All full-time ABA employees are eligible for the federal loan cancellation program after dispute resolution
[ad_1]
Legal education
All full-time ABA employees are eligible for the federal loan cancellation program after dispute resolution
All full-time ABA employees are now eligible for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program following a settlement in the association’s lawsuit against the US Department of Education.
ABA Executive Director Jack Rives announced on Tuesday that the ABA has received
a letter of the Department of Education stating that all full-time ABA employees are employed in “a public service job” for a “public service organization”.
As a result of this determination, full-time employees with unpaid direct federal loans are eligible for participation, provided they meet other program requirements.
The letter was a condition of the ABA settlement agreement, which asked the ABA to drop its appeal against the Education Department when the letter is received, Rives said in its announcement to employees at the ‘ABA.
“So it’s official,” Rives wrote in an email to ABA employees. “All full-time ABA employees have the PSLF Civil Service Employment Diploma!
The PSLF program, created in 2007, offers a loan forgiveness to those who make monthly payments for 10 years while working full-time in the public service. The ABA job was considered public service work until the Ministry of Education changed its interpretation in 2016.
ABA and four lawyers who were taken out of the program – two of whom worked for the ABA – filed the complaint in December 2016. Ropes & Gray represented the ABA pro bono.
U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly ruled in February 2019 that the Ministry of Education failed to meet notification standards when changing its interpretation, and the changes were arbitrary and capricious in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act.
Kelly ruled for three of the four attorneys who sued, but ruled against a fourth who worked for Vietnam Veterans of America. Kelly said the file did not support this attorney’s claim.
Kelly also spoke out against the ABA’s own claim. The Education Department’s determination that the ABA was not a public service organization under the program was not a final decision by the agency, Kelly said, and it could not be challenged at this point under the APA.
The Education Ministry did not appeal parts of the ruling against it and began to restore loan repayment credits last summer to certain ABA employees who have been excluded from the program.
But the ABA appealed part of the ruling against the association to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. This appeal was dropped as a result of the settlement.
The Education Ministry said in its letter to the ABA that its decision does not prevent the agency from changing the definition of a public service organization in the new regulations in the future.
Ropes & Gray partner Chong Park, one of the attorneys who represented the ABA, said the settlement was “essentially a complete victory for all plaintiffs.”
Park told the ABA Journal that the Education Ministry has also recognized that the American Veterans of Vietnam and its employees are eligible for loan remission. This is a victory for Jamie Rudert, a lawyer for the group who lost his application for interim relief in district court.
“We are very pleased with the settlement, which ensures that the ABA and ultimately all of the individual complainants have obtained the relief they originally sought in the complaint filed approximately four years ago,” Park said. .
Rives also praised the colony.
“We are delighted that the Ministry of Education now fully agrees to grant loan forgiveness to many people who have rightfully deserved it,” Rives said in a statement. “Without the dedicated public service of so many lawyers, our country would not be able to provide services to those in need. Canceling the student loan is a modest but very useful way to repay young people who spend 10 years of their lives in lower paying jobs serving the public.
Updated Feb 18 at 3:49 p.m. to include commentary from Chong Park. Updated February 19 at 12:55 p.m. to include Jack Rives’ statement.
[ad_2]
