District Attorney and Indigent Legal Services Attorney Loan Forgiveness Program

District Attorney and Indigent Legal Services Attorney Loan Forgiveness Program awards are being offered to retain experienced attorneys employed as District Attorneys, Assistant District Attorneys or Indigent Legal Services Attorneys throughout New York State.

Eligibility

An applicant must:

• Be a legal resident of New York State for at least one year
• Be a U.S. citizen or an eligible non-citizen
• Be an eligible attorney (1)
• Have eligible student loan expenses (2)
• Not be in default of a federally guaranteed student loan
• Not owe a service obligation under another program

(1) Eligible attorney means an attorney who:
• Has been admitted to practice law in New York State for not more than eleven years
• Has been employed as a District Attorney, Assistant District Attorney, or Indigent Legal Services Attorney* in New York State for at least four years and is within the Eligible Period**.
• Is a District Attorney, Assistant District Attorney or Indigent Legal Services Attorney who is employed full-time and has been employed full-time during the year of qualified service*** immediately preceding their application
* Indigent Legal Services Attorney means a public defender employed full-time in New York State in a county or city Office of the Public Defender, or an attorney who is employed full-time in New York State by a not-for-profit corporation established to provide criminal or civil legal services to indigent persons.

** Eligible Period means the fourth through ninth years of employment as an Eligible Attorney. For the purposes of determining the Eligible Period all periods of time during which an admitted attorney was employed as an Eligible Attorney and all periods of time during which a law school graduate awaiting admission to the New York state bar was employed by a prosecuting or criminal defense agency shall be combined.

*** Year of qualified service means the twelve month period (365 days) measured from the anniversary of the attorney’s employment as an eligible attorney, or as a law school graduate awaiting admission to the New York state bar employed by a prosecuting or criminal defense agency.

(2) Eligible student loan expenses means the total cumulative loan balance, at the time of application, required to be paid by the eligible attorney for student loans covering the cost of attendance at an undergraduate institution(s) and/or law school(s). Eligible student loan(s) include New York State or federal governmental loans, or loans made by commercial entities subject to governmental examination. This does not include PLUS loans, or loans which may be canceled under any other program including Perkins loans, or private non-commercial loans given, for example, by family or friends, or student loan debts paid with a credit card. The attorney must not be in default on any federally guaranteed student loans.

How to Apply

The application for the District Attorney and Indigent Legal Services Attorney Loan Forgiveness Program is currently unavailable due to the upcoming implementation of the federal John R. Justice Loan Forgiveness Program.* These programs will be administered concurrently. The deadline for new applications will be adjusted to provide sufficient time to apply. Please continue to watch HESC.org for the application for both programs.

*The John R. Justice Loan Forgiveness Program will provide additional loan repayment assistance to state and federal public defenders and state prosecutors. These awards may run concurrently with the District Attorney and Indigent Legal Services Attorney Loan Forgiveness Program.

Note: If there are more District Attorney and Indigent Legal Services Attorney Loan Forgiveness Program applicants than available funding, awardees will be selected by random lottery.

Payment applications have already been mailed to prior District Attorney and Indigent Legal Services Attorney Loan Forgiveness Program recipients and must be returned no later than 10/1/2010.

Award Amounts

The maximum lifetime total award an eligible attorney may receive under this program is $20,400 or the cumulative total of their eligible student loan expenses at the time of their first successful application, whichever is less. Eligible student loan expenses will be reduced by any grants, loan forgiveness, or similar reductions to the attorney’s indebtedness that the attorney has received or shall receive, including, but not limited to, law school loan forgiveness and public service scholarships.

Award Payment

Awards will be paid in disbursements of $3,400 for each year of qualified service immediately preceding the application for payment. NOTE: Any Loan Forgiveness award payments received may have tax implications. A 1099 will be issued by the NYS Office of the State Comptroller reflecting the total loan forgiveness payments received by the recipient for the year. Any questions regarding this should be directed to a tax professional or the NYS Department of Taxation and Finance.

The District Attorney and Indigent Legal Services Attorney Loan Forgiveness Program Supplement will be used to establish a District Attorney’s, Assistant District Attorney’s, or Indigent Legal Services Attorney’s eligibility as well as process a recipient’s first award disbursement. In subsequent years, an award recipient must submit a payment application and verification of the preceding year of qualified service for which they seek an award disbursement. Payment applications will be sent each year to the address of record for award holders with remaining eligibility.