Hofstra University School of Law

Law School Pro Bono Programs

Contact Information

Amy E. Bedell, Esq.
Hofstra University School of Law
Director of Public Sector Career Planning
E-mail

Category Type

Formal Voluntary Pro Bono Program Characterized by a Referral System with a Coordinator

Description of Programs

Hofstra's Public Service Certificate Program: To qualify for a Public Service Certificate at graduation, Hofstra Law students can do any of the following: (1) work for a nonprofit organization that provides legal representation to individuals or groups who are under-served, under-represented or of limited means; (2) perform law related work for a governmental agency; or (3) assist attorneys providing legal services free of charge or at significantly reduced cost to individuals or groups who are under-served, under-represented or of limited means. All legal work must be performed under the supervision of an attorney and without pay or credit. Judicial placements are not eligible for the program. Volunteer hours with Hofstra Law student groups that advocate on behalf of clients, such as the Unemployment Action Center (UAC) or the Domestic Violence Courtroom Advocates Project (CAP) and for groups that provide legal education, such as Street Law and the Elmont Mock Trial Enrichment program, count towards the Certificate. The levels of service recognized are as follows: Bronze Level (50 hours), Silver Level (125 hours) and Gold Level (200 hours)

Location of Programs

The Law School's Pro Bono and Public Service Committee oversees the Public Service Certificate Program.

Staffing/Management/Oversight

The Law School's Pro Bono and Public Service Committee oversees the Public Service Certificate Program and the Director of Public Sector Career Planning, located in the Office of Career Services, collects the volunteers' log sheets. The Pro Bono and Public Service Committee is charged with identifying and proposing a pro bono/public service component to be included in the first-year orientation, for implementation by the Admissions Department. The Committee is also charged with identifying additional pro bono/public service opportunities to be offered by the school for upper-class students. As part of this process, the Committee will also consider and make any proposed recommendations to the faculty as to whether students should be awarded certificates for pro bono/public service beyond the graduation awards already in place and, if so, the parameters of such certificates.

Funding

The program is funded through the general law school budget.

Student Run Pro Bono Groups/Specialized Law Education Projects

Domestic Violence Courtroom Advocates Program (CAP) – The Domestic Violence Courtroom Advocates Project is a unique program that recruits, trains, supervises and mentors law students to fill the gap in advocacy, education and services in New York City's Family Courts. Student advocates assist domestic violence victims by helping them draft and file their petitions, advocating for them during court appearances, educating them about their legal rights and remedies, and providing them with safety planning and referrals to community resources, such as shelters and counseling. Student advocates interview domestic violence victims and help them draft their petitions. This initial advocacy significantly improves the quality of the petitions filed so that they accurately allege the family offenses committed and request the necessary temporary relief sought. Student advocates then accompany petitioners when they appear before family court judges and assist them in requesting appropriate relief from the court, such as exclusion of the batterer from the home or temporary child support. Student advocates accompany petitioners to court on their adjourn dates and assist them with their cases as they move forward.

Unemployment Action Center (UAC) – The Unemployment Action Center is a nonprofit, student-run corporation providing free representation on a volunteer basis to unemployment insurance claimants. Student advocates represent claimants before Administrative Law Judges and, when necessary, on appeal to the Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board. Hofstra UAC has been operating since August 1991 and provides a unique experience for Hofstra law students. Student advocates independently argue real cases regarding actual claims and claimants. With a nominal time commitment (approximately 5-10 hours per case), the UAC is an unparalleled opportunity for real-world legal experience. Membership is open to all law students.

Volunteers for Income Tax Assistance (VITA) –The Volunteers for Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program is affiliated with the Internal Revenue Service and has been in existence for more than 30 years in many different schools in the United States. VITA offers free tax aid to people who cannot afford professional assistance. The purpose of VITA is to help the community, specifically low to moderate income families and individuals, as well as the elderly, in meeting their tax responsibilities.

