Most schools, either through a school's Public Interest Center, Career Services Office or Student Services Office offer school-sponsored extra and co-curricular public interest programs. These activities, which are generally open to all students, may include lecture series, brown-bag lunches and book clubs focused on a public interest topic, such as domestic violence or human rights.
Speaker series - Established by ALS professor Tim Lytton in 2001, this town hall style program promotes the exchange of ideas between ALS Student, faculty, and staff, and the greater community. The free series features notable speakers who examine topics of great significance locally, in the country, and around the world, often focusing on public interest topics, such as the inaugural program on "Searching for Justice on Death Row: Administration of the Death Penalty."
The WCL Office of Public Interest offers monthly roundtables on current topics in public interest lawyering. The vibrant student organizations also host numerous symposia and panels and sponsor public interest related events such as the annual “week against mass incarceration”, and more.
ASL's Introduction to Law course features a number of speakers from public interest organizations; all new law students participate in this course. ASL and student organizations also sponsor luncheon speakers who address various areas of public interests work.
Lectures are arranged periodically by student groups.
Public Interest Law Retreat
Each year, BC Law students, faculty, administrators, and alumni come together for the annual Public Interest Law Retreat. The three-day, student-run Retreat is held at the BC Retreat Center in Dover, MA. Students participate in community building exercises, speaker panels, skills workshops, and networking events.
The Public Interest Retreat is an annual event planned by BU Law students with the support of BU Law faculty and staff. The retreat is an opportunity for BU Law students interested in public interest law to connect with one another while engaging with leaders in the public interest field and learning about emerging legal issues and approaches to public interest lawyering.
Public interest and government attorneys take part in a Professional Development Public Interest/Service Lecture Series which is available to students on a weekly basis.
Student groups such as the Student Hurricane Network engage in pro bono work during semester breaks or, for local projects, at other times. More than one group mentors or tutors in public schools, another provides assistance to those negotiating the immigration process in the courts, and yet another answers letters from prisoners regarding their legal questions. We also have an active community that, each semester, provides a broad array of panels, speakers, debates, roundtables and forums and symposia on public interest issues such as the following (taken from the fall semester 2008).
In addition, the Public Service Programs Office, the Career Center and student groups present dozens of programs providing legal and job search skills training sessions as well as programs exploring career options.
The Career Center partners with the Campbell Public Interest Law Student Association on public interest initiatives and special events throughout the year. In addition, the Pro Bono Council and other student groups offer programs and events with a focus on public interest law and issues.
New York City Law Review Symposium - The Law School's Law Review conducts symposia on public interest topics. Past symposia have been held on community economic development and more recently nonprofit organizations.
Heywood Burns Annual Lecture - There is an annual lecture from those appointed to the Heywood Burns Chair. Haywood Burns, the Law School's second Dean, died tragically in an automobile accident in South Africa on April 2, 1996. In his memory, the Law School established a Chair in Civil Rights
None
The Office of Public Service is pleased to host three major annual events. Our aim is to educate and inspire the Cornell community, which we hope encourages even greater student and alumni involvement in public service.
Cyrus Mehri Lecture Series
Since 1999, the Cyrus Mehri Public Interest Lecture Series has presented an annual major address to the law school community by a leading public interest law practitioner. This Lecture Series is made possible by a generous contribution from Cyrus Mehri '88, an accomplished social justice lawyer and dedicated supporter of public interest-minded Cornell Law students.
Public Interest Legal Career Symposium
Since 2008, our Public Interest Legal Career Symposium has brought together a critical mass of Cornell Law alumni practicing in a wide range of public sector arenas. Panels are organized by law practice settings and cutting-edge social justice topics.
Alumni Public Service Awards
This is the evening when Cornell Law School's public interest community gathers to celebrate itself. First held in 2007 at the Cornell Club, we now gather at the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, to recognize extraordinary alumni (and students about to graduate) who have distinguished themselves with their dedication to public service. Whether working in public interest organizations, with government agencies or through law firm pro bono projects, we are proud to celebrate the Cornell Law public service spirit.
Lunchtime Speakers - CPIL, sometimes in partnership with various student groups, sponsors lunchtime events that feature speakers and presenters to discuss different public interest and social justice topics and issues.
Public Interest Honors Scholars - The Scholars program is a leadership program for students with excellent credentials and a demonstrated commitment to the public interest. The program includes a number of special events, the opportunity for alumni and faculty mentors for the scholars and the chance to be leaders in developing the public program at DePaul.
Public Interest Legal Skills Series – CPIL sponsors a series of skill based learning programs for students. Experienced practitioners create the syllabi and teach the non-credit course during the lunch hour. A broad number of transferable skills such as discovery are also taught. Students who attended all sessions in each series are given a Certificate of Completion. The Skills Series is not meant to be a casebook course, a clinic, or a classic skills course. Instead, each Series will focus on a discrete area of the law and use actual case files, including pleadings, depositions, documents, and judicial opinions – to immerse students in the laboratory of legal skills.
Receptions - CPIL sponsors evening receptions throughout the year. Specifically, there are receptions to mark the start and the close of the school year, to connect student with mentors in the public interest law community and to celebrate the LRAP recipients and program.
Vincentian Conference - CPIL sponsors an annual conference with a panel and key-note speaker presenting issues and topics related to public interest.
Public Service Scholarship Program speakers
Constitutional Law Symposium
Agricultural Law Symposium
Brown Bag Speaker Series - The Pro Bono Service Office, the Career and Professional Development Office, and student groups present dozens of programs that focus on different areas of public interest law and explore various public interest career options.
First Monday Reception - In celebration of the opening session of the Supreme Court each year, this event brings together law students, members of the public interest legal community, and pro bono lawyers from private firms in the Philadelphia region. This is an event where students, directors, and lawyers can discuss cases of constitutional significance in an informal atmosphere.
Public Interest Law Day - During this special day each fall, the Career and Professional Development Office highlights individuals working in public interest, sponsors lectures, and provides public interest career information.
Martin Luther King Jr., Day of Service - Drexel joins forces with the Greater Philadelphia Martin Luther King Day of Service, a program of the United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania, turning the King Holiday into a day "on" instead of a day "off."
PIE Grant Auction - Each year the PIE Grant Board and the Pro Bono Service Office organize an auction to raise money to support students engaging in unpaid summer public interest jobs.
Leadership Retreat - Over 40 Duke Law students are selected to attend the Community Roundtable Leadership Retreat each year, which was sponsored last year by the law firm of White & Case LLC.
Women Judges Forum - This event is held each year in the spring semester to encourage students to consider the judiciary as part of their career path. Typically, several female judges on the NC Court of Appeals join female judges of other state courts and share personal reflections on their career choice, the barriers they faced, and the rewards of the job.
Faculty Lives in Public Service - Like our students whose extracurricular activities enrich the intellectual life of the Law School for other students and provide pro bono service for under-served client populations, the faculty who respond to requests for their special expertise from congressional committees, the media and other groups and organizations perform an important public service. That lawyers have a duty to educate and serve is one of the lessons Duke Law School tries to teach its students, and providing good models for this role is an important part of its teaching function. Beyond this function, it is simply the case that law professors, like all lawyers, share responsibility for transmitting to the broader society knowledge and understanding of the law and an appreciation of the values advanced by the rule of law.
The Office of Public Interest and Pro Bono provides an opportunity for faculty to share their leadership in public service. The Faculty Lives in Public Service speaker series provides an opportunity for students to meet with Duke Law School faculty who have held positions in government or non-profit organizations, have participated in pro bono opportunities, or have used their scholarship for public service. Faculty members talk about their work and discuss it with students during informal brown bag lunches.
Public Interest Retreat - The Public Interest Retreat, started in 1998, is an annual overnight weekend retreat for students and faculty interested in and committed to public service. The Retreat is held early in the Spring semester on Friday and Saturday, at The Summit Conference Center, Brown Summit, NC. The Retreat is an opportunity for students, faculty and administrators to spend a weekend reflecting on their public service aspirations and possibilities. Distinguished speakers, including alumni, working in public interest are invited each year to address the participants as well as to participate in small group activities and workshops. Time is also set aside for informal socializing and recreational activities. Students participate in a letter writing activity in which they write a letter to their future self about where they would like to be one year after graduation, and it is mailed to them at that time.
The Retreat is planned by a committee made up of Duke Law students and the faculty/administrators in the Office of Public Interest and Pro Bono.
Southern Justice Spring Break Mission Trip - Students spend their spring break doing service work in high-profile organizations throughout the South. In 2006, twenty-one students went to New Orleans to do hurricane-relief work; to Fort Worth to work with hurricane evacuees; to Honolulu to work in the Public Defenders Office; to Appalachian Kentucky to work with legal aid and on miners' health and safety issues; and to Atlanta to work with the Southern Center on Human Rights.
The Public Interest Law Association (PILA) sponsors a table talk each semester featuring students who have worked in public interest positions.
Speakers Series – PILA invites at least 2 public interest speakers per semester to inform students about the importance of public interest work.
The Emory Public Interest Committee and The Center for Public Service both sponsor a variety of public interest events each semester.
The EPIC Conference is an annual public interest conference held each October that features panels of speakers on a public interest topic chosen by the EPIC executive board each year. Other student groups present public interest conferences on a variety of topics, including trauma-informed legal service, immigration, and more.
Emory Public Interest Committee (EPIC) Annual Conference: There is a one-day public interest conference in the fall with panels of speakers on a particular public interest topic.
During New Student Orientation, the Director of Career Services introduces students to the Public Interest Program. In addition, the Career Services Office encourages public interest/Pro Bono employers to visit on campus and inform students of their work. In 2010-2011 school year, the school intends to host a Public Interest Informational Job Fair. Students are encouraged to participate in the volunteer partnerships the school has formed with local advocacy, policy, and community groups and to incorporate those experiences into class discussions and assignments.
