Georgetown University Law Center
Georgetown University
Georgetown University Law Center
600 New Jersey Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20001
www.law.georgetown.edu
Contact Information
Barbara MoultonAssistant Dean, Office of Public Interest & Community Service Programs
moultonb@law.georgetown.edu
202-662-9654
Holly Eaton
Director, Pro Bono Program
eatonh@law.georgetown.edu
202- 662-9655
Deborah Epstein
Associate Dean, Clinical and Public Interest Programs
epstein@law.georgetown.edu
202-662-9640
Category Type
Formal Voluntary Pro Bono Program Characterized by a Referral System with a Coordinator
Description of Program
The Director of Pro Bono Programs promotes and facilitates pro bono placements of students. She works individually with students interested in being placed with DC-area non-profits or government agencies, and she assists student groups with group-oriented pro bono projects. In addition, the 1L Pro Bono Service Project places first-year students with legal service providers in the city. Information about the Pro Bono Program can be found at www.law.georgetown.edu/opics
Location of Program
The Pro Bono Program is administered by the Office of Public Interest and Community Service (OPICS). OPICS provides career counseling to students pursuing public interest and government employment options, and encourages and facilitates pro bono and community service by all members of the Law Center community.
Staffing/Management/Oversight
The Pro Bono Coordinator position, created in 1996, is a full-time, professional-level administrative position.
Funding
The pro bono program is funded entirely with Law Center funds. The budget is part of the overall public interest budget and is not separately calculable. The Pro Bono Coordinator and the Office of Public Interest and Community Service provide administrative support for pro bono group projects.
Student Run Pro Bono Groups/Specialized Law Education Projects
American Constitution Society– Recruited student volunteers on the Election Protection Hotline run by the Lawyer's Committee for Civil Rights under Law to answer questions by voters on election day. www.law.georgetown.edu/stuaff/orgs.cfmAmnesty International Court Monitoring Project – AI engages in advocacy and pro bono work on human rights. www.law.georgetown.edu/stuaff/orgs.cfm
Asian Pacific American Law Students Association – Volunteer work with the Asian Pacific American Legal Resource Center. http://www.law.georgetown.edu/stuaff/orgs.cfm
The Innocence Project – Assists incarcerated individuals seeking to prove their innocence on the basis of DNA or other physical evidence. Website: www.law.georgetown.edu/stuaff/orgs.cfm
Faculty and Administrative Pro Bono
The Law Center faculty pro bono policy encourages faculty to engage in at least 50 hours of pro bono work per year. The policy is designed both to promote pro bono work and to show students by example that law in the service of the less fortunate is an important calling. Pro bono is defined broadly to include most voluntary or charitable work on behalf of persons of limited means or charitable, religious, civic, community, or governmental and educational organizations, within the United States or internationally.
Awards/Recognition
The Office of Public Interest and Community Service hosts an annual reception to recognize the public interest and pro bono accomplishments of students and student groups. At the reception, certificates and plaques are given out to students who have performed exemplary public interest or pro bono service; nominations for the awards are made by students, staff, and faculty. Students who complete the Pro Bono Pledge receive a certificate signed by the Dean and special recognition at graduation.
Community Service
Habitat for Humanity: For the last several years, the Habitat for Humanity student group has organized a spring break Habitat "build" in North Carolina. Other Habitat trips have taken students, faculty and administrators to Ghana, South Korea and South Africa. Georgetown Outreach: A student group that sponsors various non-legal volunteer projects through the year, including blood drives, neighborhood clean-ups, and tutoring.
Home Court: An annual basketball game between Members of Congress and Georgetown law faculty. Organized by students, Home Court raises money for the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless.
The DC Family Literacy Project helps incarcerated, homeless, and other low-income families improve teir ability to read with their children. Students also tutor neighborhood children in reading.
The Christian Legal Society organizes weekly volunteering at DC Central Union Mission and runs a project that distributes gift wrapped books to DC elementary schools at Christmas time.
Law School Public Interest Programs
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Contact Information
Barbara MoultonAssistant Dean
moultonb@law.georgetown.edu
202-662-9654
Office of Public Interest & Community Service
Lauren Dubin
Director, Public Interest Careers
dubin@law.georgetown.edu
(202) 662-9308
Office of Public Interest and Community Service
Nicole Vikan
Government and International Career Counselor
202-662-9054
nav6@law.georgetown.edu
Certificate/Curriculum Programs
- Students in the Public Interest Law Scholars Program must complete a first-year seminar on public interest law and two upper-level courses: Public Interest Advocacy and Professional Responsibility: Ethics in Public Interest Practice. They also must fulfill the upper-level writing requirement by writing on a public interest topic. Website: www.law.georgetown.edu/clinics/pils
- Students many earn a Certificate in Refugees and Humanitarian Emergencies by completing the Refugee Law and Policy course and five additional courses that focus on at least one of the following topics: refugee and humanitarian emergencies/disaster relief, human rights, or conflict/post-conflict related issues.
