Directory
University of North Carolina School of Law
University of North Carolina School of Law
Law School Pro Bono Programs
Contact Information
Allison Standard
Director of Pro Bono Initiatives
[email protected]
(919)962-7813
Category Type
Formal Voluntary Pro Bono Program Characterized by a Referral System with Coordinator
Description of Programs
Established in the fall of 1997, the UNC School of Law student and staff-run Pro Bono Program is one of the most unique models in the country. It connects law students with pro bono attorneys in both public interest and private practice. Each year, our students log thousands of hours at non-profit organizations, private firms and government agencies; upon graduation, over 90 percent of our students have participated in projects offering high-quality free legal services to North Carolina residents in need.
The Pro Bono Program is administered by a 13-student Board and the Director of Pro Bono Initiatives. Together, they work throughout the year with community partners, legal aid offices, law school student groups, professors, alumni, private attorneys, and fellow students to facilitate individual pro bono projects, special clinics, and group trips for students. The program also coordinates special projects over fall, winter and spring breaks.
Students participate in pro bono work not only to make a difference in their community by serving those with unmet legal needs, but they also gain valuable, practical work experience and skills outside the classroom.
Location of Programs
Office of Student Development https://law.unc.edu/experiential-learning/pro-bono-program
Staffing/Management/Oversight
The Pro Bono Program falls under the purview of the Office of Student Development, with close supervision from the Director of Pro Bono Initiatives.
Pro Bono Board positions are selected once per year following an application and interview process held each spring semester. All chosen student board members must serve for two consecutive academic semesters, with the exception of the 1L Class Coordinator. The Pro Bono Board’s Student Director manages the Board of Coordinators and oversees Program operations. The Pro Bono Board of Coordinators consists of:
Attorney Projects Coordinator: Establishes contact and maintains relationships with attorneys submitting projects to the Program, managing student participation and any potential difficulties that may arise.
Class Coordinators (one position for each class year): Responsible for recruiting students from their respective classes to participate in pro bono projects; Manage students and their hours as they complete respective projects.
Student Group Projects Coordinator: Liaison and coordinator for pro bono projects run through student organizations at UNC Law; Helps to develop, maintain, and manage student group pro bono projects.
Public Relations Coordinator: Manages communications for the Program across the university, local, and state communities, including maintenance of the Pro Bono Program website, calendar, social media, and material for the Annual Report.
Winter and Spring Break Projects Coordinator: Winter and spring break projects coordinator, responsible for attorney and student recruitment for project participation.
Special Trips Coordinators (two positions): Responsible for coordinating group pro bono project trips during academic breaks, assessing needs of individuals across the state of North Carolina, recruiting community partners with whom to work, recruiting students to participate in trips, fundraising for trips, and ultimately coordinating all trip logistics.
Alumni Outreach Coordinator: Works with other members of the Board in addressing needs for alumni contact and/or outreach and manages communication with Pro Bono alumni.
Special Projects Coordinators (two positions): manages special projects as identified by the Board, including coordinating with community and student group partners, recruiting student participants, coordinating trainings, and executing the project. The Coordinators will then evaluate the projects' sustainability and, if appropriate, transition it to a student group or student leader. The Special Projects Coordinators may also work to identify ideas for Pro Bono projects that can be developed throughout the year.
Funding
The UNC School of Law Pro Bono Program is funded by private donations, and annual fundraising efforts.
The Pro Bono Board also actively fundraises for special trips and programs during both fall and spring semesters. Below are examples of annual fundraising activities:
- Food Truck Rodeo – each semester various Triangle food trucks congregate at UNC Law during the day, donating tips and a percentage of profits to the Pro Bono Program;
- Merchandise Sales – items are sold in the law school rotunda as well as during UNC Law events such as Law Family Day and Commencement.
- Mailing Solicitation – students participating in special trips (fall, winter, and/or spring break) solicit donations from friends, family members, and local businesses via solicitation mailings.