There is an annual public interest career panel and the law school hosts periodic speakers on public interest issues (school and student sponsored).
Several of our student organizations are actively involved in promoting community service events and activities throughout the academic year. These organizations include the Student Bar Association (SBA), Public Interest Law Students Association (PILSA), and Black Law Students Association (BLSA). Both SBA and BLSA have been nationally recognized for their community service programming.
The Pro Bono Program also offers student opportunities, many of which we created, including:
Family Law Pro Bono Project
The Family Law Pro Bono Project provides GW Law students with the opportunity to assist under-served communities while also enhancing their lawyering skills. Student volunteers are trained in substantive family law and court procedure before attending a weekly shift at the courthouse to help pro se litigants with their family court matters. Students answer questions, draft pleadings, and help individuals make informed decisions about what is best for their families. Additional opportunities to participate in community outreach, such as presentations on custodial rights and helping parties settle their family court matters, are available to interested students.
Gulf Recovery Network
Since Hurricane Katrina and even more so since the gulf oil spill, GW Law students travel to New Orleans during winter break to provide both legal support and assistance with re-building homes.
Hypothermia Homeless Family Outreach Pro Bono Project
The Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless (WLCH) provides outreach at the Virginia Williams Family Resource Center (FRC) to families who have no safe place to sleep at night and who are seeking emergency shelter. Volunteers circulate flyers and speak one-on-one with families, informing them of their legal right during hypothermic conditions to shelter and to appeal the denial of shelter.
Landlord-Tenant Pro Bono Project
The D.C. Bar Pro Bono Center created a pro bono project to provide law students with the opportunity to play an impactful role at Landlord and Tenant Court. Law students staff the Landlord Tenant Resource Center, work with customers to identify their legal issue(s), and relay relevant information to the attorney providing services to the customer.
Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project
Under the guidance of the Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project, GW Law students help the wrongfully convicted and receive an opportunity to get real world experience in the criminal justice process. Specifically, participating students work on three aspects of the project: screening cases, assisting with DC cases, and researching legal issues.
The Veterans Pro Bono Project
Every Friday at DC VA Medical Center, the Veterans Consortium, the Neighborhood Legal Services Program, and the DC VA Medical Center partner with law students and local corporate legal departments to staff The Veterans Pro Bono Legal Clinic. Volunteer attorneys and law students interview veterans and triage cases on a broad spectrum of issues.
Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA)
The VITA program at GW Law offers free tax preparation services to low income DC residents. Law students also counsel taxpayers on banking and consumer credit services. This program gives students the chance to put their substantive knowledge into practice and provides a glimpse into real-world implications of tax policy.
Dozens of career-related workshops and substantive programs are conducted each year. These include a brown bag series featuring alumni in specific public interest careers (such as public defender and legal services, issue-specific symposia and conferences, an international human rights law week, and a speaker series. Multiple public interest programs are conducted virtually every week.
The following public interest-oriented events are held on an annual basis:
Postgraduate Fellowships Panel: A postgraduate fellowship is one of the very few ways through which aspiring public interest students start their careers. Because fellowship applications have early fall deadlines and the application process is very time-consuming, the time for 1Ls and 2Ls to start exploring fellowships is right now! Current fellows will visit GGU to explain the process.
Public Interest and Pro Bono Graduation Celebration: The Celebration honors those students who sacrifice so much in dedication of their lives to the voiceless and disenfranchised and, in so doing, elevate the entire law school community. In particular, the Breakfast recognizes the Pro Bono Honor Society inductees, PILF grant recipients, Public Interest Certificate recipients, and all members of the Public Interest and Environmental Law Scholars Programs.
Careers in... Panels and Networking Receptions: Each year, LCS hosts a number of panel discussions with public interest employers designed to introduce students to specific public interest practice areas. Each discussion is followed by a networking reception, during which students can meet the panelists.
Public Interest Interview Panel: This panel discussion with public interest employers is designed to demystify the public interest interview process.
National Celebrate Pro Bono Week: This event is designed to encourage students to perform pro bono and introduce students to the many avenues through which they can perform pro bono.
Public Interest Law Foundation Auction: The PILF Auction has typically been the most profitable fundraising activity, and a good opportunity for grant applicants to volunteer their time. The auction is held every year in the Spring, and tends to be one of the most entertaining organized activities of the year. Auction night consists of food, drinks, a silent auction, and a live auction. The items at auction were donations solicited by PILF throughout the year from law firms, local businesses, faculty, students, and alumni.
Orientation Service Project: The Orientation Service Project is the first public interest-oriented event. Entering students perform community service at a public interest organization in the community. This event is an ideal opportunity for students to get to know each other, learn about their passions and commitments, and lay the foundation for their public interest careers.
How I Spent My Summer: This event is low-key networking reception, during which 2Ls and 3Ls share with 1Ls their summer work experiences and encourage them to apply for a position with that organization next summer.
The following are institutional committees tasked, in whole or in part, with overseeing pro bono or public interest curriculum, programs or initiatives:
Learning Committee: The Experiential Learning Committee has oversight over all clinics, externships, the Honors Lawyering Program and the Pro Bono Program. The Committee considers the current clinical curriculum in relation to traditional law school courses and suggests curricular innovations consistent with the Carnegie Report and/or similar recent literature on skills training in law school. The Committee monitors the level of student participation in clinical and skills courses, provides oversight for externship programs, and works with Law Career Services to increase student participation in experiential learning courses. The Committee also assists in increasing the number of available externships and HLP apprenticeships. The Committee considers the management structure for clinics and makes any necessary proposals to the faculty. Further, the Committee determines if adequate externship, clinical and skills offerings are available to satisfy the mission of the school of law and reports such findings to the faculty annually.
Loan Repayment Assistance Program Committee: The Loan Repayment Assistance Program Committee has a two-fold mandate. First, the Committee regularly reviews and revises LRAP policies and procedures, e.g. eligibility criteria, asset determination criteria, application procedures. Second, the Committee select recipients.
Public Service Brown Bag & Justice (PBJ) Forum: The Center for Law in Public Service partners with the law student Alliance for Social Justice and various student organizations to offer weekly Public Service Brown Bag and Justice (PBJ) forums for the law school and university communities. PBJs are lunchtime discussions about current social justice and public interest legal issues. Featured speakers include members of the state bar, the judiciary, civic leaders, social activists, law students, staff and faculty.
Task Force on Race and the Criminal Justice System: Gonzaga University School of Law partners with staff and faculty from Seattle University School of Law, University of Washington School of Law and prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges, associations, and concerned citizens to form the statewide Task Force on Race and the Criminal Justice System. Charged with studying the institutional and structural arrangements which continue to disproportionately impact racial minorities at all levels of our criminal justice system, the Task Force is committed to advancing the discussion of this important topic through education and recommendations for reform. Gonzaga University School of Law, the Task Force and Gonzaga University's Institute for Hate Studies co-host the reoccurring Race and Criminal Justice Conference in Spokane that features national and international scholars and experts in the field.
William O. Douglas Lecture Series: The student-led William O. Douglas Committee coordinates an annual lecture series for the purpose of promoting a strong commitment to the freedoms of speech, religion and assembly protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. The lecture series features distinguished, nationally renowned speakers who share this strong commitment to the First Amendment.
Human Rights Program 20th Anniversary Celebration- A weekend long celebration and conference that included prominent alumni active in the field of human rights, such as the head of Amnesty International, and academics.
A series of discussions with Professor Jon Hanson entitled "We've Got it All Wrong: A Year-Long Conversation Melding Social Psychology, Economics and Law." - This installment, "The Illusion of Choice," will seek to explore how policy is currently made, who it serves, and how we might - by reconceiving ourselves and re-imagining our laws - begin to better achieve the goals of freedom, justice and equality.
Tips for 1Ls from a Progressive Perspective - HLS Democrats, American Constitution Society, Civil-Rights Civil Liberties Law Review, Black Law Students Association. Come learn from the experiences of 2Ls and 3Ls as they provide tips on everything from preparing for class to getting involved in extra-curricular activities - from a progressive perspective.
An Interview with Mary Bonauto - Harvard Law School welcomes Mary Bonauto, 2004 Wasserstein Fellow, Civil Rights Project director at Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders, and attorney for Goodridge et al. v. Dept. of Public Health.
Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review 40th Anniversary Conference - "Join us March 18-19th for the CR-CL 40th Anniversary Conference, "Bridging the Gap: Construction of Rights and Liberties in the New Civil Rights Era."
Competing Notions of Liberty and Security in the War on Terror
Talk with David Crane, Prosecutor, Special Court for Sierra Leone - "Join us for a conversation with David Crane, Prosecutor for the Special Court for Sierra Leone.
Rasul, Padilla and Hamdi: The Evolving Jurisprudence of Terrorism - This is a panel discussion about the three major terrorism cases that the Supreme Court handled last term.
"Take Back the Courts" - Film and Panel - "Take Back the Courts" is a twenty-minute film that describes the human consequences of the rollback of civil rights by the federal courts.
The Roots and Legacies of the Nuremberg Trials International Justice. What does and could it mean to pursue justice internationally, especially in the wake of mass atrocities, wars and genocides?
Religion, Morality and Choice - Join HLS for Choice, the American Constitution Society and the Harvard Law School Democrats for an exciting discussion on "Religion, Morality and Choice: The Intersection of Values and Reproductive Rights."
Civil Liberties In the Current Climate - Anthony Romero, executive director of the ACLU will speak about "Civil Liberties In the Current Climate".