- Students may earn a certificate in World Trade Organization Studies by completing a basic international law course and 12 additional credits in WTO-related courses. They also must maintain an overall B average, complete a seminar paper on a WTO law subject, and participate in extracurricular activities related to WTO subjects (attend a conference, congressional or court hearing, or equivalent event each semester). Website: www.law.georgetown.edu/iiel
Public Interest Centers
Human Rights Institute - The Georgetown Human Rights Institute embodies a unique combination of scholarship, classroom learning, clinical work, and opportunities for making a difference in the world. The Institute conducts workshops, symposia and conferences, engages in cutting edge scholarship, offers a certificate in human rights law, and funds two postgraduate fellowships in international human rights.Office of Public Interest and Community Service (OPICS) - OPICS provides career counseling to students and alumni pursuing public interest and government legal employment, coordinates the Law Center's Pro Bono Programs, and oversees the activities of public interest-oriented student groups, such as the Equal Justice Foundation and Innocence Project. The OPICS web address is www.law.georgetown.edu/opics.
Institute for International Economic Law – The Institute of International Economic Law encourages thoughtful and scholarly attention to a broad range of subjects that concern the relation of law to cross-border economic activity. The Institute's research topics include the World Trade Organization (WTO), trade laws at various levels of government, financial institutions, and numerous regulatory subjects such as taxation, competition policy, corporate activity, securities laws, intellectual property, various services sectors such as banking and brokerage, and linkages to human rights and cultural problems.
Institute for the Study of International Migration (Georgetown School of Foreign Service institute affiliated with Georgetown Law Center) - ISIM – Focuses on all aspects of international migration, including the causes of and potential responses to population movements, immigration and refugee law and policy, comparative migration studies, the integration of immigrants into their host societies, and the effects of international migration on social, economic, demographic, foreign policy and national security concerns; www.georgetown.edu/sfs/programs/isim
Workplace Flexibility 2010 – Supports the development of a comprehensive national policy on workplace flexibility at the federal, state and local levels; www.law.georgetown.edu/workplaceflexibility2010
Georgetown Environmental Law and Policy Institute – Conducts research and education on legal and policy issues relating to protection of the environment and conservation of natural resources; www.law.georgetown.edu/gelpi
CAROLA (Center for the Advancement of the Rule of Law in the Americas) – A research institute focused on Latin American law and policy. CAROLA conducts symposiums and talks in which experts in both the academic and practical arenas of rule of law and judicial reform can address the issues and challenging problems facing these reform efforts; www.law.georgetown.edu/carola
Center for Law and the Public's Health – A primary, international, national, state, and local resource on public health law, ethics, and policy for public health practitioners, lawyers, legislators, judges, academics, policy-makers, and others. The Center is a joint project of Georgetown Law Center and Johns Hopkins University; www.publichealthlaw.net
Public Interest Clinics
Appellate Litigation Clinic www.law.georgetown.edu/clinics/alCenter for Applied Legal Studies www.law.georgetown.edu/clinics/cals
Criminal Justice Clinic www.law.georgetown.edu/clinics/cjc
DC Law Students in Court www.law.georgetown.edu/clinics/lsic
DC Street Law Program www.law.georgetown.edu/clinics/dcstreet
Domestic Violence Clinic www.law.georgetown.edu/clinics/sdc
Family Advocacy Clinic
Federal Legislation Clinic www.law.georgetown.edu/clinics/flc
Harrison Institute for Public Law, Housing and Community Development Clinic www.law.georgetown.edu/clinics/hi/housing.html
Harrison Institute for Public Law, Policy Clinic www.law.georgetown.edu/clinics/hi/policy.html
Institute for Public Representation www.law.georgetown.edu/clinics/ipr
International Women's Human Rights Clinic www.law.georgetown.edu/clinics/iwhrc
Juvenile Justice Clinic www.law.georgetown.edu/clinics/jjc
Externships/Internships
Field placements may be obtained in any non-profit, government or judicial setting in the District of Columbia metropolitan area. Students must participate in an orientation class and a mid-semester meeting. They also must turn in a paper describing what they learned in their externship at the end of the semester. Website: www.law.georgetown.edu/registrar/externship.html
Classes with a Public Service Component
Deliberative Democracy and Civic Organizing: Theory and Practice – www.law.georgetown.edu/curriculumLegal Research & Writing(1L, Section 3) – www.law.georgetown.edu/curriculum
Social Welfare Law and Policy Seminar – www.law.georgetown.edu/curriculum
Public Interest Journals
Georgetown Journal on Poverty Law & Policy (Geo. J. on Poverty Law & Pol'y) Georgetown Journal on Gender & the Law (Geo. J. Gender & L.)