Student Run Pro Bono Groups/Specialized Law Education Projects
American Constitutional Society
Asian American Law Students Association
Black Law Students Association
Carolina Health Law Organization
Carolina Intellectual Property Law Association
Carolina Real Estate Law Association
Carolina Teen Court Assistance Program
Child Action
Community Legal Project (The Compass Center)
Death Penalty Project
Education Law and Policy Society
Environmental Law Project
Hispanic/Latino Law Student Association
Innocence Project
Lambda Law Students Association
Law Students Against Sexual and Domestic Violence Media Law Society
National Lawyers Guild
Native American Law Students Association
Veterans Advocacy Legal Organization
Volunteer Income Tax Assistance
Women in Law
Faculty and Administrative Pro Bono
There is no formal faculty pro bono policy. Various faculty members and staff licensed to practice law are involved as group project supervisors or individual project supervisors. Many faculty and staff engage in independent pro bono work and involve students whenever possible.
Awards/Recognition
Pro Bono Publico Awards
Each April, the Pro Bono Program hosts its Pro Bono Publico Reception. The reception honors students' pro bono efforts throughout the year. The ceremony recognizes 3L students that completed over 75 hours of pro bono service while in law school and yearly award winners for the Pro Bono Publico Awards (recognizing an alumnus, faculty member, student group, 1L, 2L, 3L, and graduating student for their pro bono contributions throughout the year). The ceremony is attended by students, faculty, staff, and attorney partners.
North Carolina State Bar
Each year, the North Carolina State Bar recognizes one graduating UNC Law student for his or her pro bono work.
Recognition at Graduation & Transcript Notations
Students who complete one hundred or more hours of pro bono service are recognized individually at the May commencement ceremony. Students documenting 50+, 75+, or 100+ hours of pro bono service receive notations on their UNC Law transcripts.
Invitation and Participation in Special Events
Since 2016, the Program has hosted an invitation-only networking event with alumni and attorney partners early in the Spring semester for graduating students with 75 or more hours of pro bono service. The goal of the event is to help students transition their passion for pro bono into practice.
Community Service
American Constitution Society (ACS) Constitution in the Classroom:
ACS hosts two Constitution in the Classroom events every year, where law students visit local middle schools and present a short lesson on important cases that affect student's constitutional rights. This is a fantastic opportunity to teach students the power of the law to bring positive changes into people's lives.
Child Action:
In collaboration with the UNC School of Social Work, Child Action hosts a Child's Day in Court Mock Trial, educating social work students on how to interact and learn more about child custody hearings. Law students direct and cross examine social work students, and students learn more about being an effective witness. Child Action also encourages law student participation with Guardian ad Litem in counties surrounding the UNC campus.
Domestic Violence Action Project (DVAP) 5K Fundraiser:
Each fall, DVAP holds an annual 5K race at the UNC cross country trails to raise funds for summer public interest grants. These grants benefit UNC Law students seeking unpaid summer public interest internships with a focus on domestic violence.
Environmental Law Project (ELP) Recycling Program:
The Recycling Program is an important part of ELP's fundraising and awareness campaigns. Instead of outsourcing the recycling to an independent company, UNC Law pays ELP the same amount to empty the law school recycling bins. ELP then uses this money to provide grants to students with summer public interest jobs in environmental law. Additionally, ELP uses the Recycling Program as a springboard to educate others in the school about the value of recycling and what items they can and cannot recycle.
Student Animal Legal Defense Fund (SALDF) Pet Photo Contest:
SALDF holds an annual pet photo contest to raise funds for the Orange County Animal Shelter. Faculty and staff are encouraged to submit photos of their pets, and individuals may vote on the cutest pet by making a donation on behalf of their favorite pet.
Women in Law (WIL) Girl Scout Mock Trial:
WIL hosts an annual Girl Scout Mock Trial with Girl Scouts of America, where local Girl Scouts participate in programming at UNC Law to earn their justice badge.
Law School Public Interest Programs
Contact Information
Adrienne Allison
Director of Public Interest Advising
Career Development Office
[email protected]
(919) 843-9918
Certificate/Curriculum Programs
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill offers a Non-Profit Management Certificate Program. This Certificate requires student to take five classes with a focus on non-profit management, including two law school classes (Law of Nonprofit Organizations and one nonprofit-related elective). See http://uncnonprofit.web.unc.edu/ for more information.
