University of Kentucky College of Law
University of Kentucky
College of Law
620 South Limestone Street
Lexington, KY 40506-0048
www.uky.edu/law
Law School Pro Bono Programs
Contact Information
Douglas MichaelAssociate Dean for Academic Affairs
859-257-1485
michaeld@email.uky.edu
Category Type
Independent Student Pro Bono Group Projects with no school-wide program.
Description of Program
The University of Kentucky College of Law provides substantial opportunities for student participation in pro-bono activities in both the credit-granting and non-credit granting context. These opportunities are summarized in the entries that follow.
Location of Program
Staffing/Management/Oversight
Funding
University funding, unless otherwise specified.
Student Run Pro Bono Groups/Specialized Law Education Projects
Faculty and Administrative Pro Bono
Faculty engage in various pro bono activities. For example, Professor Douglas Michael supervises the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (“VITA”) program during the Spring semester.
Awards/Recognition
The College has recently established the Robert E. Harding, Jr. Professorship to support a faculty member whose work advocates the rights of, and justice for, the poor, the oppressed, and the marginalized.
Community Service
Law School Public Interest Programs
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Contact Information
Douglas MichaelAssociate Dean for Academic Affairs
859-257-1485
michaeld@email.uky.edu
Certificate/Curriculum Programs
Public Interest Centers
Public Interest Clinics
University of Kentucky College of Law Legal ClinicThe Legal Clinic provides legal aid, under the supervision of a member of the College of Law faculty, to clients who qualify for the program because of their limited means. Because this program involves student practice under the limited practice rule, only third-year students are eligible to participate in the legal clinic.
Externships/Internships
Prison Internship (Law 967)The prison internship is offered each semester and in the summer, and any second- or third-year student may register for the course. The course gives students the opportunity to provide legal assistance to inmates at the Federal Correctional Institution in Lexington. Many of these inmates are indigent.
Innocence Project Externship (Law 957)
Students enrolled in the Innocence Project Externship help members of the State’s Department of Public Advocacy research claims of actual innocence.
Kentucky Public Defender’s Office Externship (Law 900)
This new experimental course gives students a chance to represent indigent defendants in the Lexington Public Defender’s Office. This course is being offered on an experimental basis and is open to third-year students eligible for admission under the student practice rule. In this two credit course, students are required to work a total of 100 hours over the course of the semester. Students may only provide research support in connection with felony cases in Circuit Court. A very significant proportion of student work is to be accomplished under the student practice rule in cases before the Family Court and Juvenile Court, and in District Court misdemeanor cases.
Classes with a Public Service Component
Public Interest Journals
Public Interest Career Assistance
The Associate Dean for Career Services (Susan Steele, 859-257-8320) provides careers counseling for students interested in pursuing careers in public interest law.
Loan Repayment Assistance Programs (LRAP)
The College of Law has received grants from the United States Department of Justice for the Rural Drug Prosecution Assistance Project (“RDPAP”). The purpose of the RDPAP is to enhance the ability of the criminal justice system in the rural parts of Kentucky to prosecute, defend, and adjudicate the increased volume of drug and drug-related crimes, by placing UK Law students and graduates as interns and employees with Commonwealth's Attorneys, Public Defenders and Circuit Court judges. Students employed through this program as public defenders would be working for the benefit of indigent defendants. The RDPAP includes a Tuition Remission Program under which UK Law participants in the Graduate Employment Program receive tuition remission payments based upon successful completion of one year of employment with qualified Commonwealth's Attorneys, Public Defenders and Circuit Court judges. It is anticipated that the amount of the tuition remission payment will be $10,000.
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:
The College of Law has received grants from the United States Department of Justice for the Rural Drug Prosecution Assistance Project (“RDPAP”). The purpose of the RDPAP is to enhance the ability of the criminal justice system in the rural parts of Kentucky to prosecute, defend, and adjudicate the increased volume of drug and drug-related crimes, by placing UK Law students and graduates as interns and employees with Commonwealth's Attorneys, Public Defenders and Circuit Court judges. Students employed through this program as public defenders would be working for the benefit of indigent defendants.
Summer Fellowships
Law School Funded:
Graduate Student Funded:
Other Funding Sources:
The College of Law has received grants from the United States Department of Justice for the Rural Drug Prosecution Assistance Project (“RDPAP”). The purpose of the RDPAP is to enhance the ability of the criminal justice system in the rural parts of Kentucky to prosecute, defend, and adjudicate the increased volume of drug and drug-related crimes, by placing UK Law students and graduates as interns and employees with Commonwealth's Attorneys, Public Defenders and Circuit Court judges. One component of this Program is the funding of a summer internship program under which College of Law students work as summer interns with Public Defender offices in areas affected by the problems of drug abuse. This work would, of course, be for the benefit of indigent defendants.
The Student Public Interest Law Foundation ("SPILF"), the student public interest group at the College of Law, receives some grant money and money raised by students (see description below). Students apply to SPILF to receive grants to support summer work for public interest groups.
Extracurricular and Co-Curricular Programs
The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (“VITA”) program is offered each Spring semester under the direction of Professor Douglas Michael. The College of Law makes space and computers available to Professor Michael and the students who provide the volunteer tax assistance. Many of the individuals who take advantage of this free assistance are indigent. This program is available to any law students who wish to participate. Students receive neither academic credit nor compensation for this work.
Student Public Interest Groups
The Student Public Interest Law Foundation ("SPILF") is a student group at the College of Law that focuses on public interest issues and public interest employment. The Associate Dean for Career Services (Susan Steele, 859-257-8320) each year seeks a grant on behalf of SPILF from the Kentucky Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Account (“I.O.L.T.A.”) Fund to support summer public interest fellowships for students. The amount included in any grant is supplemented by funds that students raise through activities like the annual student auction for SPILF. Students then apply to receive grants to support summer work for public interest groups.