Legal Emergency Aid Project (LEAP) -LEAP is a law student-run organization dedicated to providing legal assistance to victims of disasters across the United States including victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Our members will be traveling down to New Orleans over Spring Break to provide legal assistance to our neighbors in need on a variety of issues including: FEMA claims, insurance claims, social services benefits, mortgage foreclosures, criminal justice circumstances, housing for displaced residents, voters' rights, immigrant labor, and access to counsel. Please join us in our fundraising efforts.

Law Brigades – Law Brigades is a secular, international volunteer network of students and law professionals who collaborate with local organizations and developing communities to implement legal empowerment, human rights, environmental protection, and business rights strategies for micro-enterprise development.

Faculty and Administrative Pro Bono

The Law School does not have a formal pro bono policy for faculty, but many faculty participate in programs in various contexts.

Awards/Recognition

The Graduates Celebration and Awards Ceremony takes place a few hours before Commencement. This program consists of an elected student speaker and a faculty speaker chosen by the graduating class. Numerous course and achievement awards are presented at this ceremony. A light dinner is served immediately following this celebration. Family and friends are welcome to attend.

Pro Bono Leadership Award - Awarded to a graduating student who has excelled in serving one or more of the Law School's student-run pro bono organizations in a leadership capacity.
Pro Bono Service Award of Excellence - Awarded to a graduating student who has excelled in dedication to and time spent performing pro bono service through the Law School's student-run organizations and/or outside activities.
Public Service Certificates - Awarded to graduating students who have achieved certain levels of recognition. The levels of service recognized are Bronze Level (50 hours), Silver Level (125 hours) and Gold Level (200 hours). Hofstra's Public Service Certificate Program recognizes students for volunteering, under the supervision of an attorney and without pay or credit, with (1) nonprofit organizations that provide legal representation to individuals or groups who are under-served; under-represented or of limited means; (2) government agencies; or (3) attorneys providing legal services free of charge or at significantly reduced cost. In addition, volunteer hours with Hofstra Law School student groups that advocate on behalf of clients, such as the Courtroom Advocates Program (DVCAP) and the Unemployment Action Center (UAC), and for groups that provide legal education, such as the Mock Trial Enrichment program, count towards the Certificate

Community Service

The following are some examples of the many community service projects our students are engaged in:

Students volunteer as mock trial coaches for students at local middle schools and high schools as part of our Mock Trial Enrichment Program.
Students volunteer to train high school students to act as attorneys and judges in Youth Court, an alternative to Juvenile or Family Court.
Both individually and as part of the student organization OUTLaw, students volunteer at an LGBT-bar assocation's walk-in legal clinic in New York City and participate in Lobby Day in Washington, D.C. each spring.
In 2009, students from various student organizations took part in a citizenship drive, interviewing local residents and helping them complete citizenship applications.
Students worked with Habitat for Humanity to build a home in the area.
The Environmental Law Society raised funds that were donated to Greenaction, a local organization that has been on the front lines of campaigns for healthy communities and environmental justice.

Law School Public Interest Programs

Contact Information

Amy E. Bedell, Esq.
Hofstra University School of Law
Director of Public Sector Career Planning
E-mail

Certificate/Curriculum Programs

None listed

Public Interest Centers

The Center for Children, Family and the Law

The Center for Children, Families and the Law was established in 2001 in response to the urgent need for more effective representation for children and families in crisis. Its unique interdisciplinary program of education, community service and research is designed to encourage professionals from law and mental health to work together for the benefit of children and families involved in the legal system. The Center's community service programs provide direct assistance to New York area children and families in need and serve as models for states across the country. To carry out its mission, the Center partners with the University's Department of Psychology, health and human service agencies and law associations, including the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts (AFCC), the American Bar Association (ABA), and the National Institute for Trial Advocacy (NITA). The core of the Center for Children, Families and the Law is its interdisciplinary training program for Hofstra law students.

