The Loan Repayment Assistance Program enables Emily Fisher to provide free legal assistance to low-income and elderly citizens in Butte County.
Program helps new lawyers serve the public good
After earning her UC Davis law degree, Emily Fisher had a choice between going after a $135,000-a-year entry-level job at a large law firm or taking a $30,000-a-year position as a public interest lawyer.
Fisher took the public interest job, despite her $70,000 student-loan debt. Today she provides free legal assistance to elderly and low-income people in Butte County as a staff attorney at Legal Services of Northern California in Chico, a choice she says was made possible by the law school’s Loan Repayment Assistance Program.
UC Davis is committed to serving California not only through its many community-service programs, but also by making it possible for students to serve the public once they graduate.
Nowhere is that commitment as evident as at the School of Law, which offers a certificate program in public service law and operates student-run civil rights, family protection, immigration and prison law clinics that serve low-income clients. Despite rising professional-school fees, one in four UC Davis law school graduates still goes into a public-interest law job.
Launched in 1990, the loan-repayment program was the first established by a public law school in California. About a dozen students a year have benefited from it ever since. In 2007, the program was expanded with support from donations.
Fisher’s interest-free loan covers about 80 percent of her $750 monthly educational loan payments through her first three years in public service, when a portion of the loan will be forgiven. At five years, the loan balance effectively becomes a grant.
“I wanted to do something connected with activism and social justice issues,” said Fisher, who chose UC Davis for just that reason. .
2007 SERVICE
UC Davis leads oiled-bird rescue in San Francisco
UC Davis wildlife experts led the rescue of oiled birds in San Francisco after a container ship spilled nearly 60,000 gallons of heavy bunker fuel oil into the bay. Three veterinarians and a veterinary technician traveled to Fort Mason to organize the rescue effort and begin treating injured birds. The UC Davis rescue team assessed the health status of oiled birds and then put them in boxes and transported them to the San Francisco Bay Oiled Wildlife Care and Education Center in Cordelia (just outside Fairfield), where they received the world’s most advanced veterinary care for oiled wildlife.
Student-run community clinics honored
The Sierra Sacramento Valley Medical Society honored UC Davis’ student-run health clinics with its 2006 Medical Community Service Award. The School of Medicine sponsors five community clinics in the Sacramento area. Each year, they provide thousands of uninsured and underinsured patients with preventive care and treatment.
Student-Run benefit helps New Orleans school
SHARE, or Students Helping in Aftermath Relief and Education, held a dinner and auction event, “SHARE with New Orleans Food & Wine Festival,” as a part of the group’s effort to raise $20,000 and collect school supplies for the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Charter School for Science and Technology in New Orleans’ lower-ninth ward. Created by UC Davis student Venita Katir in 2004 to provide lasting support for those affected by natural disasters, the student group works to rekindle awareness and support for survivors of disasters after the national spotlight has faded.