paying jobs because they know their student debt will be forgiven after a decade.

However, since forgiveness began in 2017, the program has been plagued with implementation challenges and low rates of approval for forgiveness. This is due in part to the program’s strict eligibility requirements, but also because of poor communication and implementation by the DoE and loan servicers. This has presented the Biden administration with an opportunity to improve the program so that it works better for borrowers.

In October 2021, the DoE announced improvements to the PSLF program to extend forgiveness to more borrowers. These changes include temporarily counting payments on any federal loan (if it’s consolidated into a Direct Loan) and in any repayment plan, reviewing denied PSLF applications for errors and letting borrowers appeal their denials, and letting active-duty service members count deferment and forbearance toward PSLF.

The Biden administration is also engaging in a rulemaking process to update the regulations for federal student aid programs, such as PSLF and income-driven repayment plans. Changes to federal programs are often made through legislation, such as the Higher Education Act, but with HEA long overdue for an update and Congress focused on other priorities, the executive branch is exercising its authority to make regulatory changes to the programs.

For PSLF, some changes under consideration include allowing payments prior to loan consolidation to count toward PSLF eligibility. They also include better defining eligibility for borrowers who work in public service but aren’t employed by the government or a 501(c)(3) organization.

Repayment plan to change

Income-driven repayment plans were created to help struggling borrowers better manage repayment by basing their monthly loan payment amount on their income and forgiving the remaining balance after 20 to 25 years. Despite being well-intentioned, IDR plans have been poorly designed, in some instances causing debt to actually grow over time. Also, the labyrinthine details of the five different plans create unnecessary complexity and often lead to confusion for borrowers.

Fixing IDR plans has bipartisan support, but with HEA reauthorization not now on Congress’ agenda, the Biden administration has included in its regulatory processes efforts to better target and simplify IDR plans to make it easier for struggling borrowers to enroll in and remain in these plans. Improvements being discussed include:

Eliminating interest capitalization, which can cause debt to grow despite borrowers making payments

Basing the percentage of discretionary income paid on income; for example, as income rises, so does the percentage owed

Unfortunately, the Biden administration is also considering excluding graduate students from the new IDR plan it’s developing.

The rulemaking process is a long one that started in fall 2021 and will stretch into this year, with opportunities for the public to review and respond to draft regulations. Final regulations are expected to be released this fall and implemented in summer 2023. So keep an eye out for changes next summer.

Despite the slow pace of action in Congress on major domestic policy priorities and the fact that HEA is now nine years overdue for reauthorization, the Biden administration hasn’t let that slow down its own higher education agenda. The president is using his executive power and regulatory authority to make significant and much-needed changes to existing student aid programs to make them more accessible and effective for more borrowers.

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Student loan policy: Where do we stand now?

So you want to work in the public interest?

Law school is a place to explore and learn about the universe of law in all its breadth and depth. It’s where you can seek advice from mentors and narrow in on the type of law to practice. Given the high cost of law school, it’s more important than ever to find a way to explore the practice areas in which you’ll best thrive.

For students who want to work in the public interest law arena, choices can be particularly daunting. We’ve talked to some experts to help guide you through the process.

Public interest law defined

This practice runs the gamut from litigation and class action to policy development, legislative work, and community organizing. Public interest lawyers work at legal service providers on impact litigation that can help large numbers of people.

They’re family law attorneys working one-on-one with clients in desperate need. They work in nonprofit organizations, federal, state, and local governments, public defender, and prosecutor offices. The areas of practice include immigration, healthcare, education, elder law, energy, veterans’ rights, and housing law, to name only a few.

The public interest law arena, in other words, is vast. So it’s up to you to ask questions, seek mentors, and look for opportunities for experiential learning to narrow in on whether to practice in this area.

Start with an investigation

When you’re exploring whether to pursue a public interest law career, first research the support services your law school offers. Research available financial support and scholarships, along with what’s offered in terms of guidance, alumni connections, and clinic experience.

Susan Curry, senior director of public interest law and policy at the University of Chicago Law School, has found that virtually every law student considers a public interest career. Some incoming students might know they want to focus on wealth management, but most applicants write essays about championing things like civil rights.