The Institute for Health Law and Policy

Hofstra Law School's Institute for Health Law and Policy was designed to meet the need for education and training of attorneys in the rapidly expanding field of health law, provide instruction for health care professionals who are encountering increasingly complicated laws affecting the delivery of health care, and provide a center of excellence for the study and formulation of health care policy. In responding to shortcomings of the U.S. health care system, the federal Congress and state legislatures have passed many complex laws that require careful study and analysis by attorneys and that make health care providers increasingly dependent on lawyers. At the same time, health care providers, including physicians, nurses, hospitals, nursing homes, home health agencies, and insurers, need some training for dealing day to day with the complexities of health care law. The Institute aims to participate in the development and assessment of health care policies that will provide for stabilizing costs while improving the quality of health care for everyone. In striving to effect its goals, the Institute for Health Law and Policy supports the following programs:

The Concentration in Health Law for students presently enrolled in Hofstra's J.D. program recognizes students who have completed a requisite number of courses related to health law and who have written an erudite treatise in the field of health law.
The Fellowship for Health Law and Policy, established in 2007, provides scholarships for entering J.D. students who are planning a career in health law and wish to be leaders in the field. Fellows participate in multiple externships and are required to pursue an independent study with the goal of developing a publishable treatise.
A Certificate in Health Law and Policy Program presently under development will provide training and recognition to health care providers and to attorneys for the completion of health law courses adapted to their specific needs. The participation of both attorneys and health care providers in the Certificate Program will foster valuable interaction. It is expected that both Continuing Legal Education (CLE) and Continuing Medical Education (CME) credits will be available to enrollees.
The Health Law Society (HLS), a student group open to all J.D. and LL.M. candidates, which provides interaction among students interested in health law. The HLS sponsors speakers on subjects related to careers in health law, assists in the arrangement of health l
An active conference schedule which provides opportunity for both education and policy development.
Externships fostered by Hofstra Law School's close alliances with health law firms, medical centers, government, and industry provide a wide array of exciting experiences for students.
A diverse health law curriculum which includes the following courses: Aging and the Law; Bioethics and the Law; Biotechnology: Law, Business, and Regulation; Disability Law; Health and Safety Regulation; Health Law; Legal Decision Making for Children and Incompetent Adults; Managed Care and the Doctor Patient Relationship; Medical Malpractice; Medicare and Medicaid Law; Products Liability; Psychiatry and the Law; Representing Health Care Providers; Scientific Evidence; Sexuality and the Law; The Law of Drug Discovery, Development and Commercialization; The Law's Response to Reproductive Technology. 8. Publication of articles on health law and policy.

The Institute for the Study of Gender, Law and Policy

The mission of the Institute for the Study of Gender, Law, and Public Policy is to facilitate teaching, research, and scholarship concerning gender as it relates to law and public policy. The Institute will also facilitate interdisciplinary exchange within Hofstra University. Through sponsoring courses, conferences, roundtables, and other events and generating publications, it will contribute to the knowledge of the academic community at Hofstra and of the broader community on this issue. The Institute's starting premise is that gender remains a salient category of analysis and that problems of gender inequality in society persist. The Institute will focus on current issues of law and policy relevant to gender equality, including regulation of the family, sexuality, corporations and the professions, the workplace, educational entities, and other institutions of civil society. Governmental and other public initiatives that relate to gender equality will also be examined. Reflecting Law School faculty expertise, the Institute will focus on domestic and global dimensions of gender equality. Because many factors – such as cultural and religious traditions, economics, ethnicity, race, and sexuality – shape individual and societal perceptions of gender, the Institute will invite the insights of disciplinary approaches in addition to law.

Public Interest Clinics

Child Advocacy Clinic

Child Advocacy Clinic students learn the facets of client advocacy through the challenging experience of representing children in abuse and neglect cases, and special immigrant juvenile matters. Students advocate in New York City and Nassau Family Courts on behalf of children in cases where the allegations range from physical and sexual abuse to educational neglect, abandonment and inadequate supervision. In court, Clinic students advocate vigorously for their clients in all aspects of the practice, including picking up cases at arraignment, advocating at hearings and trials, engaging in motion practice and formulating dispositional plans. Outside of court, students maintain regular contact with their clients, investigate the factual allegations of neglect or abuse involved on their court cases, formulate realistic and compassionate plans for clients and their families, and work closely with mental health professionals, caseworkers, teachers and foster parents to ensure their clients' needs are being met.