Is Accountability a Pre-Requisite to Sustainable Peace? - A discussion between Justice Richard Goldstone and Professor Michael Ignatieff. Moderated by Professor Martha Minow. This is the last event in a week-long series of events related to Darfur and the national launch of the Genocide Intervention Fund.
Panel on Domestic Violence in Immigrant Communities - Sponsor: StopDV Please join us for a panel on issues of domestic violence in immigrant communities. Panelists will discuss topics related to legal rights and strategies for helping survivors, assessing unique risk and lethality indicators, and changes in the aftermath of September 11th.
Transgender Law 101: Sex, Gender and the Law
Public Service Orientation - Designed to bring together entering 1L students with an interest in public interest, inspire them and provide them with an introduction to the extensive resources available at HLS to support public service. Features a prominent alumnus keynote, Dean Kagan, Professor David Barron and Alexa Shabecoff, Assistant Dean for Public Service. 2Ls and 3Ls attend as well to talk about the Auction and the Student Public Interest Network and to generally start the process of befriending 1Ls. Public service guides are distributed.
Public Interest potlucks - Sponsored by OPIA - designed to bring together public interest minded students. Generally at least two per year - one at Alexa Shabecoff's house and one at another HLS staffer's home or at the Legal Aid Bureau offices.
Student Public Interest Auction - Raises money for summer public interest funding but is also the premier social event of the year. Run by 1Ls, the planning starts in September and ends with an April silent and live auction. Dean Kagan has been one of the Auctioneers since she became Dean. Hundreds of students, faculty, staff and alumni attend and raise well over $100,000.
Public Service Alumni Reunion (March 2008)
Hofstra's Office of Career Services sponsors public interest programming and panels throughout the school year.
The Equal Justice Program works with the Office of Career Services to sponsor several public interest focused programs each semester. Some highlights include: An Introduction to Public Interest Practice, Lunch with a Lawyer Series, Public Defender Panel, Civil Legal Services, Post-graduate Fellowship Workshop, and Managing Your Debt with a Public Interest Career. EJP also co-sponsors several programs with student groups each semester and helps to publicize local public interest career fairs, conferences, and other relevant events.
Harry Morris Lecture in International & Comparative Law - This annual lecture features a speaker in International & Comparative Law. Lectures have included: "The Uncertain Self-Identity of International Criminal Courts" and "Decision making in the WTO."
Insitute for Law & Humanities Lecture - The Institute for Law and the Humanities was created to facilitate, support and encourage symposia, lectures, scholarship, and faculty discussion on the relationship between law and other humanistic disciplines. It provides opportunities for faculty and students to integrate humanities-based studies with the study of law and to explore the increasingly rich and diverse scholarship in areas such as legal philosophy, legal history, law and literature, and law and religion.
Centennial Lecture - This is an annual lecture. Speakers have included: Jeremy Waldron, Professor of Law and Director of the Center for Law and Philosophy, Columbia Law School discussing "Torture and Positive Law: Jurisprudefnce for the White House."
Section 1983 Civil Rights Litigation Conference - This annual conference features nationally prominent law professors and practitioners who offer instruction on both the fundamentals and more advanced aspects of Section 1983 practice and trial skills, and analyze the latest case decisions.
Annual Conference on Not-For-Profit Organizations - This annual one-day seminar features a comprehensive program on the most current developments in taxation, legislation and regulation on non-profits presented by leading experts in the area.
Orientation to high school students in low income neighborhoods about civil rights issues.
Public Interest Speakers through the Career & Professional Development Center and student groups.
Pro Bono & Community Service Fair
Northwest Public Service Career Fair
Animal Law Conference
Northwest Civil Liberties Conference
Crime Victim Law Conference
None at this time.
Reforming Eyewitness Identification - Convicting the Guilty, Protecting the Innocent
Defining Crimes - The Theory of the Criminal Law's Special Part
Barry Sheck - Guest speaker
Sister Helen Prejean - Guest speaker
LSU Law Center Public Interest Law Lecture Series - Past lecturers include Professor Barry Scheck, Sister Helen Prejean and Professor Bill Quigley.
The Public Interest Law Department is an active participant with the Alliance for Justice promoting First Monday campaigns (ex. Gun Violence).
The Public Interest Law Department offers open forums and speaker presentations to discuss various public-interest topics during lunch sessions.
Social Justice Mondays
Distinguished Speaker Series
Classroom visitors
Two major and three smaller lectures
The Lubar Center for Public Policy and Civic Education is an initiative of Marquette University Law School. Through debates, symposia, public lectures, panels, conferences, the Marquette Law School Poll, and the On the Issues series, Marquette University Law School has established itself as a leading venue for serious civil discourse about law and public policy matters affecting the region and beyond. Read more online: https://law.marquette.edu/community/lubar-center.
Christian Legal Society (meets weekly)
Environmental Law Club (meets monthly)
Mitchell Hamline requires all students to complete six hours of extracurricular programming designed to prepare them to be lawyers in a diverse world. Additionally, student groups frequently bring in speakers on public interest topics.
Work through the three Academic Centers
Sidney Shainwald Public Interest Lecture Series – The Sidney Shainwald Public Interest Lecture Series, established in 2004, has attracted notable and distinguished speakers, such as: Kenneth R. Feinberg, special master of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, United States Senator Edward M. Kennedy, and United States Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer.
Center for New York City Law Breakfasts - The Center for New York City Law invites government, business, legal, and judicial leaders from the United States and abroad to speak at the Law School.
Tony Coelho Lecture in Disability Employment Law & Policy – Each year the Justice Action Center, in cooperation with Congressman Coelho, presents the Tony Coelho Lecture in Disability Employment Law & Policy. Lectures have included national leaders in politics, government, and policy.
Justice Speaks Lunches – Each semester, the Justice Action Center presents three installments inits Justice Speaks Lunch Series. Justice Speaks brings local and national figures to the Law school to engage students to consider the law's role as a force and tool in society. These lunches give students the opportunity to interact with and learn from attorneys, advocates, and leaders in the public interest community.
Public Interest Coalition Annual Goods and Services Auction
Stonewall Law Students Association Annual Charity Raffle and Dinner
See http://www.law.nyu.edu/publicinterestlawcenter/pilcevents/index.htm
Each semester the Pro Bono Program sponsors several events to highlight pro bono opportunities, public interest law careers, and the needs of under-served people and communities. These events include nationally known speakers; panels featuring local public interest and government attorneys, many of them alumni/ae of the Law School; and information meetings about the Equal Justice Works annual Conference and Career Fair and NC LEAF, the state loan repayment assistance program for public interest attorneys.
The Pro Bono Program sponsors an Orientation and introduction to the Pro Bono Program and lawyers' professional responsibility to help insure equal access to justice.
Equal Justice Works Information/Interest Meeting – Information/interest meeting held in September or early October each year to introduce students to Equal Justice Works and promote the annual conference and career fair
Fall Public Interest Law Panel – Panel discussion with attorneys from various public interest law organizations to familiarize student with their work and opportunities to volunteer, usually held in October.
Spring Public Interest/Public Service Brownbag – Brown-Bag lunch with public interest law and government attorneys, held during Law Week in April.
Innocence Project Major Speaker – Te NCCU Law Innocence Project sponsors a major speaker each semester on a topic related to wrongful conviction and the criminal justice process. Recent speakers: In Fall 2004, former NC death-row inmate Alan Gell, whose conviction of first-degree murder
The Civil Rights and Restorative Justice Project (CRRJ) - CRRJ hosted an event in January 2013. Poet Laureate Toni Morrison was the keynote speaker at "No Welcome Home: Remembering Harms and Restoring Justice," to honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
The Domestic Violence Institute (DVI) – Throughout the academic year the Institute sponsors and collaborates in events to familiarize students with domestic violence issues in general and local violence prevention initiatives in particular. A highlight is a Networking Lunch held each fall which emphasizes opportunities for students to learn from, and work with, local advocacy organizations and legal services providers who serve survivors.
Givelber Distinguished Lectureres on Public Interest Law -- Twice annually the Law School invites a public interest practitioner to teach a two-credit seminar on a current public interest topic.
Gordon Human Rights Lecture - The annual Valerie Gordon Human Rights Lecture, established in 1993, honors outstanding lawyers, judges, scholars and advocates who work to advance human rights and social justice. The lecture is named in honor of the late Valerie Gordon '93, a lawyer and advocate for human rights in the US and internationally. Her commitment to human rights and social justice shown is shared and celebrated by the Northeastern law school community.
Each year, in conjunction with the Valerie Gordon Lecture, the law school's chapter of the Black Law Students Association sponsors a human rights essay contest for first-year law students. The essay topic is announced annually by BLSA, and "The Spirit of Valerie Gordon Award" is presented at the Gordon Lecture each spring. The 2013 lecture was delivered by Philip Alston, the John Norton Pomeroy Professor of Law at New York University School of Law, whose teaching focuses primarily on international law and international human rights law.
Daynard Public Interest Visiting Fellows Program - The Daynard Program brings two distinguished practitioners of public interest law to the Northeastern campus each academic year for a three-day visit. The fellows, nationally recognized public interest leaders, serve as role models for students, demonstrating how legal skills can be used effectively and creatively to make the world a better place. The Daynard Fellows each deliver an address that focuses on the strategic use of law to promote public interest goals, participate in classes, consult about professional opportunities for students and graduates, and meet individually with interested faculty, administrators and students.
Faculty Meet-Up - This program enables students to meet with individual faculty in an informal setting to learn about the public interest teaching, research projects and pro bono activities in which Northeastern University School of Law faculty are engaged. Held once each academic year, the event, launched during the 2009-2010 year, attracts over 150 students and 30 faculty.
