The Public Interest Law Section (PILS) is an active section with an active board, but we could accomplish even more if we had your help.  PILS has a number of standing committees and subcommittees that are open to any member of the section who wishes to participate.  They are:

• Legislative Committee:  Chris Taylor, Chair.  PILS has been very active in the legislative arena.  Among the many issues on which we have taken positions are: opposing the amendment that enshrined discrimination against LGBT couples in the Wisconsin Constitution; supporting Compassionate Care for Rape Victims; supporting federal legislative initiatives to reduce debt burden as a disincentive to the choice of public interest law as a career; opposing restrictions on immigrant access to public benefits that actually negatively impact U.S. citizens and have no effect on illegal immigrants.  In order to effectively make our positions known to the Legislature we often need members to prepare position papers or testify at hearings.  If you would like to get involved in our legislative efforts contact Chris at chris.taylor@ppwi.org.



• Law School subcommittee:  Dan Idzikowski, Chair.  One of our goals is to raise public interest law awareness at Wisconsin’s two law schools and help the public interest law student organizations that exist at those schools.  We have done this through various means over the years, by donating section funds to worthy activities sponsored by the law schools or the student organizations, providing public interest lawyers to speak to students and doing CLE programs at the schools.  We are currently working closely with the UW Public Interest Law Foundation to promote the establishment of an effective, viable, and long-term loan repayment program for UW alums practicing in the public interest arena. The level of public interest law enthusiasm at the law schools is high and it is fun to work with future lawyers who share our passion for public interest law. If you would like to help out with our law school efforts contact Dan at daniel.idzikowski@marquette.edu.



• Training and Education subcommittee:  Mitch, Chair.  For the past several years PILS has presented excellent CLE programs at the State Bar Annual Convention.  Recent topics have included predatory consumer lending; home improvement scams and piercing the corporate veil; and military law.  We have also organized successful stand alone CLEs, including Medicaid Madness; Advocacy, Representation and referral of the Low-Income Client; and Overview of Benefit Programs for Low Income People.  In December of 2007 we sponsored a CLE on dealing with Medical Debt.  Our CLE programs are never dry, dull affairs, but it takes a lot of work to make them that way. Because our mission is broad there are always opportunities for interesting and creative CLEs.  If you have ideas for CLEs or would like to work on making them happen contact Mitch at mitch@communityjusticeinc.org.



• Communication/Membership/Section Member Involvement subcommittee:  Beth Richlen and Eva Shiffrin, Co-chairs.  PILS is a small, but growing section.  Our membership increases every year because we make an effort to identify and recruit like-minded lawyers.  We also try to keep members informed about what PILS is doing—either through e-alerts or this newsletter.  As our section grows our financial resources increase and so does our stature within the Bar. All these efforts take time and effort and we can always use help with them.  If you think you have something to offer here contact Beth at brichlen@judicare.org or Eva at eshiffrin@yahoo.com. 

I know you are all busy and volunteering can be a pain—but it’s for a good cause.  There are unlimited opportunities to tilt at windmills in the PILS and every once in a while we manage to knock one down.  Even when we don’t, the bricks are a little less secure because of us.  Join the effort!

For the first time in decades, the state legislature passed a pro-active reproductive health care bill that guarantees access for all rape victims to the compassionate, comprehensive medical care they need after an assault.  The Compassionate Care for Rape Victims Bill, signed into law by Governor Doyle on March 13, 2008, requires that all hospital emergency rooms that treat rape victims give information about, and dispense if requested by the patient, Emergency Contraception (EC).  EC is up to 90% effective in preventing pregnancy after an assault if taken within 72 hours.  It does not terminate an existing pregnancy but acts just as regular birth control pills do in preventing a pregnancy from occurring.

A study last year by the Compassionate Care for Rape Victims’ coalition found that only one-third of Wisconsin hospital emergency rooms routinely give information about and dispense EC to rape victims, which is contrary to informed consent law and standard of care principles adopted by the American Medical Association. 

The Public Interest Law Section was active in helping to get the bill passed by submitting testimony in support of the bill and lobbying for it.  It was one of the most progressive pieces of legislation to pass in recent memory and will ensure that victims of rape get consistent, comprehensive medical care.

Attention legal services attorneys! Quit that bartending job you took to pay off your student loans.  The College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007 could help you pay off those loans with an income-based monthly payment, and have the balance forgiven, in the ten years.

The Act was signed into law on September 27, 2007.  There are two separate titles of the law that work in tandem to provide student loan relief to legal services attorneys and ‘public servant’ employees of non-profit organizations and government.  The first is the income-based repayment (IBR) option that builds on the current income-contingent repayment (ICR) option.  The IBR option will be available July 1, 2009.  The IBR will limit annual debt repayment to 15% of adjusted gross income minus 150% of the federal poverty level.  Section 401 of the Act provides loan forgiveness after 120 monthly payments on eligible Federal Direct Loans, under any repayment option, has worked in public service during the period of the 120 monthly payments, and is employed in public service at the time of the forgiveness.  The ten-year loan forgiveness is substantially greater than the previous 25-year maximum repayment period.  Payments made after October 1, 2007 will count toward the 120 payments if you are in public service employment. 

So get out your pencils and start calculating your savings! 

In the next newsletter we will explore the details of the Act’s provisions, how it differs from the options already available, who will benefit and how to make the Act work for you.  More information is available in an article provided through the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law.