Fordham University School of Law
Fordham University
Fordham University School of Law
140 West 62nd Street
New York, NY 10023
law.fordham.edu/
Law School Pro Bono Programs
Contact Information
Thomas J. SchoenherrAssistant Dean, Public Interest Resource Center
tschoenherr@law.fordham.edu
(212) 636-6920
Andrew Chapin
Director of Public Interest Scholars and Counseling, PIRC
achapin@law.fordham.edu
(212) 636-7849
Albilda Hernandez
Office Manager, PIRC
ahernandez@law.fordham.edu
(212) 636-6952
Hillary Exter
Director of Student Organizations and Publicity
hexter@law.fordham.edu
(212) 636-7789
Category Type
Formal Voluntary Pro Bono Program Characterized by Administrative Support for Student Group Projects.
Description of Program
The Public Interest Resource Center strives to educate law students about pro bono and community service volunteer opportunities through actual experiences working with people in need. The work of the Center is based on the premise that students leading students increases opportunities.
Location of Program
The Public Interest Resource Center
Staffing/Management/Oversight
PIRC is managed by four full-time administrators: the Assistant Dean, the Director of Student Organizations and Publicity, the Director of Counseling & Public Interest Scholars and an Office Manager.
Each student-run project has officers who oversee the project.
Funding
Student Run Pro Bono Groups/Specialized Law Education Projects
Death Penalty Project (DPP) – The DPP was established in August of 1995 to provide a forum for Fordham Law Students to contribute to the New York State and New Jersey capital punishment and criminal justice systems. The DPP focuses on the provision of adequate defense representation to capital defendants, appellants and death row inmates. Student volunteers have worked with the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, the Capital Defense Office in New York City, the Capital Defense Unit of The Legal Aid Society, and the pro bono department of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. The Project also organizes panels and symposia to educate the Law School community about capital defense representation, capital prosecution, and criminal justice and jurisprudence. Domestic Violence Advocacy Center (DVAC) – Founded in September of 1993, DVAC became a member in 1997 of the Law School Domestic Violence Consortium of Manhattan (D.V. Consortium). The D.V. Consortium is a project of the Lawyer's Committee Against Domestic Violence. The members of DVAC recognize that domestic violence is a pervasive and ongoing threat to the lives of many women and children. The center is a student-run organization that assists victims of domestic violence with family court matters through two programs: the Courtroom Advocates Project and the Uncontested Divorce Project. In addition to providing legal advocacy, law students also participate in educational and community service activities. The center is run by a student Board of Directors and receives additional support from two supervising attorneys and administrative members of the PIRC.
Family Court Mediation Project (FCMP) – The FCMP was established in January of 1995 by Clinical Professor Jacqueline Nolan-Haley who teaches the Mediation Clinic at the Law School, along with three students who had completed training in the clinic. Currently, the Project is located in Bronx Family Court and functions as an autonomous and self-contained mediation service for the people of the Bronx. The FCMP is designed to provide necessary custody and visitation mediation services to the public free of charge. As a secondary goal, the project educates and disseminates information to the public about mediation. Trainings for student mediators are conducted with the participation of Fordham Law School clinical and adjunct professors. These same professors supervise the student mediators.
For more information on all groups, please see http://law.fordham.edu/ihtml/pirc-2stugrou.ihtml?id=281
Housing Advocacy Project (HAP) – HAP is dedicated to providing law students with the opportunity to advocate for the rights of low-income tenants in public housing in New York City. The Project was founded in the summer of 1994 by two second year law students working in conjunction with several professors, the Director of the PIRC, and the Managing Attorney of a local community Legal Services Office. Student advocates are trained to represent tenants at New York City Housing Authority eviction and eligibility hearings.