Community and Economic Development Clinic

Students in the Community and Economic Development Clinic provide transactional (non-litigation) assistance to nonprofits, community-based organizations and micro-enterprises in low-income communities in and around Nassau County, with a preference for clients that contribute to social and economic justice. Clients include newly-forming organizations requiring start-up assistance and more mature entities that need help in connection with the more complex issues arising from organizational success and growth. The Clinic's work includes: counseling concerning choice-of-entity decisions, incorporation, application for recognition of tax-exempt status, drafting/review of contracts, zoning matters, negotiations, and support for community organizing, legal research, community education and other needs of our clients. Students also examine the special ethical issues that are present in group and entity representation.

Criminal Justice Clinic

Students in the Criminal Justice Clinic represent indigent clients charged with misdemeanors in Nassau County District Court and Queens County Criminal Court. Clinic interns provide the entire range of legal representation, from initial interview to sentencing. Court room advocacy includes arraignments, bail arguments, bench conferences, evidentiary hearings, oral arguments on motions, bench and jury trials, plea dispositions and sentencings. Lawyering skills practiced outside the court room include interviewing, counseling, fact and crime scene investigation, negotiation with assistant district attorneys, and researching and drafting pleadings, motions and other memoranda. Students may also represent clients in related proceedings including parole revocation, school suspension, and Department of Motor Vehicle hearings where these hearings arise from the facts of the criminal case.

Immigrant Justice Clinic

The Immigrant Justice Clinic focuses on the intersection of criminal and immigration law. Students will defend individual immigrants in removal (deportation) proceedings. In addition, students will represent immigrant community organizations on affirmative litigation and advocacy projects aimed at addressing policing practices that disproportionately and unjustifiably target immigrant populations. Students will gain substantive knowledge in both criminal and immigration law. We will also focus on exploring the various litigation and non-litigation advocacy strategies that all community lawyers should have at their disposal. Toward this end, students will develop significant litigation skills, such as brief writing, examination of witnesses, and oral argument, and non-litigation skills, such as negotiation, media work, and legislative advocacy.

Housing Rights Clinic

In the Housing Rights Clinic, students handle a wide variety of housing cases for low-income clients, such as defenses of eviction cases, actions by tenants against landlords challenging substandard conditions in their apartments, fair housing and exclusionary zoning cases, public utility shut-off cases, and work on behalf of community groups for housing rehabilitation. Each student has a caseload of two or three smaller cases and one complex case. Students prepare and present their cases in state and federal courts. The course develops lawyering skills with special emphasis on litigation strategy, pretrial and trial preparation, and trial advocacy. In their representation of clients in actual cases, students have the opportunity to engage in interviewing and counseling, negotiation, fact investigation and discovery, oral advocacy, direct and cross-examination, and trial argument. Students also draft research memoranda, strategy memoranda, pleadings, motions and trial briefs. Special attention is placed on professional responsibility issues and strategic case planning methods.

Mediation Clinic

Students in the Mediation Clinic will serve as mediators in actual cases involving small claims cases and family court matters, including custody/visitation and PINS cases. Students complete an intensive mediation training program with a NYS Court Certified Mediation Trainer. Student mediators help parties involved in a conflict to negotiate and make decisions about the conflict's outcome. The mediations take place either at the Clinic offices or on-site at a referring court or agency. Under the Clinical Instructor's supervision, students will: screen and develop cases; interview parties to a dispute and advise them about the mediation process; mediate cases in two-student teams; and, draft settlement agreements. The mission of the Mediation Clinic is not to train students to be professional mediators; rather, the mission is to teach them fundamental lawyering skills such as interviewing, counseling, negotiation, and effective problem solving, all of which are essential to every attorney's work.

Political Asylum Clinic

In the Political Asylum Clinic, students represent political asylum applicants in immigration proceedings before Asylum Officers, Immigration Judges, and the Board of Immigration Appeals. Our clients fled their countries because of torture or other persecution, based on race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group. If they are granted political asylum, our clients will be able to remain in the United States, to bring their immediate family here, and one year after winning asylum, to apply for permanent residence. Our clients' lives literally depend on the outcome of the asylum case. Students have represented clients from such countries as Congo, Cote d'Ivoire, Cameroon, Trinidad, Albania, Chad, Venezuela, Chile, Peru, Jamaica, Tibet, India and Nepal.

