In September, the Bar Foundation awarded $158,400 to 23 civil legal aid attorneys in South Carolina through its newly created Loan Repayment Assistance Program (LRAP). Approximately $100,000 of this year’s funding for the LRAP was provided through the multi-district litigation discussed below. The Board of Directors of the Foundation approved additional funds of $58,400 to permit the maximum benefit for the applicants.

Seed funding for the LRAP was made possible by Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough, LLP; Richardson Patrick Westbrook & Brickman, LLC and the National Bank of South Carolina. The funds resulted from an account set up during a multi-district litigation that began in the early 1990s and was assigned to U.S. District Judge Matthew Perry in Columbia. The two law firms participated in the multi-district litigation as liaison counsel, and the bank served as account custodian. All cases consolidated in the litigation recently ended.

The naming of the LRAP honors the public service commitment exemplified by Chief Justice Julius “Bubba” Ness and Speaker Sol Blatt.

The burden of debt that faces lawyers in the civil legal aid landscape is staggering. Nationally, the average debt of a legal services lawyer is $80,000. In South Carolina, the figures equally are disturbing. Prior to establishing the LRAP, the Foundation administered a survey to all attorneys employed at IOLTA-funded civil legal aid organizations. In comparing those who have paid off their debt to those with current educational debt, the most significant trend is the steep rise in the amount of educational debt of South Carolina’s civil legal aid attorneys. The median educational debt is four to five times higher for those with current educational debt than for those that have paid off their debt. Of those with current educational debt, the median amount of educational debt is $61,000 to $75,000; the highest amount of debt ranges from $150,000 to $175,000 and 50 percent of the respondents estimate it will take them somewhere between 21 and 30 years to pay off their debt. The aggregate debt of all LRAP applicants was $1.86 million dollars; averaging approximately $85,000 per individual.

South Carolina joins 22 states that offer LRAPs either through the IOLTA program, a Bar Foundation, private donations and/or legislative allocation. LRAP assistance is provided in the form of a forgivable loan. To have the loan forgiven, a participant shall complete a year of employment with a qualifying employer and make educational debt payments (interest and/or principal) that equal at least the amount of Foundation and other LRAP assistance received during the award year. In forgiving the awards for years of service at the organization, the Foundation is hopeful that more hard-working and dedicated legal services lawyers will be able to remain in the legal services arena.

The Ness-Blatt LRAP is administered on a September to October cycle. Lawyers who work for civil legal aid grantees of the Bar Foundation are eligible. Applications will be distributed through the program directors of the grantees.