NU Law Forum - The Northeastern Law Forum is a quarterly speaker series that focuses on legal issues of contemporary concern. The forum provides a space for open dialogue on contested social issues of interest to students, faculty and graduates.
There are numerous student run pro bono projects including Alternative Break options that include work at the Mississippi Center for Justice and Al Otro Lado, student chapters of the ACLU, Collaboration for Justice, Election Law Association, Gun Reform Interest Project, If/When/How, International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP), National Lawyers Guild, Street Law Association.
Other extracurricular programs include:
Orientation Day of Service - every orientation, incoming students dedicate a day to community service. Each year, the projects vary but have included volunteering at the Greater Chicago Food Depository, Animal Care and Control, Lake Michigan Federation, and YMCA.
Talcott Adopt-A-School Program - throughout the year, students volunteer at our "adopted" school in a weekly reading program, pen pal program and provide other assistance as needed.
Chicago Youth Programs Tutoring and Mentoring Program - each week, students volunteer to mentor and tutor children through the Chicago Youth Programs.
MLK Day Service Celebration - our annual Martin Luther King celebration includes community service projects.
Ladder Up Tax Assistance Program - each tax season, students assist low-income clients prepare tax returns.
Lawyers in the Classroom is a program coordinated by the Chicago Bar Association that partners law students and lawyers with elementary school classes to help students understand the U.S. Constitution and our legal system.
Fall & spring lecture series: In Search of Public Interest
Brown Bag Series
Organized by the Center for Civil & Human Rights (includes human rights issues)
Research Workshops
Organized by the Center for Civil & Human Rights to provide opportunities for students to contribute research support of litigation applying universal jurisdictional statutes.
Nova Southeastern University Shepard Broad College of Law provides many extracurricular and co-curricular programs, including Public Interest Law Day and Career and Professional Development programming. Through these various programs students are able to connect with and learn from public interest professionals.
Distinguished Practitioners in Residence in Business Law course series was launched in the fall of 2005. This program brings to Moritz Law judges and practitioners as adjunct professors to teach one-credit, concentrated courses in advanced aspects of business law.
Election Law @ Moritz is a web publication that covers developments in the law of election administration-- laws dealing with voter registration, voter ID, early and absentee voting, provisional balloting, poll workers and polling place procedures, recounts and election contests, and other related issues. Our primary target audience includes lawyers and legal scholars who focus on these issues, as well as journalists in the elections field. Through our work, we hope to help this audience better identify and understand the true issues confronting the world of election administration
Moot Court Program: During the first semester of their second year, all students must participate in the Moot Court Program by satisfactorily completing Appellate Advocacy I. In Appellate Advocacy I, students write an appellate brief on a case under the supervision of Professor Mary Beth Beazley and practicing attorneys. Students then argue their case before panels of judges, which may include faculty members, practicing attorneys and third-year students. Appellate Advocacy I is required of all second-year students. Students receive two semester hours of credit. Moot Court Program web site
Program on Law and Leadership: Established in the fall of 2007, the Program on Law and Leadership is the umbrella for all activities related to leadership at the Moritz College of Law. We are deeply committed to the idea that leadership education is a lifelong endeavor combining theoretical knowledge, practice, and applied skills.
Justice for Children Project: The Justice for Children Project engages in research and law reform while providing law students with exciting opportunities to explore the legal issues pertaining to children.
Mentoring and More @ Moritz serves as a bridge between the theory and the practice of law. Students learn by example from mentors who care deeply about improving law and its administration, have high expectations for themselves and their colleagues in the profession and are willing to help guide those who follow them into the profession. Students participating in the mentoring program are placed in mentoring groups comprised of 3 to 5 students with at least 2 mentors. Mentoring assignments are made over the summer and each mentoring group is based on student interest and mentor background/practice area. Throughout the academic year, mentoring groups are invited to luncheons held at the Moritz Barrister club featuring a prominent speaker addressing pressing issues and current trends in the law, followed by discussion between mentors, students, faculty and guests. Attending at least three of these lunches is a minimum requirement to participate in the program.
Frank Woodside III Speaker Series: Pro Bono Research Group (PBRG) provides research assistance to Legal Services and Legal Aid attorneys throughout Ohio. Second and third-year Research Fellows conduct quality researches akin to the law journals and gain practical legal experience like that provided by the clinical programs. In addition, PBRG sponsors events that promote public interest law, including the Frank Woodside III Speaker Series, an annual poverty law symposium.
The David H. Bodiker Lecture Series on Criminal Justicewas established at The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law in February 2008 to honor the spirit, dedication, and passion of David H. Bodiker, who served as the Ohio Public Defender from 1994 until his retirement in December 2007. The purpose of The David H. Bodiker Lecture Series is to promote, improve, and advance the highest level of academic and professional interest in protecting the constitutional rights of the defendant in the criminal justice system through an annual lecture series at The Moritz College of Law. Each year the featured lecturer will be a nationally known authority who will make a presentation to law students and interested professionals at The Moritz College of Law. The lecture will be published in the Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law .
Lawrence Negotiation Competition: the winners of this weeklong, annual competition move on to Regional and National Negotiations Competitions, which the American Bar Association conducts. Working in conjunction with the Moritz Moot Court and Lawyering Skills Program, the competition's administrative arm, the Program on Dispute Resolution enriches the participants' experience in two ways. First, the program hosts a speaker with a distinguished career as a negotiator. Second, the program conducts a negotiation workshop for students who have no prior experience in negotiating. These events, together with the competition itself, create an engaging and stimulating learning experience for all participants. Second- and third-year Moritz students may participate the competition and all members of the Moritz community are welcome to attend the various events listed. Those students pursuing the Certificate in Dispute Resolution may earn Externship hours through their participation.
The Schwartz Lecture on Dispute Resolution was established in 1992 as a result of the generosity of the late Stanley Schwartz Jr. '47 and the Schwartz family. Each lecture is published in the interdisciplinary Ohio State Journal on Dispute Resolution , in keeping with Mr. Schwartz's interest in the promotion of scholarly publication in the area of dispute resolution.
NAALS Annual Meeting – Pace hosted the National Association of Environmental Law Students' annual meeting. Pace students are very active in the governance and programming of NAELS.
International Criminal Moot Court Competition – The International Criminal Moot Court Competition was conceived of and planned during the 2004-5 year, with the first competition taking place in November 2005. It involves teams from U.S. and international law schools arguing a hypothetical case before the International Criminal Tribunal from the perspectives of the prosecutor, the defense counsel, and the victims' rights advocate.
National Environmental Moot Court Competition – The subject matter of the National Environmental Moot Court Competition is an issue of current public interest environmental law.
Public Interest Law Week - Bring in Fellowship speakers, provide lunches with local attorney on relevant topics, etc.
Public Interest Speaker - Past speakers: Barry Scheck, Morris Dees, Robert F Kennedy Jr., Abby Ginzberg
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Public Interest Law Project – Annual auction run by the PILP student group to fund summer public interest employment of students.
VITA Program – Student volunteer service project that helps low income tax payers file returns.
Law Students' Legal Action Fellowship – Annual event which provides grants to students for public service projects.
Thurgood Marshall Award Reception – Annual event that recognizes community service and diversity initiatives
Baldwin Award Reception – Annual event that recognizes community leader for public service
Public Interest Auction – Each spring the student organization; Public Interest Legal Advocates of Regent conduct a public interest auction to raise funds to support students who perform public interest work during the summer. Each year the organization raises approximately $6,000 to be distributed.
Pro Bono Celebration Week - every October during the ABA's Pro Bono Celebration Week, the Center for Pro Bono & Experiential Education provides pro bono programming, including relevant speakers, films, student activities, and pro bono opportunities. In addition the Center uses marketing and social media to publicize the justice gap, the need for pro bono help and the school's celebration events.
Lawyering for Social Change - Symposium held here at the law school.
First Monday Program
Brown Bag Public Interest Speaker Series
Public Interest Fellows' Dinner
Through the Philadelphia Bar Association's Public Interest Outreach Committee, the law school co-sponsors a series of Summer Brown Bag lunches for law students working in the greater Philadelphia area.
Various panels and programs are sponsored by student groups such as Association for Public Interest Law and the American Constitution Society, including programs on eminent domain, etc.
Others include panels on same sex marraige, immigration reform, etc.
The Public Interest Law Students Association (PILSA) and the Public Interest Center coordinates a Spring Break Service Trip to engage in pro bono work during spring breaks as well as local assistance including pro bono in the aftermath or hurricane sandy. Additionally, student groups participate in community outreach and education, including Street Law Programs and Financial Literacy seminars in local public schools. The Law School also hosts speakers, panel and presentation on public interest issues.
The Pro Bono Program creates opportunities for law students to engage in legal pro bono work. Most of these opportunities are created through partnerships with other organizations such as the San Antonio Bar Association’s Community Justice Program (CJP), Catholic Charities, Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, and Texas Access to Justice.
Current projects include: Wills, Family Law, and Veteran’s Events; Ask-A-Lawyer; People’s Law School; St. Mary’s ID Recovery Program; Volunteer Income Tax Assistance; Peer Court; and Alternative Spring Break programs.
Student-sponsored:
Cordell Hull Speakers Series
Thurgood Marshall Symposium
PILO-sponsored:
Bill Fuller, Department of Human Resources
Lecture, orientation/training recruiting students to participate in PILO
FLY – Fresh Lifelines for Youth. Law students go to local high schools to provide instruction on law-related topics and skills.
Bridges for Justice – advice and referral clinics. Law students, working under the supervision of attorneys, interview clients and, based on the attorneys’ instruction, provide information and referrals.
Spring Break Border Service Trip. Students travel to the Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project in Arizona to assist project attorneys and clients by gathering evidence, conducting legal research, and assisting with preparation of asylum applications.
