Even Biglaw Associates Struggle To Pay Their Massive Student Loans

High salaries or not, student loans are still weighing lawyers down.

onAugust 16, 2021 at 3:15 PMAugust 16, 2021 at 1:52 PM

It’s a seemingly absurd position: You can make enough money to be in a very high-income tax bracket, but home ownership is completely out of reach. I’m saying that as someone who feels very lucky.

— Marcella Jayne, a third-year litigation associate at Foley & Lardner who now makes more than $215,000, commenting on sizeable student loan indebtedness following college and law school. Jayne, a single mother to two children, had been paying $2,200 per month on her $180,000 balance prior to the federal student loan payment moratorium. “We were headed toward the cliff,” she said of affording special needs childcare services coupled with her monthly loan payment, which was higher than her monthly Manhattan rent. While Jayne is thankful for the reprieve, she says she’s looking for something more. “I feel like it’s a band aid. I want policy changes.”

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Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.