University of Colorado School of Law
University of Colorado
School of Law
401 UCB
Boulder, CO 80309
www.colorado.edu/law/
Law School Pro Bono Programs
Contact Information
Mark LoyStudent Coordinator
mark.loy@colorado.edu
(303) 492-8126
Norman Aaronson
Director of Clinical Programs
norman.aaronson@colorado.edu
(303) 492-6602
Colene Robinson
Clinical Professor of Law
colene.robinson@colorado.edu
(303) 492-0166
Category Type
Formal Voluntary Pro Bono Program Characterized by Administrative Support for Student Group Projects
Description of Program
Location of Program
The Lend-a-Law Student program is based in the Clinical Program and is supervised by the Director of the Clinical Programs. This program also has a student coordinator.
Staffing/Management/Oversight
Funding
Student groups have offices with telephones. They are funded through the general campus and law school student organizations through a combination of student fees and fundraising. They use the computers provided for general student use. Some mailing and emailing is done by the school.
Normal secretarial and computer support is available for faculty public service, just as for teaching and scholarship. Each faculty member has a development account, which may be used for pro bono activities.
Student Run Pro Bono Groups/Specialized Law Education Projects
ACLU - The Law School chapter of the ACLU is active both in the school and in the community. The chapter provides legal research assistance for the Colorado State affiliate; conducts educational programs in the Boulder County junior high schools; and sponsors lectures open to the entire student body on current civil rights and civil liberties issues.Christian Law Society - In the 2004-2005 year, the Christian Law Society began to lay the groundwork for a Christian Legal Aid Clinic to assist low income clients in need of legal services.
Colorado Law Mediation Program - The Colorado Law Medition Program trains student volunteers to be mediators and once these students are trained, they provide free mediation services within the community.
Environmental Law Society - The Environmental Law Society has two primary goals: education and action. ELS supports a speaker series, holds an environmental law jobs day, and works to support the natural resources and environmental curriculum at the School of Law. The ELS involves its members in environmental legal issues by assisting Colorado environmental and community groups with legal research.
Lend-A-Law-Student Association -The Association is designed to provide research assistance to pro bono attorneys and organizations while at the same time allowing law students to gather some pro bono legal experience. The legal topics vary from environmental to criminal to civil rights. Students attend meetings to familiarize themselves with different areas of law and are informed of their ethical responsibilities to the attorneys and clients involved in the cases. Students are assigned to an attorney working in their area of interest and may do research, drafting, editing, investigative, or other legal work.
Faculty and Administrative Pro Bono
The University has general guidelines that faculty members should devote 40% of their time to teaching, 40% to scholarship, and 20% to service.
Awards/Recognition
Clifford Calhoun Public Service Award - Awarded annually by vote of the faculty to the person who contributes to the public service of the Law School in the spirit and tradition of the contributions that Professor Emeritus Clifford Calhoun made in his twenty-nine year Law School career.The Law School hosts an annual awards ceremony where members of the student body are recognized for their commitment to public service, their clinical achievements, and their commitment to clients.
The Legal Aid and Defender Clinic gives awards to select students for outstanding service and commitment to clients. These awards are acknowledged in the graduation program.
Recently, an awards ceremony was established to recognize those students who participated in the Lend-a-Law Student Program and who did pro bono and public interest service throughout the academic year. As of 2005-2006, data on student pro bono service and hours is collected.
Community Service
Annually, individual law students and student groups participate in ongoing community service projects. For example, the Public Interest Law Students Association (PISA) coordinates volunteer activities for law students at local soup kitchens, blood drives, Boulder SafeHouse, Children's Hospital of Denver, and Habitat for Humanity. PISA also sponsors the Annual Chili Cookoff to raise money for community service projects. The Latino Law Students Association coordinates and sponsors citizenship drives where the students have traveled to communities to help immigrants in filling out citizenship paperwork. The Environmental Law Society organizes clean-up activities in and around Boulder. The School also hosts a Casino Night once a year where student groups raise money for charitable organizations. The Student Bar Association also sponsors an annual Bowling Tournament in which it raises funds for a charitable origanization, most recently the Tsunami Relief Fund.
Law School Public Interest Programs
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Contact Information
Karen Trojanowski, J.D.
Associate Director, Public Sector & Externships
karent@colorado.edu
(303) 492-5911
Office of Career Development
Certificate/Curriculum Programs
None.