Immigration Advocacy Project (IAP) – IAP provides assistance to people seeking help with immigration related matters. Students work in conjunction with attorneys at the Lawyers' Committee for Human Rights to provide individual assistance to people who are applying for asylum or refugee status. Plans for the future include providing assistance in the areas of: applying for naturalized citizenship, applying for resident alien status or for a green card, or seeking other information or assistance related to their own or their family's immigration issues.
Lincoln Square Neighborhood Center Children's Law Project (LSNCCLP) - Through a generous seed grant from Leonard J. Fassler, an alumnus from the class of 1958, the Lincoln Square Neighborhood Center Children's Law Project trains Fordham law students to teach concepts of law, citizenship and literacy to young children - 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders - in an after-school program run by the Lincoln Square Neighborhood Center. During the course of the 1999-2000 academic year, the Fordham law students taught 4 classes including nearly 50 elementary school students in the after-school program. The LSNCCLP program culminated with a mock trial program followed by a graduation ceremony.
Police Misconduct Action Network (PMAN) - PMAN is a joint collaboration between the PIRC, the Law School's Crowley Program in International Human Rights, and the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU). Founded last year in response to the Abner Louima incident, PMAN seeks to address the issue of police misconduct as both a domestic human rights and a civil rights issue. The PMAN group is comprised of students who work with victims of police misconduct at the NYCLU office to help them have their complaints heard and addressed by the Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB) and other appropriate authorities.
Unemployment Action Center (UAC) - The UAC is a non-profit organization dedicated to serving the needs of unemployed persons and has over 400 members at five New York area law schools. Students are trained as advocates to represent people at unemployment insurance hearings, as counselors for hearings, and as writers of appeals briefs.
Faculty and Administrative Pro Bono
In 1995, Fordham adopted guidelines for faculty pro bono involvement. It is suggested that members of faculty should volunteer at least 50 hours of pro bono work annually, as suggested by the ABA. The guidelines stated the law school should encourage and support pro bono work by the faculty and successful implementation of this should include recognition, administrative support, conferences and faculty colloquia, summer pro bono work and leaves of absences. Successful implementation of this policy has created new opportunities for using students in research assistance, pro bono projects, independent study, and course offerings supporting pro bono work.
Awards/Recognition
At the annual Public Interest Resource Center Annual Awards Dinner, Fordham gives two pro bono awards, in addition to the awards recognizing the public service of alumni and friends of Fordham and the certificates to graduating students who have completed Fordham's public interest scholars program. The pro bono awards are: The Archibald R. Murray Public Service Award: This award is given to students in the graduating class of the Law School who have devoted 50 or more hours to pro bono and/or community service work during their years as Fordham law students. Those graduates completing 250 - 499 hours will receive the cum laude Murray Award, those completing 500 - 999 hours will receive the magna cum laude Murray award and students completing 1000 + hours will receive the summa cum laude Murray award. The text of the award reads, "in grateful acknowledgment of your response to the call of public need as exemplified by Archibald R. Murray, Class of 1960, whose career embodies the highest standards of public service." 137 members of the Class of 2001 are recipients of this award.
Student Leadership Award: This award is presented annually to students in the graduating class who have served on the Boards of Directors of their respective organizations in the Public Interest Resource Center during their second, third, or fourth year in Law School. The text of the award reads, "in recognition of your outstanding commitment and efforts on behalf of the Fordham Law School Community through your dedication and service to (your student public interest organization)." 26 members of the Class of 2001 are recipients of this award.
Community Service
Fordham Law Community Service Project (CSP) The CSP gives Fordham Law students the opportunity to volunteer their time and talents at organizations in the New York City community in a non-legal capacity. Programs in which students can gain valuable experience include: teaching and tutoring children and adults; blood drives, clothing drives, food drives and book drives; soup kitchens, homeless shelters, hospitals and nursing homes; organizing annual volunteer fairs at the school to publicize volunteer opportunities. Habitat for Humanity at Fordham Law School (HFH) When HFH became an official campus chapter of HFH International, HFH left CSP (above) to become an independent student organization in the PIRC. Every year there are at least four weekend trips to work with an HFH affiliate in New York City or the tri-state area and a week-long trip during the spring break. Students perform actual construction work including carpentry, dry-wall installation, painting and roofing, under the supervision of volunteer skilled tradespeople.
