Directory

    Notre Dame Law School

    Notre Dame Law School
    P.O. Box R
    Notre Dame, IN 46556
    www.lawadmissions.nd.edu

    Law School Pro Bono Programs

    Contact Information

    Rick Herbst
    Assistant Director for Public Interest Law
    rherbst@nd.edu
    574 631 8236

    

    Category Type

    Independent In-house and Collaborative Student Group Projects

    

    Description of Programs

    Pro Bono and community service activities are sponsored by the Career Services Office, the Student Affairs Office, and student-run groups. The Career Services Office collaborates wiith student organizations to coordinate pro bono activities and work with the Legal Aid Services of Indiana of South Bend to provide volunteer service opportunities. Pro bono announcements are placed on bulletin boards and electronic list serves so that students are kept informed about pro bono activities and opportunities.

    GALILEE (Group Alternative Live-In Legal Education Experience) is highly encouraged. Students spend their Christmas break living among citizens of the inner cities to learn about the legal needs of the urban poor. The program lasts for about 10 days and is followed up with a weekend retreat in the spring so that students are provided the opportunity to discuss and share ideas about their experience.

    

    Location of Programs



    

    Staffing/Management/Oversight



    

    Funding

    If a student group needs office space or equipment, the law school generally accommodates the specific needs. The Public Interest Law Forum, Social Justice Forum, and Society of International Human Rights groups have staff support from Career Services, Student Affairs and Law School Alumni Relations Offices.

    

    Student Run Pro Bono Groups/Specialized Law Education Projects

    The Social Justice Forum exists to promote and encourage social responsibility within the Notre Dame Law School and to create and maintain a network of concerned individuals who are willing to work toward social justice. To those ends, students and faculty members sponsor regular community service projects.

    Society of International Rights: This group is in the process of organizing an international volunteer program with various Notre Dame alumni working in the field of human rights.

    

    Faculty and Administrative Pro Bono

    There is no formal faculty pro bono policy. Faculty serve as advisors to the Public Interest Law Forum, Social Justice Forum, and Society of International Human Rights groups.

    

    Awards/Recognition

    The Peter Lardy Memorial Scholarship is given to the student for his or her contribution to the community.

    

    Community Service

    A. Student Bar Association, Community Service Division's, Annual & Seasonal Programs -

    1. Story time with Headstart: law students go into preschool Headstart classrooms one hour per week and read stories to the children
    2. Center for the Homeless tutoring program: law students tutor elementary and middle school-aged children.
    3. Habitat for Humanity Blitz: law students help other University students build a house for a South Bend community family in need.
    4. Kids and Kandy: the SBA sponsors a trick or treating outing for local elementary Catholic school children on law school grounds.
    5. Thanksgiving Basket Drive: the SBA packages and delivers Thanksgiving baskets for the Social Justice Forum's annual basket drive.
    6. Dinner at Dismas House: law students cook dinner for the residents for Dismas House, a place where university students live with ex-cons and held to re-integrate them into society.

    B. Women's Legal Forum Annual Program -

    Walk for St. Margaret's House: raise money to improve the lives of women and children and assist in providing their immediate needs.

    B. School-wide Events Annual and Seasonal Programs -

    1. Habitat for Humanity: every summer faculty, staff, and students assist in building homes for those in need.
    2. Christmas in April: faculty, staff and students participate in restoring homes of those in need.
    3. Toys for Tots: organized by Military Law Student Association and supported by the faculty and student body.
    4. Shelter Shoe Box Drive: organized by Phi Alpha Delta Legal Fraternity and supported by faculty and student body (provides necessary articles to people entering community shelters).
    5. Caroling Group: organized by the St. Thomas More Society, faculty, staff and students carol at local nursing and retirement homes during the holiday season.

    

    Law School Public Interest Programs

    Contact Information

    Rick Herbst
    Assistant Director for Public Interest Law
    rherbst@nd.edu
    574 631 8236

    

    Certificate/Curriculum Programs

    Legal Aid Clinic Award

    This award is given to the student who demonstrates the highest level of performance and commitment to serving the Notre Dame Legal Aid Clinic.

    Public Interest Programs

    GALILEE Program (Group Alternative Live-in Legal Education Experience)

    This program provides students with the opportunity to live for a few days in the inner city to learn the legal needs of the urban poor.

    J.D./M.A in Peace Studies Program

    The peace studies curriculum offers a multidisciplinary approach to the study of international peace and world order.

    LL.M. Program in International Human Rights Law

    The program affords lawyers the opportunity to engage in specialized study and research in international human rights law.

    J.S.D. Program in International Human Rights Law

    This program is designed especially for persons who teach in the field of international human rights law.

    

    Public Interest Centers

    Center for Civil and Human Rights

    The Center focuses on teaching, research, and service dedicated to raising international awareness of important human rights concerns in a way that contributes to their eventual resolution. The Center's programs/curriculum include: (A) LL.M. Program in International Human Rights Law, which affords lawyers the opportunity to engage in specialized study and research in international human rights law; and (b) J.S.D. Program in International Human Rights Law, which is designed especially for persons who teach in the field of international human rights law. For more information, contact Juan Mendez, Director, 574/631-7895 or http://www.nd.edu/~cchr.