Public Interest Centers
UNC Center for Civil Rights - The UNC Center for Civil Rights focuses on education, economic justice, employment, health care, housing and community development and voting rights. The Center hires students for summer internships and offers pro bono projects throughout the year for students.
N.C. Poverty Research Fund - The purpose of the Fund is to explore, document, research, and publish about the immense challenges of economic hardship in North Carolina
Center for Climate, Energy, Environment, and Economics: The UNC School of Law Center for Climate, Energy, Environment and Economics (CE3) exists to provide advanced student education and policy and legal examination of issues surrounding the law of climate, energy, environment, and economic development, with particular attention to the intersection of these issues.
North Carolina Coastal Resources Law, Planning and Policy Center: The North Carolina Coastal Resources Law, Planning and Policy Center is a partnership of North Carolina Sea Grant, UNC School of Law and UNC Department of City and Regional Planning. It serves the citizens of North Carolina by bringing together the resources provided by its partners to address contemporary coastal issues.
UNC Center for Media Law and Policy: The UNC Center for Media Law and Policy is an interdisciplinary research center run jointly out of the UNC School of Law and UNC School of Media and Journalism. The center serves as a forum for study and debate about the broad array of media law and policy issues facing North Carolina, the nation, and the world. The center’s work ranges from the legal and policy issues affecting traditional media organizations to the challenges posed by new communication technologies, including social media, the Internet, and mobile technology, and the impact they are having on governments, on the economy, and on cultural and social values throughout the world.
Public Interest Clinics
Civil Legal Assistance Clinic - The Civil Legal Assistance Clinic is a two-semester clinic in which third-year students represent clients in various civil matters related to employment, housing, consumer issues, and other areas of civil rights and poverty law.
Community Development Law Clinic - The Community Development Law Clinic is a two-semester clinic in which third-year students provide corporate and transactional counsel to North Carolina nonprofit community development organizations. The CDL Clinic helps students develop skills in corporate and transactional law and at the same time serve the legal needs of under-resourced communities in North Carolina.
Consumer Financial Transactions Clinic - The Consumer Financial Transactions Clinic allows third-year students to represent clients in civil matters related to consumer debt, credit, personal property, and homeownership under the supervision of a full-time faculty member. CFT students have represented clients in matters of abusive and unfair sales practices, auto loans and repossessions, mortgage foreclosure, and abusive debt collection.
Domestic and Sexual Violence Clinic - The Domestic Violence Clinic is a one-semester experiential course taught in both the fall and spring semesters in which third-year law students represent low-income clients in civil matters aimed at assisting clients in safely leaving abusive relationships.
Immigration Clinic - This two-semester clinic provides students with an opportunity to represent clients in immigration cases. Students prepare claims and advocate on behalf of immigrant clients, including refugees applying for asylum, battered immigrants applying for relief through the Violence Against Women Act and immigrants eligible for U-visas for crime victims.
Intellectual Property Clinic- The Intellectual Property Clinic trains students to be creative and effective advocates on behalf of clients who need to protect the words, symbols, names, images or designs that allow consumers to easily identify and authenticate the source of a service or product. Much of the clinic’s work involves representing independent non-profits, educational institutions, and small businesses before the USPTO.
Veterans Legal Assistance Project: The Veterans Legal Assistance Project offers legal assistance to low-income veterans, with a special focus on veterans who are currently excluded from VA health and disability benefits because of their discharge status. Students represent veterans in discharge upgrade applications and in claims for benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Youth Justice Clinic - The Youth Justice Clinic is a one or two-semester clinic in which third-year law students represent children accused of crimes. Our cases principally involve the defense of youths in delinquency and undisciplined proceedings in Durham and Orange counties.