“Someone contemplating law school is almost always thinking about some kind of way to help,” Curry said. “But by the third year, we know a huge percentage will go into private-sector law. The question we should ask is what happens in the interim.”

One thing that happens is that first-year students often spend an inordinate amount of time getting used to the rigors of law school. Curry suggests that—as early as possible—first years should get accustomed to the language of law, the workload, and their own way of managing work. By adapting to the law school world early, you can start exploring how and what you want to practice.

Michael Bergmann, executive director of the Public Interest Law Initiative in Chicago, said one of the best ways to choose a path is to get as much exposure as possible to different kinds of practice.

“Approaching law school with an open mind and being exposed to different experiences while in school is really important,” Bergmann said. “Most folks come to law school one to two years after college and haven’t been exposed to the vast array of work and communities to work in.”

What to consider

Curry and Bergmann also agree on other points. Here are seven things to think about while exploring:

1. Rule out nothing as you investigate. The three or four years of law school and summers in between are really important, Curry said. Use summers and elective courses to decide in what kind of sector in which to practice.

“The core law school classes students take in the first years of law school are often not enough to help you decide,” Curry said. “For example, I worked with a student who knew from the beginning that he wanted to practice disability law. Up until his third year, he worked for organizations that specialized in disability rights. He interviewed for a post graduate fellowship and received an offer. That same student took a bankruptcy course late in his third year, fell in love with it, and went on to practice in bankruptcy.”

While it at first appeared that the student’s time working in the disability arena was wasted, it occurred to Curry that finding love for a certain kind of practice was exactly what law school is for. “You don’t always know what you’ll want, even if you think you know,” Curry said. “My advice for all law students is to not be closed off to other possibilities.”

2. Seek advice from many different people. One of the most effective ways to test what will make you thrive is to seek out the advice of practicing attorneys. Career paths don’t always reveal themselves through classes and summer jobs, so it’s important to talk to mentors, professors, clinicians, and practitioners.

3. Start early learning the language of law school and practice types. “In addition to understanding the different types of legal practice, it’s important to understand the workload, to know when you feel most focused, and to know what motivates you,” said Curry. “Understanding these things help you understand if a particular public interest law practice is a good fit.”

Bergmann said that by taking a class in family law, an area he didn’t think he was particularly interested in, he discovered he was really good at it. “Through exploration, you reaffirm those things that you think you may not like,” he said, “but are also introduced to places you’d have otherwise dismissed for some reason.”

4. Consider a judicial clerkship. “Judges’ chambers actively seek out students who are public service directed,” Curry said. “And public service includes everything from zoning, environmental law, child protection, housing, family law, and the government.”

She noted that a major advantage to clerking is that students learn firsthand, by reading briefs, what good and bad lawyering looks like. “Understanding this difference is a helpful skill to learn for both the private and public sectors,” Curry said.

5. Know the value of experiential learning. Get in there and join a clinic. If your perfect clinic isn’t available, look into doing other pro bono work. Or do both. “Once students find out the value of experiential learning, they often want to do more of this work in different ways,” said Curry.

6. Know your debt-to-income ratio and funding sources. No matter what practice you choose, it’s vital to understand how going to law school will affect your debt-to-income ratio. Like any debt, student loans are part of that calculation. According to various experts, your fixed expenses—including housing costs—should be at or below 41 percent of your monthly income.

Be sure to explore federal and state grants, private foundation grants, and loan forgiveness programs. Bergmann also suggested looking to state and local bar foundations for loan repayment assistance.

“The options for grants and loan forgiveness have gotten better in the past decade, and there’s currently promise under the federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness program that’s being reinvigorated in the Biden administration,” Bergmann said.

7. Split the difference and explore both BigLaw and public interest in school. All experience helps and is never wasted. Consider splitting your summers between firms and public interest organizations. During the school year, take on pro bono projects to explore what interests you most.

By experiencing both the private and public sectors while in school, you can prepare for a job that can pay the bills and garner invaluable experience while building inroads to a public interest job that may not pay as well. Many attorneys make the switch to public service later in their careers, taking paths they built early on through mindful exploration.

The post So you want to work in the public interest? appeared first on ABA for Law Students.

So you want to work in the public interest?