Second Chances Hackathon. Students from Law, Engineering, and Business collaborate over a weekend event to crafts computer-assisted solutions to barriers facing persons with criminal convictions.
Trina Grillo Public Interest and Social Justice Law Retreat. The Grillo Retreat provides a unique opportunity for public interest and social justice law students, faculty and practitioners to forge an alliance by exchanging viewpoints, exploring career opportunities, and formulating strategies for social justice during this annual weekend retreat. Co-sponsored by Santa Clara Law School and the Society of American Law Teachers (SALT), with other west coast law schools, this retreat honors the memory of Trina Grillo, 1948-96, who was a source of inspiration to many law students, professors, and public interest and social justice lawyers.
Battered Women and the Hague Convention Symposium - The purpose of the Hague Symposium was to discuss the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction and its impact on battered mothers and their children seeking safety in the U.S. The symposium featured presentations from two local victims, authorities on the Hague Convention and domestic violence, and two panels of experts who reflected on possible strategies for representing clients and implementing change in U.S. and international law. The symposium was attended by 13 students, 39 attorneys and 26 local legal advocates.
Washington State Access to Justice Conference - The Washington State Bar Association hosts the annual Access to Justice Conference, a meeting of the state-wide legal service community, gathering to discuss equal justice issues as they relate to the delivery of legal services to low-income people. The Access to Justice Institute sponsors up to five students and attorneys to attend the conference each year. The 2005 and 2006 conferences were attended by 7 students and 4 staff attorneys.
Reflective Seminars Film Series - The Reflective Seminars is a human rights film series open to law students and the community at large. Through the Reflective Seminars, the Access to Justice Institute (ATJI) aims to generate dialogue that informs and prepares future lawyers to address human rights problems in our own communities.
First Monday – Coinciding with the first Monday of the U.S. Supreme Court oral argument calendar, we hold a First Monday event, including a panel on a key public interest and constitutional law issue to be considered by the court for that term.
Brown Bag Series – Throughout the semester, we host brown bag lunches with public interest lawyers to provide students with the opportunity to obtain real-world advice from those attorneys in an informal setting.
Distinguished PI Scholars Speakers Series – Each semester, we host a public interest leader for the audience of our Distinguished Public Interest Scholars and other merit scholars.
Death Penalty Symposium
Hate Crimes Symposium
School-Funded Extracurricular: Trina Grillo Public Interest & Social Justice Retreat
Each spring, in partnership with a consortium of the Rocky Mountain / West Coast law schools, Southwestern co-sponsors a weekend retreat for practitioners, students, and academics to join together to discuss challenges to social justice lawyering and to provide training opportunities for public interest and social justice-oriented law students. The retreat embodies the aspirations of Trina Grillo (1948-1996), a former professor at the University of San Francisco School of Law and Santa Clara Law School, who was a dedicated social justice activist advocating against injustice, in its many forms, and toward diversity and equality.
Donor-Funded Extracurricular: Judge Harry Pregerson Programs at Southwestern
The Judge Harry Pregerson Boot Camp series: “Harry’s Boot Camp” is designed and named in honor of the esteemed 9th Circuit judge, whose work exemplified the highest values of service in the public interest. In Part One of Harry’s Boot Camp, Southwestern offers a standalone pro bono and public interest orientation for newly admitted students incorporating educational, observational, skills training, and workshops across a two-day short program in early August. Part Two of Harry’s Boot Camp is a two-day short program in early January offered exclusively to Southwestern students centered on public interest community building, and - in anticipation of the summer recruitment process - features academic, experiential, and career development education and resources tailored to public service career pursuits.
In 2021, Southwestern will host the inaugural Judge Harry Pregerson Award Dinner to honor a recent graduate’s dedication and success in the fields of public service / public interest practice.
Made possible by a grant from the Rodan Family Foundation, these programs aim to cultivate and celebrate the late Judge Harry Pregerson’s values, determination, and impact on life in Southern California by encouraging successive generations of students to approach their professional lives as an opportunity to serve their communities and to help those in need.
The Levin Center offers numerous extracurricular and co-curricular programs, including:
Annual SPILG Auction –
Raises an average of $30K-45K per year to fund summer public interest fellowships.
The Career Services Office, faculty, local and specialty bar associations (e.g. WNY Chapter of the Women Bar Association of the State of NY (WBASNY) and WNY Chapter of the Minority Bar Associations) and student groups sponsor lectures, brown bag lunches, job fairs, and career panels. Summer public interest fellows also make panel presentations. Occasionally symposiums and conferences sponsored by faculty focus on public interest practice and areas of law practiced primarily in public interest settings.
Student Activities
The Herbert F. Kolsby Distinguished Lectureship in Trial Advocacy - Delivered by Bryan Stevenson
Dean's Invitational Forum - Featured LAMBDA attorney Alphonso David
Paula Johnson - Presented a colloquium on her work with women in prison
Public Interest Mondays - Weekly brown bag lunch series featuring discussion of various public interest topics
Temple Political and Civil Rights Law Review Symposium - During the fall semester Temple Political & Civil Rights Law Review sponsors a symposium and invites nationally recognized scholars and practitioners to speak on a topic of current interest in political or civil rights.
Public Interest Law Week - Designed to expose the students to public interest opportunities, the week features information, ads, speakers, and free lunches to educate students about pro bono opportunities and public interest law in general. The highlight of the week is Equal Justice Day when the public service attorneys attend a forum to share information about their organizations and to explain opportunities for pro bono and public interest law.
Texas Tech participates with other law schools in Texas in partnership with the Texas Access to Justice Commission in an annual Pro Bono Spring Break Project placing students in rural legal aid programs to work on projects benefiting underserved communities.
The Career and Professional Development Office, and student organizations offer lunch time and evening lectures and training programs on topics that focus on public interest. Topics and issues have included, but are not limited to: social justice, the importance of pro bono opportunities, limited scope representation, volunteer guardian ad litem opportunities, domestic violence protection assistance, civil rights, employment rights, wrongful convictions, disability law, and veteran’s treatment court programs.
Public Interest Lawyer In residence – Every year Touro has a "Public Interest Lawyer in Residence" program. During this two day event a distinguished leader in the national pulic interest community teaches classes, meets informally with students and delivers a public lecture.
Robert Cover Retreat – Touro students organized the 2005 retreat that brought together over 200 law school participants wi
Rebellious Lawering – Touro students and administrators participate
How I Spent My Summer Doing Good – Annual program in which public interest summer fellowship students report on their summer activities
Tulane Annual Environmental Law Conference – Tulane Law School holds its annual environmental law in the spring of each year.
Human Rights Awareness Week – The Human Rights Law Society sponsors a series of sessions focusing upon various topics in human rights.
Pro Bono Fair – The Community Service Office holds an annual Pro Bono Fair featuring representatives from a variety of local public interest organizations offering students pro bono opportunities.
PILF (Public Interest Law Foundation) – Lunchtime Speaker Series 2009-10. Speakers representing a broad array of public interest legal organizations engage students in discussion of critical issues in their respective fields.
Each academic year, students are provided with opportunities to attend or participate in various public interest programs and conferences including the Equal Works Public Interest Conference and Career Fair and Community Legal Aid and The Legal Aid Society of Cleveland clinics.
Public Interest Speaker Series – www.law.ua.edu/pubinterest/
Homecoming CLE Celebration for Students and Alumni – Free CLE for alumni and students. In 2004-05, the program was "Inherit the Wind -Celebrating Academic Freedom and the 75th Anniversary of the Scopes Trial," followed by a Courtyard BBQ and mariachi band.
Annual Marks Lecture – The 2004-05 lecturer was The Honorable Guido Calabresi, U.S. Circuit Court Judge for the Second Circuit, on "Equality in the American Constitution"
Annual McCormick Lecture – The 2004-05 lecturer was Pulitzer Prize winning author and scholar, Samantha Power, on "Can American Foreign Policy be Fixed?"
Annual Supreme Court Highlights CLE – Cosponsored by the American Constitution Society Student Organization, this annual event always includes numerous public interest issues, with specifics depending on the Court's docket. In 2004-05, topics included Guantanamo Cases, U.S. v Blakely, U.S. v Cheney, Ashcroft v. ACLU, City of Littleton, Locke v. Davey. A reception followed in the Courtyard.
Border Tour of Nogales, Sonora, Mexico – Each year, the Immigration Law class takes a border tour to Nogales through BorderLinks, a border educational organization. In 2004-05, following the tour, the class assisting BorderLinks in its annual holiday toy drive.
Distinguished Visiting Scholar Series – Jointly sponsored by the law school's Indigenous Peoples Law & Policy Program and Udall Center's Native Nations Institute, 2004-05 topics included "Blood Struggle: The Rise of Modern Indian Nations," a talk and book signing by Charles Wilkinson, Distinguished University Professor, Moses Lasky Professor of Law, University of Colorado School of Law.
Street Law Program with Hall High School
The Career Services office works with student groups to develop public interest programming throughout the year. Students, Faculty and Staff serve as volunteers in a wide range of activities sponsored by the law school and its student organizations including, food, clothing, toy and book drives holiday gift drive; law-related educational programs including environmental efforts, immigration issues, drafting of wills for Habitat for Humanity, and housing construction.
Specific programs include: Habitat for Humanity, Havenwood Project, Mentoring Program, and Visiting career consultant and speakers.
Public Interest Law Fund Event: The PILF event is an annual fundraiser, which includes an evening event and auction. All proceeds from the event, which includes the local legal community, provide funding for summer stipends for students doing public interest legal work during the summer.