Externships/Internships
Externships: The Externship Program is designed to enhance traditional classroom instruction by engaging students in real life lawyering experiences with practicing lawyers and judges in the community. Students receive three units of pass/fail academic credit for working at an approved externship placement for approximately twelve hours a week during the semester, and thirty-two hours per week during the summer. Judges and lawyers from government agencies, public interest groups and corporate counsel offices serve as mentors and on-site supervisors for the students. The Externship directors serve as the student's faculty supervisors. The faculty supervisors guide and facilitate the student's exploration of their externship experience through tutorials, journal writing and group discussion.
The Summer Program: The summer program offers 50 placements, both at judicial and non-judicial sites. First- and second-year students interested in summer placement earn 5 pass/fail credit hours during the 7 week session and are on-site 32 hours per week. Externs attend class on Friday mornings during the summer session.
The Semester in Practice Program: The Semester in Practice program offers full time, semester long externships with our partner government agencies and public interest organizations in Washington DC, New York City, Atlanta and North Carolina. The program is designed as a capstone experience for students interested in a particular area of practice or skills set who are willing to spend the full semester off campus and externing full time with the host organization. Students are trained and mentored by on-site supervisors at the host organization. In addition, the Externship Program's faculty supervisors guide and facilitate the student's exploration of their experience through virtual classroom discussion, journal writing and individual conferences.
Internships: The Career Development Office provides resources and counseling for students' public interest internship search, including evaluations from students concerning their summer employment experiences with public interest employers. The Director Public Interest Advising is the full-time counselor for students interested in public interest (including government) positions and careers.
Symplicity: The CDO uses the online software Symplicity to manage job listings (internship, summer, and permanent), on-campus interviewing, off-campus interview programs, and other recruiting events. Access to Symplicity is available online to current students and Carolina Law alumni 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
On Campus Interviews: On-campus interviews are typically held in the fall semester during August and September and in the spring semester from late January through February. Students bid (apply) for on-campus interview opportunities through the Symplicity system.
Off-Campus Interview Programs: Students at Carolina Law are invited to participate in more than 30 off-campus interview programs each year, giving them access to employers who do not ordinarily participate in on-campus interviews or who are seeking students with specialized credentials or characteristics.
Classes with a Public Service Component
Several transition-to-practice courses give students the unique opportunity to explore public service more deeply and apply what they have learned to real-world problems. In these classes, students will hone practical skills, working closely with faculty on projects and learning from practitioners on a broad range of legal topics.
- Criminal Justice Policy
- Criminal Procedure Litigation Skills
- Domestic Violence Law
- Environmental Justice
- Environmental Law Practice and Policy
- Forced Migration: Law and Practice
- Gender Violence and the Law: A Transition to Practice Course
- Human Rights Policy Lab
- Political and Civil Rights
- Poverty and Public Policy in North Carolina
- Public Health Law
- Race and Poverty
- Reproductive Rights and Justice
- Sex Offenders and the Law
- Sexual Violence and the Law
- The Lawyer as Public Citizen: Access to Justice
- Women and Health Law
- Wrongful Convictions
Public Interest Journals
PI Career Support Center
The Career Development Office prepares students for a successful job search. From help with interviewing and resume preparation, to developing a job search strategy, our staff members are a valuable resource for students and alumni. The office also plans a series of networking events to connect employers with potential applicants. In addition, the Career Development Office administers several programs specific to public interest students. The Director Public Interest Advising is the full-time counselor for students interested in public interest (including government) positions and careers.
Public Interest Peer Mentor Program - The Public Interest Peer Mentor Program pairs incoming 1Ls who are interested in public interest law with upper-class students who are pursuing a public interest career. The program schedules a variety of group social activities each year, including the Annual Chili Dinner, brown bag lunches, a spring picnic and other events.
Public Interest Retreat - Conducted annually, the retreat brings together students, faculty, administrators and practitioners to discuss careers in public interest law and timely issues in the public interest field, ranging from legal issues in a particular practice area to loan repayment assistance and debt management.
Public Interest Job Search Group (3L) - Each year, the UNC Law CDO organizes a job search group for 3L students pursuing full-time employment in the public interest and/or government sector. Participants benefit from peer-to-peer support, direct career counselor contact, and methods for taking an active and structured approach to the job search process.