Law School Public Interest Programs
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Contact Information
Thomas J. SchoenherrAssistant Dean, Public Interest Resource Center
tschoenherr@law.fordham.edu
(212) 636-6920
Andrew Chapin
Director of Public Interest Scholars and Counseling, PIRC
achapin@law.fordham.edu
(212) 636-7849
Hillary Exter
Director of Student Organizations and Publicity
hexter@law.fordham.edu
(212) 636-7789
Certificate/Curriculum Programs
Stein Scholars Program in Public Interest Law & Ethics: The Stein Scholars Program is a comprehensive three-year educational program for selected students who seek training and experience in the area of public interest law. The Stein Scholars are students with diverse backgrounds and interests, many of whom enter law school after having engaged in substantial activities in public interest settings and the government.
Through specialized academic coursework in public interest law and ethics, funded summer internships, interaction with practitioners and academics in roundtable and informal discussions, and opportunities to engage in community service, the Stein Scholars Program prepares future lawyers for the practice of law in public service.
http://law.fordham.edu/studentgroups/index.ihtml?pubid=910
Crowley Program in International Human Rights:
Six to eight students are selected at the end of each year to become Crowley Scholars. They participate in an intensive academic program in human rights in their second year, which includes a course in International Human Rights Law and a seminar to prepare them to participate in the annual fact-finding mission at the end of the spring semester. Following the mission, the scholars work with the faculty and other delegation members to publish a comprehensive report of the mission's findings and recommendations. They continue to work with the Crowley Program in their third year at the Law School disseminating the findings of the report and advocating for the adoption of its recommendations.
http://www.crowleyprogram.org/
Public Interest Centers
The Public Interest Resource Center (PIRC) - The Law School's clearinghouse for all students, faculty and staff who volunteer to provide legal assistance for the underprivileged and in civil rights causes or who wish to do community service work such as tutoring, etc. PIRC houses numerous public interest student-run organizations, most of which provide law- related pro bono service. See http://law.fordham.edu/ihtml/pirc-2home.ihtml?id=279
Public Interest Clinics
Community Economic Development ClinicCriminal Defense Clinic
Family Advocacy Clinic
Federal Litigation Clinic
Fundamental Lawyering Skills
Externships/Internships
For a description of field placement programs, see http://law.fordham.edu/externships
Classes with a Public Service Component
Professional Responsibility: Advanced Public Interest Seminarhttp://law.fordham.edu/syllabus/syl5424.pdf
Public Interest Journals
See http://law.fordham.edu/publications.htm
Public Interest Career Assistance
Fordham participates in the annual Public Interest Legal Career Symposim which is hosted at NYU Law School in February. Over 250 Fordham students registered for this career fair in 2004-2005. The Public Interest Resource Center and the Career Planning Center at Fordham - often with co-sponsorship with one or more public interest student organizations - plan and host over 50 public interest career-related programs every academic year. Check the PIRC's on-line calendar of events for more detailed information about these events. http://law.fordham.edu/ihtml/pirc-2calendarview.ihtml?id=284
Loan Repayment Assistance Programs (LRAP)
For a description, see http://law.fordham.edu/ihtml/fa-2GradStu_LRA.ihtml?id=
Post-Graduate Fellowships/Awards
Law School Funded:
Crowley Program in International Human Rights Fellowship http://www.crowleyprogram.org/fellowship.htm
Graduate Student Funded:
Other Funding Sources:
Term Time Fellowships/Scholarships
Law School Funded:
Graduate Student Funded:
Other Funding Sources:
Summer Fellowships
Law School Funded:
Graduate Student Funded:
Other Funding Sources:
Extracurricular and Co-Curricular Programs
Student Public Interest Groups
