UW’s Gates aid gives public-service lawyers a good start

Three years after the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation established a public service law scholarship at the University of Washington, the program’s first four graduates face growing demand for their services but declining job prospects.

Demand for public legal services was strong before the recession hit, but experts say the recession has eliminated jobs just as demand has reached new highs.

“There are a lot of young attorneys who would have liked to have had public interest jobs but just haven’t been able to find them,” said César Torres, executive director of the Northwest Justice Project, Washington’s largest provider of legal aid.

The nonprofit, which has 103 attorneys working in 17 offices around Washington, has six open attorney positions that it cannot fill because of budget reductions. Most of the group’s funding comes from the state and federal governments.

At UW, the public service law scholarship was established in 2006, after the Gates Foundation donated $33.3 million to the UW School of Law. The program provides full funding for its recipients during their three years of study.

The program leaders hope that students who do not graduate with a six-figure student debt will be able to take low-paying public service jobs.

Despite the recession, three of the first four students to graduate from the Gates law program have secured positions since graduation in June.

“With the positions they have so far, they are going to learn so much and gain so many skills, and do a lot of good for people with their careers,” said Michele Storms, executive director of the Gates Public Service Law Program.

“Every year we are going to graduate another crew,” she said. “Before long, we are going to have these incredibly dedicated and passionate people all over the country, and, hopefully, all over the world.”

Each year the program accepts a cohort of five students, except for the program’s first class, three years ago, when only four students accepted the scholarship. The award pays full cost of living and education under the condition that recipients perform at least five years of public-service law work after graduation.

The program is now producing graduates, with its first class receiving diplomas in June. This year’s graduates are:

— Emily Alvarado, searching for a position in civil legal aid

— Vanessa Hernandez, clerking for 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Betty Fletcher in Seattle

— Colleen Melody, clerking for 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Ronald Gould in Seattle

— Michael Peters, awarded a two-year Equal Justice Works fellowship working for the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project in Seattle.

Melody said the program provided an “endless support system” that was highlighted by the quality of her Gates program peers. “Having them around was like having a built-in public service support group,” she said.

For Melody, public service law will mean public defense work on behalf of immigrants in the criminal justice system.

“It is only going to become a more prevalent issue as more and more of our population is noncitizens,” she said.

Hernandez, who will graduate in December after she missed two quarters because of her first child, said she wants to eventually work on consumer and housing rights.

“I could happily work in an issue area as long as I was working on behalf of clients and doing direct service work,” she said.

Although the program is well funded, it has been touched by the recession. The program has cut back on dinners and special events, while protecting other budget categories such as student housing.

“The important thing is what the students get hasn’t changed,” Storms said. “That’s the No. 1 thing.”