Public Interest Job Search Tips – The CDO has compiled a few specific insights and suggestions for students regarding the Public Interest job and internship search. For more information see https://law.unc.edu/careers/public-interest-and-government
Loan Repayment Assistance Programs (LRAP)
The goals of the UNC School of Law's Loan Repayment Assistance Program are:
- To encourage students to enter permanent public service employment without regard to debt burden; and
- To assist graduates entering public service with law school loan debt.
The program aims to supplement other available sources of loan repayment assistance so as to permit graduates to perform public service in North Carolina, the nation and the world, without being restricted or discouraged by law school debt.
LRAP recipients receive a short-term loan from UNC School of Law and use those funds toward the payment of law school education loans. Eligibility is determined through the application and is reconfirmed after a year. If the recipient is still LRAP-eligible after a year, the short-term loan is forgiven. If a recipient becomes ineligible at any point during the year, the ineligible funds must be repaid.
Post-Graduate Fellowships/Awards
Law School Funded:
UNC School of Law operates a bridge-to-practice fellowship program, which provides recent graduates with a modest stipend for volunteer work with a public interest employer for the three-month period after the July bar exam.
Graduate Student Funded:
Other Funding Sources:
Term Time Fellowships/Scholarships
Law School Funded:
The Trey Cheek Public Interest Memorial Scholarship Fund is available to either a 2L or 3L based on financial need and a commitment to public interest law.
The Peter K. Daniel Memorial Scholarship Fund is available for a second-year student. This scholarship will be awarded based on a demonstration of an exceptional commitment to community service (to be distinguished from public interest law), entrepreneurial spirit, strong work ethic and strength of character.
The William Henry Holderness and William Edward Elmore, Jr., Scholarship Fund is available to one 2L and one 3L to reward academic achievement, financial need, and a commitment to public interest law and community involvement.
The Whichard Scholarship is available to students who entered law school from careers in education, or those considering careers in public service.
The Kirby Service Scholarship is available to a student from eastern North Carolina who intends to pursue a career of public service in government, politics or education.
The J. Russell Kirby Public Service Scholarship is intended to foster, recognize and reward service as epitomized by Sen. Kirby. This award is given to a student who has been selected as a Chancellors Scholar at the UNC School of Law. Preference is given to students from eastern North Carolina who intend to pursue a career of public service in government, politics or education.
Graduate Student Funded
Other Funding Sources:
Summer Fellowships
Law School Funded:
Each year summer grants are awarded to students who are taking unpaid or low-paying summer public interest and public sector jobs. Funding for these grants comes from several sources, including student organizations and private funds. Examples include:
- Steven Whitesell Memorial Fund Grant (preference given to a student in the City and Regional Planning program)
- Sandra Johnson Public Interest Summer Grant
- Class of 2001 Public Interest Summer Grant
- Gene R. Nichol Public Interest Law Fund
- William E. Underwood, Jr., Public Interest Fellowship (preference given to a student working with the Council for Children's Rights in Charlotte, NC)
- Gibson Desaulniers Smith Public Interest Award
Graduate Student Funded:
Other Funding Sources:
Various student organizations also award partial grants. In 2017, the following student organizations awarded grants to students:
- Carolina Public Interest Law Organization (C-PILO)
- Environmental Law Project
- Media Law Project
Extracurricular and Co-Curricular Programs
Student Public Interest Groups
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) – Carolina Law Chapter
American Constitution Society
Carolina Health Law Organization
Carolina Public Interest Law Organization (C-PILO)
Carolina Teen Court Assistance Program
Child Action
Community Legal Project
Conference on Race, Class, Gender and Ethnicity (CRCGE)
Death Penalty Project
Education Law and Policy Society
Environmental Law Project
Immigration Law Association
Innocence Project
Lambda Law Students Association
Law Students Against Sexual and Domestic Violence (LSASDV)
National Lawyers Guild
Student Animal Legal Defense Fund
Veterans Military Advocacy Student Organization
Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA)
2/10/2021