Al Meyerhoff Public Interest Lecture: Al Meyerhoff was a noted environmental and civil rights lawyer, in whose memory the lecture series was endowed. The first lecture was held on October 14, 2010 with a talk from civil right attorney Connie Rice. Each year a different renowned public interest speaker provides an inspirational talk to the students, faculty, staff, and community.
Lunchtime Speaker Series: Professor Henry Weinstein organizes weekly speakers, many of whom are significant public interest attorneys, to discuss the practice of law. Some lunchtime events include a mooting of attorneys prior to an appellate argument, while others focus on clients that have been victimized by the system. Each week UCI Law students have the opportunity to hear from leaders in the legal field, and be inspired by those that fight on behalf of the underserved.
Lectures, talks and brown bags are arranged through a host of organizations and campus departments.
The Chicago Policy Initiatives, designed in the spirit of the Chicago Jury Project of the 1950's, are one of the most ambitious of the recently expanded intellectual and practical programs underway at the Law School. The Chicago Policy Initiatives combine the collective work and experience of faculty and students to address specific social problems with the intent of providing potential solutions. Several of these initiatives have public interest and community-oriented goals.
Court Reform in the Juvenile Justice System:
Over 100 years ago, Chicago led the way in establishing separate courts for young people who committed crimes. These Juvenile Courts, soon in operation in every state, had two interrelated aims: The first was to separate adolescent offenders from adult criminals. The second aim was to help young offenders to grow up to become law-abiding citizens.
In recent years, we have learned a great deal from psychologists and neuroscientists about how young people develop and what affects that development, and that knowledge has increasingly been reflected in law and practice within the juvenile justice system.
These insights have not, however, been brought to bear on the court process itself. Even in courtrooms filled with conscientious professionals, the juvenile court process conveys a disregard for young people and prevents their meaningful engagement in a process purportedly designed to address their needs. We should be particularly concerned about the effect of this experience on minority youth (the vast majority of young people in the juvenile justice system, particularly in large urban areas) because this court experience reinforces, in developmentally destructive ways, their overall perception of the system’s unfairness and its bias against them.
The goal of this initiative is to develop, implement, and evaluate a pilot court process designed to enhance the developmental value (and minimize the developmental harm) of young people’s experience of the juvenile court process.
Distinguished Public Interest Speaker Todd Portune - President, Hamilton County Commisioners
Jon Rosenberg, Distinguished Visitor - Former DOJ attorney and Director Emeritus for APPALRED Presentation on a Life in Public Interest.
Breakfast Club Series - Weekly series held in the fall highlighting a regional practioner including those in the public interest/governmentsectors.
The Law School hosts numerous national and local conferences every year. To name just a few, this year conferences included the: Colorado Journal on Environmental Law & Policy's Annual Spring Lecture: Making Sense of International Environmental Law; Byron White Constitutional Law Center, 16th Ira C. Rothgerber Jr. Conference: Home Rule; Natural Resources Law Center: Western Water Law, Policy, and Management: Ripples, Currents, and New Channels for Inquiry; and Silicon Flatirons Series: Entrepreneurs Unplugged.
The Law School sponsors many different activities to promote public interest. Most recently the Law School hosted an event that included a lecture series, a film series, a symposium, and faculty presentations on Human Rights.
The lecture series featured the following presentations:
The film series included:
The symposium entitled "The Global AIDS Crisis: The Intersection of Human Rights, International Markets, and Intellectual Property" was hosted by the Connecticut Journal of International Law.
The Law School also recently hosted a Military Tribunals Panel and discussion. Captain Brain Baldrate, a criminal prosecutor for the US Army and a recent graduate of the Law School, moderated the televised event. Members of the panel included: Professors Laura Dickinson and Hugh Macgill from the Law School, Major Mike Lacey from the Army Judge Advocate General School, Lieutenant Colonel Denise Lind from the Office of the Staff Judge Advocate, and Teresa Younger from the Connecticut Civil Liberties Union.
A lecture series is in the planning stages. Gilvary Symposium was privately funded on the topic of law, religion & social justice.
The students groups mentioned below and within the pro bono section of this site organize an array of programs for student and the community. The Public Interest Office, the Office of Career & Development Opportunities, along with the 5 different law reviews, some of which are applicable for public interest law students, all lead events. Our certificate programs also run programming and those associated with Workplace Law, Constitutional Rights and Remedies, International and Comparative Law, and Environmental and Natural Resources Law are often targeted to public interest minded students and the larger community.
The Center for Career Services holds several Public Interest Information sessions that all students are welcome to attend.
Both the Association for Public Interest student group and the Center for Governmental Responsibility Public Service Law Fellows hold Public Interest Programs open to all students. Also, our Environmental and Land Use Planning Law Society holds a yearly Public Interest Environmental Law Conference which is open to all students.
Students, faculty and staff serve as volunteers in a wide range of activities supported by the law school and its student organizations including: food, clothing, book, holiday gift and blood drives; law-related educational programs; mentoring initiatives; highway and shelter cleanups; and housing construction.
Specific programs include:
Numerous public interest and pro bono extracurricular and co-curricular programs are available throughout the year at Illinois College of Law.
Specific Student Organization Pro Bono/Public Interest Projects
Various student organizations at the College of Law are created exclusively around specific pro bono/public interest goals.
While not primarily structured around pro bono/public interest programs, many of the College of Law student organizations include pro bono/public interest programs and activities as part of their mission. A small sampling of the plethora of pro bono/public interest activities include:
Comparative Labor Law & Policy Journal
The Journal was founded in 1976 to provide a venue for the very best scholarship in the comparative analysis of labor law and employment policy, and social security issues. With an extensive world-wide circulation, the Journal has become a major international forum for research, theoretical and applied, in an area of growing importance to the developed and in the developing world.
The Elder Law Journal
The Elder Law Journal is the oldest scholarly publication in the country dedicated to addressing elder law issues. This academic publication is published bi-annually by the students at the University of Illinois College of Law. The journal publishes manuscripts which not only address policy decisions, but also guide practicing attorneys. Thus, the scope of The Elder Law Journal makes it the perfect addition to the libraries of attorneys who advise clients on estate planning, living wills, arrangements for long-term care, qualifying for Medicaid, as well as other areas of law pertinent to the elderly. Additionally, articles in The Elder Law Journal are of interest to scholars and professionals in fields such as social work, gerontology, ethics, and medicine.
Additional Publications
Other well-respected publications at the College of Law which often include topics of interest in the public interest and public policy fields include:
University of Illinois Law Review
This journal is generally regarded as one of the preeminent law reviews in the country, the University of Illinois Law Review, which dates back to 1917 in various former iterations, is an academic publication published five times per year by the students of the University of Illinois College of Law. The Law Review provides practitioners, judges, professors, and law students with cogent analyses of important topics in the law. This journal often includes written work which provides cutting edge analyses of topics of critical public interest value.
Journal of Law, Technology, and Policy
For the past twenty years, the peer-reviewed Journal of Law, Technology and Policy has featured cutting-edge articles on technological innovation, policy, and the field of intellectual property. The Journal's mission is to feature articles on new technologies that raise important policy questions in both foreign and domestic jurisdictions and to discuss the laws, regulations, and policies that affect technological development and innovation. The articles included in JLTP present interesting perspectives on the intersection of public interest and technology.
Illinois Law Update
College of Law students author a regular column focusing on recent developments in Illinois law, published monthly in the Illinois Bar Journal and read by thousands of practicing lawyers throughout the state. These students are chosen from among the top legal writing students in the College. The Illinois Law Update, which traces its history at the University of Illinois College back to approximately 1932, frequently address emerging issues and critical analysis of laws relevant to the field of public interest.
The "Lawyers and Leaders" series consists of workshops, lectures, and other programs that focus on pro bono traditions, leadership development, practical lawyer and life skills, and community issues.
Additionally, the law school and student organizations host a wide array of lectures and conferences focusing on many topics.
Public Interest Law Casino Night - The KU Law Public Interest Law Society (PILS) sponsors an annual Casino Night to raise money to fund summer stipends for students working for public interest organizations.
Women in Law Pub Night – This auction/variety show fundraiser sponsored by Women in Law helps raise money for summer stipends and organizations to assist women.
PILS also sponsors a "Pledge a Day's Wage" campaign, an annual fundraiser to support public interest summer stipends.
The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance ("VITA") program is offered each Spring semester under the direction of Professor Douglas Michael. The College of Law makes space and computers available to Professor Michael and the students who provide the volunteer tax assistance. Many of the individuals who take advantage of this free assistance are indigent. This program is available to any law students who wish to participate. Students receive neither academic credit nor compensation for this work.
Lunch programming - Public Interest attorneys are invited to speak and describe opportunities for law students to complete their public service requirement or law students present on public service activities.
Week-Long Public Service Projects – Students interested in fulfilling their public service requirement while gaining valuable law-related experience after their first semester of law school can participate in the week-long project program. Special projects geared specifically for first year students are assembled for students to do their public service hours over the holiday break.
https://www.law.umaryland.edu/Current-Student-Resources/Student-Life-and-Services/Student-Organizations/ and http://www.law.umaryland.edu/programs
As part of its mission to foster a commitment to public service, the Career Services Office partners with the Director of Public Interest Law Programs on programming which provides students insight into a wide range of public interest law careers including working in criminal defense, environmental law, and municipal law, as well as in courts, the JAG Corps, and the legislature among others.
Additionally, monthly "Brown Bag" discussions focus on various practice areas including those within public interest law, such as children's rights, criminal law, and immigration law, and the occasional "View from the Bench" series brings judges from all levels of the state judiciary to discuss their careers in public service.