Public Interest Centers
Energy & Environmental Security Initiative - EESI is an interdisciplinary center located at the University of Colorado School of Law. The fundamental mission of EESI is twofold: First, to serve as a law school-based interdisciplinary body that is pivotal in developing and crafting State, U.S. and global responses to the world's energy crisis; and second, to facilitate the attainment of a global sustainable energy future through the innovative use of laws and policies. In pursuit of this mission, EESI's primary operational objective is to serve as an enabling environment for teaching and research into the impact of laws and policies on the scientific, engineering, sociopolitical, and commercial dimensions of sustainable energy. See http://www.colorado.edu/law/eesi Natural Resources Law Center - The Natural Resources Law Center is a non-profit research and educational organization committed to improving the governance and management of water and land resources in the western United States. Its mission is to promote sustainability in the rapidly changing American West by informing and influencing natural resources policies and decisions. See http://www.colorado.edu/law/centers/nrlc/index.htm
Public Interest Clinics
Appellate Advocacy Clinic - http://www.colorado.edu/law/clinics/#appeladvoc Immigration Clinic - http://www.colorado.edu/law/clinics/#immig
Indian Law Clinic - http://www.colorado.edu/law/clinics/#ilc
Legal Aid and Defender Clinic - http://www.colorado.edu/law/clinics/legalaid/clinic.htm
Natural Resources Litigation Clinic - http://www.colorado.edu/law/clinics/nrlc/
Wrongful Convictions Clinic - http://www.colorado.edu/law/clinics/wrongfulconvictions/index.htm
Externships/Internships
The Law School offers Externships with one credit hour for 50 hours of work with seven credits maximum towards the Juris Doctor degree. Externship work cannot be compensated and students can be employed by a government, public interest or for-profit entity both in and outside of Colorado. Field placements have a mandatory substantive writing component and a classroom component where students meet once per semester to discuss their projects. Types of local public interest placements have included: Rocky Mountain Children's Law Center, Western Resource Advocates, United States Attorney's Office, Colorado Legal Services, Colorado Public Defenders Office, Rocky Mountain Immigration Advocacy Network, Native American Rights Fund, Seventeenth Judicial District Truancy Reduction Project, the Wilderness Society, and many more.Many students also have had field placements outside of the Denver Metro Area in Glenwood Springs, Monument, Pueblo, New York, Massachusetts, Washington D.C, New Jersey, Iowa, California, and the Netherlands, to name a few.
Classes with a Public Service Component
None.
Public Interest Journals
Colorado Journal for International Environmental Law & Policy (Colo. J. Int'l Envtl. L. & Pol'y)
Public Interest Career Assistance
The Office of Career Development annually publishes a directory containing a listing of public interest organizations in Colorado that typically hire interns, externs, and volunteers. This publication has and continues to serve as a tremendous resource for our students who wish to pursue public interest careers. The Office also helped facilitate externships and volunteer opportunities, host a mock interview program, and provide individualized counseling for students interested in public interest work.Furthermore, the Office helped coordinate the Natural Resources Law Center's Speakers Series which brought environmental public interest groups to the law school including the Sierra Club, Western Resource Advocates, and Earthjustice, and co-sponsored the Family Law Forum Series which addressed issues related to working with legal services organizations, Guardians Ad Litem, Family Court Facilitators, and issues pertaining to truancy reduction.
The Office hosted public interest speakers at the Law School for various information sessions throughout the year, which included the Public Defender's Office, City Attorney's Offices, Foreign Service, Colorado Legal Services, Native American Rights Fund, among many others.
Rocky Mountain Consortium Government/Public Interest Career Fair
Loan Repayment Assistance Programs (LRAP)
For a description see: http://www.colorado.edu/law/LRAP
Post-Graduate Fellowships/Awards
Law School Funded:
None.
Graduate Student Funded:
None.
Other Funding Sources:
None.
Term Time Fellowships/Scholarships
Law School Funded:
None.
Graduate Student Funded:
None.
Other Funding Sources:
Davis Graham & Stubbs Scholarship - Awarded to students who demonstrate high academic achievement and a commitment to the improvement of the legal profession and enlargement of its contributions to the public interest.
Gene R. Nichol Public Interest Scholarship
William E. and Maxine Rentfro Law diversity Scholarship - Awarded to a student who is committed to protecting and preserving human and civil rights and assisting those seeking full participation in the American dream.
Summer Fellowships
Law School Funded:
The School of Law offers three or more summer fellowships, each for $3000 or more, which are funded by an endowment.
Endowment, Jonathan B. Chase Fellowship
Enviornmental Law Society Fellowship; Women's Law Caucus Fellowship.
Graduate Student Funded:
Other Funding Sources:
Extracurricular and Co-Curricular Programs
Challenges Facing Developing Countries - This was the Doman International Law Society's three day law conference which was held in conjunction with the Colorado Journal of International Environmental Law & Policy in 2004.Gilvary Symposium - This symposium was privately funded on the topic of law, religion & social justice.
Natural Resources Law Center's Conferences - http://www.colorado.edu/law/centers/nrlc/events.htm
Student Public Interest Groups
American Constitution SocietyBlack Law Student Association
Colorado Law Mediation Program
Doman International Law Society
Environmental Law Society
Federalist Society
Latino Law Students Association
National Lawyer's Guild
Native American Law Students Association
OUTLaw
Public Interest Student Association
Student Bar Association
Women's Law Caucus