Securities Arbitration Clinic

In the Securities Arbitration Clinic, students will be introduced to the fundamental principles for securities arbitration primarily initiated by or against investors of modest means before either the New York Stock Exchange or the National Association of Securities Dealers now combined into FINRA. Students will also be instructed with respect to the principles of securities regulations relevant to typical investor claims against broker/dealers. Students (in teams of two) will be assigned to cases and will serve as advocates for the clients. Such assignments will include case intake, case development, research of legal issues, preparation of arbitration filings, and representation of the client before the arbitration panel hearing each claim.

Externships/Internships

Matrimonial Law Practicum

The Matrimonial Law Practicum creates practical experiences for our students in the world of matrimonial practice. Students divide the semester between a placement with a judge who is assigned to the Matrimonial Law Center of the Nassau County Supreme Court and placement in a private matrimonial law firm. Students also participate in an on-campus seminar. This externship provides students the unique opportunity to experience the practice of matrimonial law from both sides of the process. Students participate in the factual research, legal research and case theory development of the practitioner and then immediately become involved in the judicial world's very different analytic frameworks. Students also have the opportunity to work with and observe clients, work on complex motions, sit in on judicial conferences as advocates and as members of chambers.

Criminal Law Externship

The Criminal Externship Program provides an opportunity for students to learn about all phases of criminal law practice through placements in such as agencies as Nassau, Queens and Kings County District Attorney's offices and New York City and Nassau and Suffolk County Legal Aid offices. Students work approximately 12 hours per week and may be exposed to a wide variety of experiences, including legal research and writing, case investigation, witness interviewing and courtroom advocacy. Each student's work is overseen by a supervising attorney in the appropriate organization as we as by the Law School's faculty directors, who also conduct weekly seminars.

Civil Law Externship

The Civil Externship Program provides students with opportunities to learn lawyering skills through placements in a variety of nonprofit organizations or government agencies. Students work approximately 12 hours per week for such organizations as the state and federal judiciary, the New York State Attorney General, the New York State Department of Mental Hygiene, the New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, Nassau/Suffolk Law Services, the Central American Refugee Center, the New York State Department of Labor and the National Resources Defense Council. Depending on the particular placement, students may engage in all phases of legal work, including interviewing clients and witnesses, drafting legal documents, negotiating with attorneys, conducting research and preparing legal memoranda. Students are supervised by the supervising attorney in the particular organization and by the Law School faculty directors, who also conduct weekly seminars.

Judicial Externship

The Judicial Externship Program provides an opportunity for students to serve as apprentices for state and federal judges for a semester. As judicial externs for approximately 12 hours per week, students research, write memoranda, observe court proceedings and discuss cases with judges. Through conference with the judges, students gain insight into the effectiveness of litigation techniques and the practical impact of the judicial system. Students are supervised by their judges and by the Law School's faculty directors. Weekly seminars are held by the faculty directors.

Classes with a Public Service Component

Domestic Violence Seminar - This course examines the problem of domestic violence between adult intimate partners (not as against aged parents or regarding direct child abuse, although the course will look at the effects upon children exposed to domestic violence and the law's response). The course considers problems of domestic violence starting with psychological origins of violence. It focuses on domestic violence and its consequences in the legal system in a number of arenas, including family law, civil litigation in various forms (from restraining orders to tort recovery), criminal law response, federal law response, race issues, immigration, and legal responses to same sex or other forms of non-marital intimate domestic violence.

In addition to the classroom component, there is an externship component that will be available to a limited number of students. This will involve one day a week spent in the domestic violence division of the Suffolk County court system, representing abused complainants who are seeking orders of protection. Under the Suffolk Student Practice Order, students can appear in court, can argue before the bench and can examine witnesses. One additional credit will be given for the externship experience. The one-credit externship may not be taken apart from the course, and is not a requirement of the three-credit course.