The Career Services Office regularly sponsors presentations to promote conversation about the opportunities available in, and the personal and professional rewards associated with, public service. Presentations include annual "Judicial Clerkships and Internships" and "Public Interest Summer Funding" panels.
Furthermore, the law school is a member of the Massachusetts Law School Consortium (MLSC) which is comprised of the eight ABA accredited law schools in Massachusetts. MLSC members collaborate to annually host several career-related programs highlighting different practice areas, including those focusing on careers in public service, which are open to students from all the member law schools.
The Assistant Dean for Admissions works with the Memphis Bar Association to produce a Summer Law Internship Program for diverse 11th and 12th graders who show an interest in the legal profession. The Public Interest Counselor works closely with the Tennessee Bar Association and the Memphis Bar Association to create new pro bono opportunities and develop a curriculum for Celebrate Pro Bono Month.
The school is dedicated to creating a network of public interest practitioners who are actively involved in the learning experiences of our students. Through various speaker programs and the Pro Bono Legal Research Project, students are able to develop close relationships with alumni and leading public interest attorneys.
The Office of Career Planning offers a variety of programs, series, and support designed to educate students about public interest and government careers and to encourage students to integrate public service with their professional development. We have, for example:
None.
Career and Professional Development Program
The Career and Professional Development Requirement seeks to provide students with the skills and perspectives employers indicate they are looking for in new attorneys. The Requirement has the following specific objectives.
Students must complete various types of programs throughout law school including Career Exploration Programs, Professional Development Programs, and Bias and Wellness Programs. BLSA Moot Court
Advocacy competitions continue to provide an exceptional opportunity for students to gain practical skills that are transferable to the workplace and valued by legal employers. They also instill confidence and poise, which lead to the students being stronger, more effective advocates. For the past six years, law students have participated in the Thurgood Marshall Mock Trial Competition, and for the past two years, law students have also participated in the Frederick Douglas Moot Court Competition. These competitions are organized by the National Black Law Students Association (NBLSA).
Street Law Program
The Street Law Program started in 2012 and is currently taught at the Frederick Douglass High School in Columbia, MO, an alternative high school, in the Fall. Once a week, the coordinator of the program teaches a session at the high school on different areas of the law through lesson plans that have been developed by Street Law, Inc. which is a “global, nonprofit, nonpartisan organization with more than 40 years of experience developing classroom and community programs that educate young people about law and government. Street Law programs and materials help advance justice by empowering people with the legal and civil knowledge, skills, and confidence to bring about positive change for themselves and others. Over time, the program has developed to incorporate the annual One Read text that is chosen for incoming First-Year law students at the University of Missouri School of Law.
Estate Planning Program
Law students, under the direction of an Adjunct Professor, and with the assistance of the Family Impact Center, meet directly with clients to assist them with drafting wills and powers of attorney.
Outlaw Variety Show
A Mizzou Law student organizations put on a variety/talent show each year to benefit a local organization, most recently the Gabriella Rose Justice Support System in 2020.
Career Services sponsors panels with speakers on various issues concerning students interested in public interest work
The Public Interest Law Association(PILA) has monthly meetings with speakers from various Public Interest Organizations to discuss opportunities
Career Services and PILA sponsor a volunteer fair every year for organizations to seek out volunteers and interns for public interest work
None
The Career Development Office sponsors public interest speakers and workshops.
Social Justice Discussion Lunch Series – The Public Interest Law Students Association sponsors this luncheon program featuring discussions between faculty and students on important social justice issues.
Furthering its mission to inspire and equip students to use their law degree to advocate for and assist underserved and vulnerable populations, the Social Justice Institute actively engages all UNH School of Law community members—students, professors, and faculty, alike—through its sponsored lecture series, extracurricular and co-curricular programs.
Judge Hugh H. Bownes Forum on Civil Rights:
The UNH School of Law established the JudgeHugh H. Bownes Forum on Civil Rights as an annual commemoration of the writing of the Bill of rights. Named after the U.S. First Circuit Judge Hugh H. Bownes, the annual Forum renews UNH School of Law's dedication to the protection of individual rights and liberties by inviting a speaker to address the law school and local community about civil rights and constitutional law issues.
Social Justice Institute Lectures Series:
Promoting social justice within the law school as well as working with the larger Concord, New Hampshire community, the Social Justice Institute invites, coordinates, and funds speakers and events to educate and engage discussion about state, national, and international public interest issues.
Frank Rowe Kenison Lecture Series
Honoring native New Hampshire Chief Justice Frank Rowe Kenison, the University of New Hampshire School of Law established the Frank Rowe Kenison Lecture series. The Kenison Lecture Series highlights the role of state court judges and the importance of state jurisprudence.
Table Talk Job Fair
The Social Justice Institute collaborates with the UNH School of Law Career Service Office to invite, schedule and organize "table talk" job fairs. Local public interest employers venture to campus in order to speak with law students about summer internship opportunities. In return, law students have the opportunity to network and solicit their resume. Often, law students gain employment and/or internship invitations as a result of these "table talk" job fairs.
Brown Bag Lunch Series:
Fostering community and communication within the UNH School of Law community, students and faculty gather informally to discuss and present brief lectures about "hot topics," current legal trends, and professional research projects. This "Brown Bag Lunch" series allows all community members to gain further knowledge about interesting and relevant issues. The series has also been a forum for students and faculty to discuss cultural differences. For example, international students have presented brief lectures about their country's culture and customs—even preparing and sharing special foods native to their homeland with the community.
UNM is a member of Equal Justice Works.
Center for Career Planning and Professional Development: Holds numerous programs introducing students to a vast array of legal practice opportunities including the range of public interest and public service opportunities available to law students and lawyers.
Derrick Bell Lecture: Annual lecture in honor of Oregon Law’s first Black Dean. This lecture Is part of the University of Oregon’s African American Workshop and Lecture Series.
Lunch with Leaders: A Public Law and Policy Program that brings in local and state policy leaders for smaller group lunches and conversation with law students.
O’Connell Conference: Annual conference that explores a legal or policy issue of interest to judges and the legal community.
Public Interest Environmental Law Conference: Annual conference that brings together over 400 international advocates, lawyers, activists, and students.
The Frohnmayer Leadership Program: Provides students with ongoing opportunities to participate in activities that develop leadership skills. The program offers the opportunity to earn a Leadership in Practice Certificate of Completion
Rennard Strickland Lecture: Annual lecture in honor of Oregon Law Dean Rennard Strickland and his legacy of contributions to the field of Indian law and to Environmental and Natural Resources and Indian law programs at Oregon Law.
Minoru Yasui Day: Annual event held in conjunction with stakeholders to honor Minoru Yasui and his lifelong fight for civil rights. Oregon Law holds other programming events highlighting Oregon Law alum Minoru Yasui’s legacy at other times of the year as well.
Annual Law School Pro Bono/Volunteer Fair along with various programs throughout the year that bring public interest practitioners to the law school.
Vocation Retreats - The law school offers a weekend Vocation Retreat at the start of each semester which focuses, in part, on helping students reflect on how God is calling them to use their gifts to be of service to those in need, both as a law student and, in the future, as a lawyer.
In addition, as part of Orientation and as part of all Admissions Open Houses, we take time to talk with students about the Public Service Requirement and the importance of pro bono service.
LRAP Texas Hold'em Tournament
PBLA Public Interest Speaker Events
Public interest career panels sponsored by the Office of Career Planning and the student organizations.
Public Interest Speaker Series
PILS sponsors a speaker series that brings local public interest lawyers to campus to speak to students once or twice a month. This is typically held in conjunction with other student groups such as BLSA, ACS and WIL
Past events include Street Law-sponsored Mentor Day, CSO Public Interest Career Workshop series, annual PILF auction, Teen Court, and Legal Aid Alternative Break.
Tennessee Students have participated in mock trial programs with local practitioners and high school students at a range of area high schools, and they engage in extra-curricular projects aimed at providing legal services or lay legal education for under-represented groups.
A number of groups at the College of Law sponsor speakers and programs that relate in various ways to public interest law. For instance, the Black Law Student Association has for many years organized speakers and other public programs on themes of racial justice. The International Law Society has sponsored human rights speakers from Mexico and Guatemala, and the Environmental Law Society has often planned programs and speakers on issues of environmental concern. The Criminal Law Society has visited Brushy Mountain penitentiary, and the Innocence Project has screened films about a prisoner currently on Tennessee's death row. The Child Law Society has hosted speakers who have provided information about adoption law, and a UT Legal Clinic professor took a group of students to work in the Katrina relief effort.
In addition, UT Pro Bono, beyond its primary work of organizing direct service projects, sponsors training and other programs that clearly overlap with public interest concerns. For instance, the organization helped to create the Tennessee Innocence Project focused on identifying and overturning wrongful convictions and dramatizing problems in with wrongful convictions in the criminal justice system.
There are extensive extracurricular and co-curricular activities at Texas Law focused on public interest issues. Nearly every week there are public interest conferences, lectures, panel discussions, symposia, special classes, pro bono activities and community service projects. Student organizations, academic centers, clinics, faculty and the school administration all participate in developing public interest activities. Information about many of these activities is available on the Law School website. http://www.utexas.edu/law/
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Public Service component to Foundations of Legal Studies (orientation).
Martin Luther King Day public service activity.
Both the Professional Development Office's Pro Bono/Public Service Fair and Career Fair include public interest employers.
Various speakers through the year including: Alumnus in Residence Program, Faculty Scholarship Speakers Series, and the Seymour Lecture.
The Public Interest Law Society, Women's Law Caucus, Paw Law, and SBA host or co-host public interest speakers annually.
Kendall Court, a mock trial based on a fairy tale for local elementary school children.