    Thomas J. White Center on Law and Government

    The Center examines public policy questions within the framework of Judeo-Christian values, provides a focal point for public law research and encourages a select group of law students to dedicate a substantial portion of their professional study to public concerns. The Scholars participate in a seminar on symposium topics, plan and participate in symposia conducted by the Center and assist in production work of the Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics & Public Policy. For more information, contact Fr. John Pearson, C.S.C, 574/631-4888 or http://www.nd.edu/~ndlaw/student/whitecntr.html.

    

    Public Interest Clinics

    • Legal Aid Immigration Clinic

      Students work exclusively on immigration cases.

    • Legal Aid I & II (classroom & clinic component)

      The Clinic introduces students to the substantive areas of law encountered in a poverty law clinic such as domestic violence and homelessness.

    • Legal Aid Ethics

      The Clinic focuses on ethical issues arising in a clinical setting.

    

    Externships/Internships

    Legal Externship: Public Defender/Ethics

    This externship involves formulating solutions to ethical problems in the criminal justice system

    Legal Externship: Public Defender

    Students work in the trial and misdemeanor divisions at the local county court.

    Legal Externship: Public Defender

    This Externship involves assisting actual public defenders in representing indigent clients.

    Legal Externship: Prosecutor

    This Externship involves assisting the local county prosecutor's office.

    

    Classes with a Public Service Component

    Law and Poverty (Two credit hours)

    This class examines the situation of the poor in the American legal system and includes fieldwork and clinical work with clients in northern Indiana and southern Michigan. For more information, contact Professor Tom Broden, 574/631-8737.

    GALILEE (Group Alternative Live-In Legal Education Experience) (One credit hour)

    Students live for a few days in the inner city to learn about the legal needs of the urban poor. For information, contact Professor Teresa Phelps, 574/631-5763.

    Legal Aid I & II (classroom & clinic component)

    This class introduces students to the substantive areas of law encountered in a poverty law clinic such as domestic violence and homelessness. For more information, contact Professor Judith Fox, 574/631-4864.

    

    Public Interest Journals

    Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics and Public Policy

    The Journal, which directly analyzes law and public policy from an ethical perspective, is published by the Thomas J. White Center https://scholarship.law.nd.edu/ndjlepp

    Journal of College and University Law

    This is the only U.S. law review devoted solely to the law of higher education. https://scholarship.law.nd.edu/jcul/

    

    PI Career Support Center

    Services

    1. Individualized and extensive public interest counseling.
    2. Public interest resource research assistance.
    3. Posts and maintains a bulletin board solely focused on public interest.
    4. Sponsor attendance to Equal Justice Works Career Fair in Washington, D.C., Midwest Public Interest Career Conference and Gateway to Diversity (in conjunction with the Indiana Supreme Court).
    5. Provide support to on-campus, student-run public interest groups.
    6. Announce and support the majority of nationwide public interest related job fairs, retreats, seminars and programs.

    Programs

    1. Organize fall public interest table talk panel/discussion (OCI supplement).
    2. Provide spring on-campus interviewing for public interest and government employers.
    3. Professional Development Day (public interest alumni networking).
    4. Integrate public interest/public sector in legal career panels.
    5. Co-sponsor the Midwest Public Interest Legal Career Conference.
    6. Host and cosponsor public interest career seminars and workshops.
    7. Arrange presentations by local public interest attorneys and organizations.
    8. Participate in regional public interest job fairs and retreats.
    9. Organize judicial clerkship programming.
    10. Organize and provide practice interview programs.

    Resources

    1. Career Services Web Page w/portion dedicated to public interest sites (links to many public interest web pages).
    2. Manage and provide a public interest job bank.
    3. Manage and provide public interest data sheets on numerous public entities (federal, state and local government, legal aid, non-profits, etc).
    4. Provide resource center with numerous library resources dedicated to public interest topics.
    5. Member of several major public interest organizations (e.g. NALP, PSLawNet, Equal Justice Works) and the Chicago Consortium of Law Schools.

    For more information, contact Alexandria Lewis, Public Interest Career Counselor, 574/631-7542 or Lewis.85@nd.edu.

    

    Loan Repayment Assistance Programs (LRAP)

    A committee of faculty, staff, and alumni are in the process of developing a LRAP. Initial disbursements are scheduled to be made Spring 2002. To be eligible for consideration, students must work in public interest related positions.

    

    Post-Graduate Fellowships/Awards

    Law School Funded:



    

    Graduate Student Funded:



    

    Other Funding Sources:



    

    Term Time Fellowships/Scholarships

    Law School Funded:



    

    Graduate Student Funded



    

    Other Funding Sources:



    

    Summer Fellowships

    Law School Funded:

    6-12 students funded yearly ($2500-4500), with funding provided by student fund raisers and $25,000 provided by the law school.

    

    Graduate Student Funded:

    6-12 students funded yearly ($2500-4500), with funding provided by student fund raisers and $25,000 provided by the law school.

    

    Other Funding Sources:

    6-10 yearly ($3000-4500), with funding provided by Notre Dame alumni in various geographic regions.

    

    Extracurricular and Co-Curricular Programs

      Career Service Lecture Series

      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.

    

    Student Public Interest Groups

    • Asian Law Students Association
    • Black Law Students of Notre Dame
    • Christian Legal Society
    • Environmental Law Society
    • The Federalist Society for Law & Public Policy Systems
    • Hispanic American Law Association
    • Irish Law Students Association
    • Italian Law Students Association
    • Jus Vitae of Notre Dame
    • The Public Interest Law Forum
    • Social Justice Forum
    • Society of International Human Rights
    • Student Bar Association, Community Services Division
    • Women's Legal Forum.

    4/8/2020