Public Interest Journals

HOFSTRA LABOR & EMPLOYMENT LAW JOURNAL, Volume 22, No. 2 (Spring 2005) - The 40th Anniversary of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

http://law.hofstra.edu/Academics/Journals/LaborAndEmploymentLawJournal/labor_vol22no2.html

PI Career Support Center

Hofstra Law School's Office of Career Services sponsors several programs throughout the year that are aimed at students considering public interest employment. These programs include, but are not limited to, the annual career services orientation, which includes an introduction to careers with public interest employers; 'Finding and Funding Summer Positions in the Public Sector'; 'Preparing for the NYU Public Interest Legal Career Fair'; two (2) externship information sessions and externship fairs, which include government and public interest employers; and an annual career fair, which includes nearly two dozen government and public interest employers. In addition, Hofstra has introduced to its first year orientation a series of programs focusing on the importance of pro bono service, including a fair consisting of local community organizations that are seeking law student assistance and a simulation exercise that requires first year students to examine and solve a social justice issue for a hypothetical client.

In addition to the community organizations fair held during orientation for incoming students, Hofstra Law hosts a Pro Bono and Public Service Fair in October in connection with its participation in the Annual National Pro Bono Celebration sponsored by the American Bar Association's Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service. The Fair offers an opportunity for our students and the surrounding community to learn more about volunteer activities available at local non-profit and community organizations and the populations they serve.

Hofstra Law School is one of approximately 20 law schools that participate annually in the Public Interest Legal Career Fair sponsored by New York University School of Law, during which interviews are conducted by nearly 200 public interest organizations. Hofstra Law School also funds the attendance of up to three (3) students at the Peggy Browning Fund National Workers' Rights Conference for Law Students. This conference is geared toward law students who are interested in public sector labor law, and the program consists of, among other things, a networking reception designed to introduce students to public sector employers. Hofstra Law School partially subsidizes the cost of attendance for its students at the annual Equal Justice Works Conference and Career Fair, and funds the attendance of up to five (5) students to attend the National LGBT Bar Association's Career Fair and Conference (formerly Lavender Law), which is held each September. In 2009, Hofstra Law School joined a consortium of Northeast law schools to hold a Washington, DC-based job fair that focused on government and public sector employers. Hofstra Law School co-sponsors an annual Public Interest Career Reception each August in New York City in which approximately 100 public interest employers participate.

Loan Repayment Assistance Programs (LRAP)

For information, please see http://law.hofstra.edu/currentstudents/FinancialAid/finaid_life.html

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:

Child and Family Advocacy Fellowship

Hofstra University School of Law established its Child and Family Advocacy Fellowship Program in 2002 to train and develop the next generation of leaders in the specialized field of family law. The program provides the foundation needed for fellows to become heads of social service organizations, members of the judiciary, leaders of the bar, and legislators who will work collaboratively with those from related disciplines to improve the family court system in America.

Each year, Hofstra Law School selects up to five (5) fellows from among students admitted to the entering J.D. class. Fellowships are awarded to students who intend to pursue careers in child and family advocacy. Scholarship awards include a maximum $10,000 tuition fellowship each year over three years of law school and up to two $7,500 summer externship stipends to cover living expenses. The Child and Family Advocacy Fellowships are awarded for one year, but are renewed annually subject to satisfactory academic performance and full participation in program activities and externships. Students are required to complete two 10-week summer externships, approved by the director, after their first and second years. Each externship is supported by a fellowship stipend to cover living expenses, and enables students to integrate the practical experience of full-time work with their formal legal training. At the end of the summer, students are required to submit to the director written reports on their externships. Fellows are required to attend various program functions and to meet regularly with the director. Upon graduation, fellows are expected to use their specialized training to represent the legal interests of children and families for at least three years.

Fellowship for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights

Hofstra University established a fellowship program for students engaged in advocacy on behalf of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. This program is designed to demonstrate Hofstra's commitment to equality and support for LGBT individuals. The Law School's participation in the Hofstra University LGBT fellowship program includes the Fellowship for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights. Each year Hofstra Law School selects up to three (3) fellows from among students admitted to the entering J.D. class. Fellowships are awarded to students who have demonstrated a commitment to and intend to pursue careers advocating on behalf of the LGBT community. The fellowship program is open to persons of all sexual orientations in recognition of the diversity of individuals who may ally themselves with sexual equality, and to underscore the importance of alliances between the LGBT community and the community at large.

