Contact: Darren Johnson, Director of Communications
(631) 421-2244, ext. 383, djohnson@tourolaw.edu

April 24, 2006

New Program Helps Touro Grad

Albany, NY – A New York State Bar Association pilot project is helping lawyers pay-off their student loans so that they can pursue a career in public-interest law. A Touro grad is one of the first award recipients.

Initiated in 2001 by then Association President Steven C. Krane of New York (Proskauer Rose LLP), the SLAPI (Student Loan Assistance for the Public Interest) program is an AmeriCorps-like project that is funded by The New York Bar Foundation, the charitable and philanthropic arm of the state bar, and other private donors. The Bar Foundation has provided $25,000 in funding for each of the first three years of the program.

Award recipient Christopher Nelson of the Bronx, a 1999 graduate of Touro Law Center, who works for the Administration for Children’s Services representing the commissioner in cases involving child abuse and neglect, wrote: “I have to be honest, if not for receiving the SLAPI award, I would have had to take a job that paid better… However, knowing that I have additional funds to assist in paying my student loans has been a major factor in staying with ACS.”

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