Throughout the school year the Gates Public Service Law Program teams up with different student organizations as host of an innovative programming series known as Social Justice Tuesdays (SJT). Programming includes a wide range of events such as talks by nationally recognized practitioners, films with related discussions, discussions facilitated by professors (including non-law professors), debates between professors and/or practitioners, and more.
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The George Barrett Social Justice Program aims to promote a dynamic atmosphere within which issues of equality, access and service are openly and regularly explored by faculty and students inside and outside the classroom. Students can choose from a variety of courses and clinics addressing a diversity of topics, including non-litigation strategies for social change; race and the law; drug law and policy; domestic violence; labor and employment; poverty law; mental health law; bioethics; immigration; the death penalty; and wrongful conviction. The program also offers an innovative Social Justice Reading Group that allows students to explore a range of substantive issues addressed by public interest lawyers as well as the challenges and rewards of representing marginalized clients and communities.
Throughout the year, the Barrett Program sponsors guest speakers, conferences, workshops and a variety of activities for both students and faculty. In our annual flagship event the Social Justice Program recognizes a Social Justice Fellow, a distinguished member of the bar who has devoted his or her career to public interest law. During an on-campus residency, the Fellow gives a public lecture, presents to the faculty and offers individual student mentoring sessions.
The program also works to help connect students to public interest practice opportunities during law school and beyond.
There were a number of "teach ins" and lecture series, offered by faculty and guest speakers, that focused on public interest issues, especially the rights of disadvantaged populations. The Law School sponsored some; some were sponsored by student organizations. Some examples of more recent presentations include: "How Race Affects the Death Penalty"; "Drifting Apart: How Wealth and Race Segregation are Reshaping the American Dream"; "Racial Justice and Free Speech."
Martin Luther King, Jr. celebration
Hot Topics in Environmental Law – Vermont Law School's Environmental Law Center hosts an annual summer brown bag lecture series. The public is invited to attend the free lectures on a variety of environmental issues featuring Vermont Law School's Summer Session faculty and visiting journalism fellows.
Vermont Journal of Environmental Law Symposium – Annual symposium addressing environmental issues.
Vermont Supreme Court – Annual visit by the Court to hear a series of cases at Vermont Law School.
The Norman Williams Distinguished Lectureship Series – A lecture series focused on land use planning and the law, the series honors the legacy of former Vermont Law School Professor Norman Williams Jr., one of the nation's leading authorities on land use. Author of the eight-volume classic American Land Use Planning Law, he had served as chief of the New York City Office of Master Planning and as executive director of the New Jersey Governor's Advisory Commission on Transportation. Working in the 1960s with then-Vermont Governor Philip Hoff, he helped formulate the state's ban on billboards, and he wrote the legislation that is the basis for Vermont's municipal planning and zoning.
The Waterman Lecture – Given annually since 1975, the Waterman Lecture has showcases some of the most prominent thinkers of American law.
Public Interest Scholars Program Reception - The Public Interest Scholars Program reception welcomes the new class of Scholars to Villanova and introduces them to the faculty.
Public Interest Fellowship Program Annual Auction - Founded in 1998, the Public Interest Fellowship Program (PIFP) at the Villanova University School of Law provides financial support to students who commit their summers to public service work. By raising money, PIFP helps students at Villanova who in turn aid the larger community through their work.
Martin Luther King Jr Keynote Speaker - Each year, the MLK Committee of faculty, staff and students coordinates a week of events to honor Dr. King's legacy. The culmination of the week is a keynote address on a public interest topic by an attorney committed to Dr. King's ideal of service to the community.
BLSA Lecture Series - The Black Law Students Association coordinates a number of public service activities, including lectures focusing on public interest topics.
Public Interest Brown Bag Lunch Series - In conjunction with the Philadelphia Area Law School Consortium, Villanova collaborates on a weekly brown bag lunch series featuring Philadelphia public interest agencies. The series takes place throughout the summer, and Villanova students have the opportunity to participate as student ambassadors and co-moderators.
Public Interest Retreat
Panel discussions on topics of interest to the public service community are regularly sponsored by the law school and by student organizations. The Career Services Office also presents speakers on various aspects of public interest employment. Some of these are co-sponsored by bar associations.
The Law School and the Shepherd Program for the Interdisciplinary Study of Poverty and Human Capability sponsor speakers and symposia addressing topics important to poverty and the law.
Free Legal Aid Clinic
Annual Public Interest Spring Auction – Auction to raise funds for fellowships and LRAP.
Annual Ambulance Chase – The SBA sponsors a race, with the proceeds benefitting legal services.
Ihlenfeld Public Service Lecture – An annual lecture on some aspect of public service.
The School of Law offers a variety of public interest related extracurricular and co-curricular programing. These include lunch and learn brown bag lunches hosted by the Office of Career Services as well as a variety of speakers hosted by the Clason and Color of Law speaker series. In addition, the Center for Gender and Sexuality and the Institute for Legislative and Governmental Affairs both sponsor speakers, symposia and other programing throughout the year. Recent programs include:
The School of Law presents "Public Interest Week" annually in October. Activities include student led panel discussions regarding summer public interest internships, outside speakers and pro bono activities.
Harrisburg Public Interest Reception - The Harrisburg campus held a reception for the recipient of the Pennsylvania Bar Association's Pro Bono Award to celebrate the accomplishment and to inspire the student attendees.
Grand Opening Reception for the Public Interest Resource Center - Held in January of 2005 at Widener Law's Wilmington Campus, this reception featured a keynote address from former FBI Director and Widener Law Adjunct Professor Louis J. Freeh, celebrated the significance of public service to the Widener Law community, and introduced PIRC as an office that would play a critical role in expanding Widener's public interest programs.
Domestic Violence Symposium - This all-day symposium was held in the spring of 2005 by Widener Law's Wilmington Campus and its Women's Law Caucus for the law school, for the local and regional bar, and for the community-at-large. It featured distinguished speakers whose presentations covered all aspects of domestic violence.
PILA Auction - Each year in the spring semester the Public Interest Law Alliance holds a silent auction to raise funds to pay students who will work in the public interest during the summer.
Annual Public Interest Reception - Each year, the Public Interest Resource Center hosts a public interest reception. This reception is held near the time that first year students are permitted to begin their summer job search. It features a public interest speaker, and typically launches an innovative public interest program for the academic year. Students and public interest professionals are invited. The event enables PIRC to thank the attorneys who work with student interns. It also serves as a networking opportunity for students to meet and mingle with public interest attorneys who may be hiring interns for the summer.
Martin Luther King Jr. Day Address - A keynote address from a prominent speaker honors the memory and commitment to service of Dr. King.
Diversity in the Profession Week - The Student Bar Association and several student groups co-sponsor a week-long series of events dedicated to promoting diversity in the legal profession. Throughout the week, speakers participate in panel discussions, debates, and social events.
Workshops on various government/non-profit/legal aid services options are conducted frequently by the Placement Office.
The Law School hosts many speakers each year. They run the gamut from prominent senior scholars who deliver named lectures to more junior scholars with fresh perspectives. They participate in conferences such as the Institute of Bill of Rights Law’s Supreme Court Preview and the Brigham Kanner Property Rights Conference. Our own faculty, judges, practicing lawyers, and public figures also frequently participate as lecturers and conference panelists. Some events have a designated subject matter (for example, international human rights, national security, election law, civil liberties, post-conflict justice); others are designed based on the intellectual imagination and professional backgrounds of the participants. Speakers frequently meet, in-person or virtually, with students in small groups to facilitate networking and to establish professional contacts.
Our students play a pivotal role in the richness of the Law School’s intellectual life. All lectures and programs are open to student attendance. Students also organize symposia, panels, and individual guest speakers.
Rebellious Lawyering Conference
The Rebellious Lawyering Conference, known as "Reblaw," brings together practitioners, law students, community activists/advocates and academics from around the country to discuss innovative practices for achieving progressive social change. The conference has become a revered tradition not only for Yale's active public interest community, but also for progressive lawyers and law students around North America. The Rebellious Lawyering Conference draws on the talents and ideas of the entire law school. Students serve as co-directors of the conference, a number of volunteers help with logistics, and over 30 students serve as panel and workshop coordinators, responsible for inviting and communicating with speakers, as well as moderating the panels at the conference. Dozens of other Yale students volunteer to house the visiting attendees.
The goal of the conference is always to inspire law students to think critically about their legal careers and to inspire innovation in public interest advocacy. The hope is that the conference will translate into a lifelong commitment on the part of the attendees to work tirelessly to make a difference in the world.
Examples of recent public service workshops, symposiums, lectures and events at Cardozo:
The Fight for Education Equality
A Deeper Look Into Human Trafficking: Contemporary Slavery, The Sex Trade, And Beyond
Hurricane Sandy Relief Training
Where are We Now? Abortion Access in America Today
Defense and Prosecution Panel Event
Mind the Gap: Addressing Disproportionate Environmental Damage in the Wake of Hurricane Sandy
The Cardozo Journal of Law and Gender presents: By the People, For the People...But Which People?
Practice Profile Lunch Series Throughout the year, practitioners meet informally with students to discuss their area of practice. One-half of these lunches are dedicated to public sector practitioners.
Public Law Advocacy Week An annual event that provides students with a week of daily panels, working lunches on issues related practicing as public interest lawyers. Panels have included: Connecting Survivors of Domestic Violence to Citizenship,From Public School to Prison: Students Imperiled Rights and Freedoms, School Segregation Today, How to Get the Most Out of the Public Interest Legal Career Fair, Legal Spanish, Investing in a Greener Future: Buying Carbon Credits under Kyoto, Gay with Straight: Fostering a Society Beyond Labels, Debunking the Myths of Illegal Immigration, and Challenges and Alternatives to Public Housing.
12/16/2022