Scholarship awards include a substantial tuition fellowship each year over three years of law school and up to two $7,500 summer stipends to support two summer externships related to LGBT advocacy. Fellowships are awarded for one year, but are renewable annually subject to satisfactory academic performance and full participation in program activities and externships. After their first and second years of law school, fellows are encouraged to complete two 10-week summer externships at non-profit organizations devoted to legal advocacy on behalf of the LGBT community. Externships enable students to integrate the practical experience of full-time work with their formal legal training. Hofstra Law School provides fellows with a $7,500 stipend to cover living expenses while completing approved summer externships.

Fellows have the opportunity to enroll in a comprehensive course of study devoted to equality, including courses in Sexuality and the Law, Sex Discrimination, Jurisprudence, or an independent study and tutorial designed to address issues of particular concern to the LGBT community. Fellows are also invited to attend Hofstra Law School's Colloquium on Law & Sexuality. Upon graduation, fellows are expected to commit to helping further the civil rights advancement efforts of the LGBT community through LGBT related advocacy and organizations.

Public Justice Foundation

The Public Justice Foundation (PJF) is the Law School's public interest law student organization. The objectives of PJF are twofold: First, to raise awareness about public sector law practice by facilitating student employment in the area; and second, to expose the Law School community to important legal issues through debate and discussion. PJF holds various fund-raisers, including an annual goods and services auction. The auction is PJF's principal fund-raiser, with 100 percent of the money raised used to support summer fellowships for Hofstra Law Students. These fellowships enable recipients to take nonpaying jobs in the public sector that they otherwise would be unable to accept due to financial constraints. In furtherance of its second objective, PJF has sponsored debates on prisoners' rights, the policy and constitutionality of 'hate crimes' legislation, the Clarence Thomas nomination and 'Clintonomics.' Grant recipients have worked at some of the following places; Nassau/Suffolk Law Services, District Attorney's Office, United States Attorney's Office, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, United States Department of Justice, New York State Division of Human Rights, New York City Gay and Lesbian Anti-Violence Project, South Brooklyn Legal Services, New York Legal Assistance Group, Legal Assistance Corp. of Massachusetts (Family and Child Department), Domestic Violence Coalition, Public Defenders Office, and much, much more. The amount of individual summer fellowships depends on the size and nature of the applicant pool as well as the amount of money raised during PJF's annual auction. Fellows are also expected to provide at least ten (10) hours of assistance to PJF's fund-raising efforts.

Graduate Student Funded:

Hofstra's Public Justice Foundation (PJF) raises money each year to provide summer stipends to students working in the public sector. If both a PJF Fellow and his/her placement are work-study eligible, the PJF Fellowship will be supplemented by federal work study and substantially increase the amount of money received by the PJF Fellow.

Other Funding Sources:

Various summer fellowship opportunities are available from non-Hofstra sources and students are guided by the Office of Student Affairs and the Office of Career Services to the various fellowships and stipend opportunities that are available.

Extracurricular and Co-Curricular Programs

Hofstra's Office of Career Services sponsors public interest programming and panels throughout the school year.

Student Public Interest Groups

The Public Justice Foundation (PJF) – The Public Justice Foundation is the Law School's public interest law student organization. The objectives of PJF are twofold: first, to raise awareness about public sector law practice by facilitating student employment in the area; and second, to expose the Law School community to important legal issues through debate and discussion. PJF holds various fundraisers, including an annual service auction, which fund summer fellowships for Hofstra Law School students who take nonpaying jobs in the public sector that they otherwise would be unable to accept due to financial constraints. In furtherance of its second objective, PJF has sponsored debates and other educational programs

Domestic Violence Courtroom Advocates Program (CAP)

Unemployment Action Center (UAC)

Volunteers for Income Tax Assistance (VITA)

Legal Emergency Aid Project (LEAP)

April 8, 2020

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