Directory
Texas A & M University School of Law
Texas A & M University School of Law
Law School Pro Bono Programs
Contact Information
Rosalind Jeffers
Assistant Dean of Student Affairs and
Director of the Equal Justice Program
1515 Commerce
Fort Worth, Texas 76102
P: (817) 212-4020
P: (817) 212-4199
E-mail
Category Type
Pro Bono Graduation Requirement Program
Description of Programs
Students are required to perform 30 hours of law-related pro bono service through the Equal Justice Program. They may fulfill the requirement at any point after their first-year of law school, including during school breaks.
The program's purpose is two-fold. First, it ensures that all students will have the opportunity to practice lawyering skills in a real-world setting before they graduate. Second, it imparts to students the importance of giving back to the community in recognition of the privileged status lawyers occupy.
The College of Law also encourages students to engage in pro bono service through its Public Interest Fellowship Program administered through the Assistant Dean for Student Affairs and Pro Bono Coordinator, Shawna Smith Thornton. Information is shared about in-house pro bono projects and other pro bono opportunities on the web and through the Student Affairs Daily Headlines sent electronically.
Location of Programs
The Equal Justice Program is located on the law school campus in the Office for Student Affairs.
Staffing/Management/Oversight
The program is administered by the Pro Bono Coordinator and overseen by the Assistant Dean of Student Affairs.
Funding
A budget line of approximately $10,000 funds the Program. It is also funded through donations from community benefactors.
Student Run Pro Bono Groups/Specialized Law Education Projects
Public Interest Law Fellowship- A student run organization devoted to raising awareness of legal work in the public interest sector. The fellowship program funds internships for deserving law school students performing public interest law work during the summer to provide crucial legal services to those in need.
P.L.A.Y- Providing legal activities for youth is a student run program, which provides legal education and mock trial experience for area school children. This program also includes the national Street Law Program, which provides law-related education in a high-risk middle school.
National Adoption Day - Each November, students assist local attorneys to represent foster families who are adopting children. The students are involved in the case from the beginning, drafting and filing the initial applications for adoption, and participate in the final court hearing to finalize the adoptions.
Faculty and Administrative Pro Bono
Faculty has not adopted a mandatory pro bono obligation for faculty. However, some faculty members perform pro bono legal services.
Awards/Recognition
At graduation, the dean of student affairs awards the Equal Justice Award to the graduate who has completed the most pro bono hours in excess of 100 hours.
Community Service
TAMU Law participates in a variety of community projects organized by students each year including a clothes drive, canned food drive and teddy bear drive. The two major school wide projects are the 1L Aggie Law Project taking place the last day of orientation and Big Event, which takes place annually during the spring semester..
The Student Bar Association instituted a relationship with the local Red Cross where students help raise money, collect food, and volunteer as needed. In addition, drives are undertaken to support the local domestic violence shelter. Students creatively design new initiatives each year to serve the community
Law School Public Interest Programs
Contact Information
None listed
Certificate/Curriculum Programs
None listed
Public Interest Centers
None listed
Public Interest Clinics
Law Clinic – Tamu Law has nine clinics with students servicing as student attorneys. http://law.tamu.edu/current-students/experiential-education
Externships/Internships
Externships offerstudents the opportunity to gain practical legal experiences under the mentorship of practicing attorneys, judges and policy experts. Students work outside of the classroom locally, nationally, in Austin or Washington D.C., or around the world, with government entities, public interest organizations and courts.
http://law.tamu.edu/current-students/experiential-education
Classes with a Public Service Component
None listed
Public Interest Journals
The Texas A&M Law Review is the flagship publication of the Texas A&M University School of Law. The Law Review is a general-interest publication that strives to encourage legal scholarship on a broad scope of issues of interest to academics, practitioners, and law students.
The Law Review publishes materials written by law professors, experts, practitioners, and Texas A&M School of Law students. To do this, the Texas A&M Law Review selects, edits, and publishes quality scholarship both in print and in its online companion, Arguendo.
The Texas A&M University Journal of Property Law is a student-run organization whose primary purpose is to publish a journal intended to encourage scholarly criticism and analysis of legal issues of interest to practitioners and law students.
The Property Journal not only serves as an important tool for legal scholarship but also provides its staff members and opportunity to develop their own editing and writing skills. Accordingly, each volume contains articles by student authors, as well as outside authors. The Property Journal publishes a scholarly publication not less than two times per academic year.
PI Career Support Center
From your first semester at Texas A&M School of Law, the Office of Career Services begins working with you to help you secure a job where you are passionate and purposeful about launching your legal career.
From skills building internships and engaging networking programs to résumé review to personal and comprehensive career counseling on all aspects of the job search, we are wholeheartedly committed to helping every single one of our students develop a career path to find their perfect job.
Loan Repayment Assistance Programs (LRAP)
None listed
Post-Graduate Fellowships/Awards
Law School Funded:
None listed
Graduate Student Funded:
None listed
Other Funding Sources:
None Listed
Term Time Fellowships/Scholarships
Law School Funded:
None listed
Graduate Student Funded:
None listed
Other Funding Sources:
None listed
Summer Fellowships
Law School Funded:
None listed
Graduate Student Funded:
None listed
Other Funding Sources:
None Listed
Extracurricular and Co-Curricular Programs
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.
Student Public Interest Groups
March 10, 2020