Your situation seems like it is one that represents a fair use of the program. I dont know why, but for some reason you are horribly underpaid. I dont know if this is by choice and I dont know enough about the lawyer profession, except I do taxes for a many lawyers and they are all well into the 6 figures, even the ones in their 20's are making 90-120k starting. So I assumed (should never had done that) that you were making a lot more than you are. I think that if you borrow money, it should be paid back, I literally lived on nothing in a basement for 2 years to pay off my student loans, simply because I felt it was the right thing to do.
I'm underpaid largely because I'm in an extremely low COL area. This is certainly not by choice, and I have another thread going right now where I'm discussing jobs that pay significantly more.
I am where I am because things just didn't work out quite right. I did very well 1L year and I had a summer associate position at a 100 lawyer firm during my 2L summer. This is normally where you work after you graduate, and I was lined up to probably make at least $75-80k. However, one of the managing partners moved to a huge international firm, and the firm ended up not hiring any of the six summer associates that year.
As other lawyers in this thread can testify, when you don't get a permanent offer after having an SA, other employers assume you did something horribly wrong to mess up your offer. It follows you like a scarlet letter.
I sent hundreds of applications to firms in Ohio, Western PA, and even had a phone interview for a big firm in Chicago that didn't work out. The only thing I had left toward the end of my 3L year was to use my connections back home, which again, is a very low COL area.
So I ended up playing racquetball with my friend, who introduced me to a partner, and the rest is history. I actually worked for $2,000 for three months (total) on an "externship" with this firm before they hired me. It was really my only option.
I'm now looking to apply to big firms in Cleveland and Pittsburgh, which would increase my salary exponentially (3x). I'm see-sawing back and forth on whether I will take those positions, but I am now again leaning more towards taking the opportunity if it comes my way.
Lastly, I don't note any of this to complain. I'm very satisfied with my life--I'm close to family and people I've been friends with since middle school; my employer is generally pretty good; I'm engaged to an awesome fiancee; I live in a great little house.
Just putting all this out there so people know my story, I guess, and how I ended up researching student loan optimization quite excessively--because it was a necessity for me.