Georgetown Immigration Law Journal (Geo. Immigr. L. J.)
American Criminal Law Review, (Am. Crim. L. Rev.) vol 42, #1 (Winter 2005) and vol 42,#2 (Spring 2005)
Georgetown International Environmental Law Review (Geo. Int'l Envtl L Rev.) Volume XVI, Issue 4 (Summer 2004) & Volume XVII, Issue 3 (Spring 2005)
Georgetown Law Journal (Geo. L.J.), Annual Review of Criminal Procedure, 2004)
Public Interest Career Assistance
The Office of Public Interest and Community Service (OPICS) provides career advising for students and alumni pursuing public interest or government careers. OPICS has three public interest counselors who offer individual counseling services. The office also houses a comprehensive public interest resource library and conducts dozens of career-related workshops each year, including an alumni network program, a brown-bag luncheon series highlighting different public interest careers, resume and interviewing workshops, fellowship information sessions, a summer funding workshop, an information session on the Loan Repayment Assistance Program, and a "students helping students" information fair. The Georgetown/George Washington annual Public Interest and Government Interview program was held in February 2005. Co-sponspored by Georgetown and George Washington law schools, the program brings approximately 100 nonprofit organizations and government agencies together to interview students for summer internships or post-graduate jobs.
In September 2004, we conducted the annual Government Interview Program that brings 30-35 government agencies to campus to interview upperclass students for paid summer or post-graduate positions.
For more information, see www.law.georgetown.edu/opics
Loan Repayment Assistance Programs (LRAP)
For information see, www.law.georgetown.edu/finaid/lrap
Post-Graduate Fellowships/Awards
Law School Funded:
The Georgetown clinical graduate teaching fellowship program is unique in American legal education. Each fellowship is associated with one of the Law Center's clinics, and each offers the opportunity to combine study with practice in the fields of clinical legal education and public interest advocacy. While the fellowships vary considerably in purpose, requirements and duties, they all share a common goal: to provide highly motivated new and experienced lawyers alike the opportunity to develop skills as teachers and public interest advocates within an exciting and supportive educational environment.
Graduate Student Funded:
Other Funding Sources:
- Georgetown/Catholic Legal Immigration Network (CLINIC) Fellowship in Asylum & Refugee Law; two-year fellowship awarded annually to a graduating Georgetown law student; fellows represent non-citizen adults and unaccompanied minors seeking political asylum and other immigration relief in Immigration Court removal proceedings. Fellows are placed in one of CLINIC's offices across the country.
- Georgetown and Howrey LLP offer a two-year pro bono fellowship every two years to a graduating Georgetown law student. The Fellow works at Howrey on the firm's pro bono program, representing his or her own caseload and helping administer the program firm-wide.
- The Kroll Family Human Rights Fellowships are awarded to 2-3 graduating Georgetown Law students each year. Fellows work for one year with a domestic or international organization that focuses on human rights law and advocacy.
Term Time Fellowships/Scholarships
Law School Funded:
Public Interest Law Scholars Program (PILS) – The Law Center's Public Interest Law Scholars Program (PILS) is designed for law students who want to dedicate most or all of their careers to public service. The Program provides financial scholarships, enriched educational opportunities, and summer employment stipends to students committed to practice law in the public interest. For more information, see www.law.georgetown.edu/clinics/pils
Graduate Student Funded:
Other Funding Sources:
Summer Fellowships
Law School Funded:
Through its public interest student group, the Equal Justice Foundation, Georgetown offers approximately 70 summer public interest fellowships each year. The fellowships are funded through a sizable donation from the school as well as student-run fundraising activities such as a fall auction. In addition, Public Interest Law Scholars receive one summer stipend, and the Office of Public Interest and Community Service coordinates summer fellowships for second-year students as funding allows.
Graduate Student Funded:
Through a generous alumni donation, Georgetown each summer funds 10 upperclass students to do civil or criminal direct service work with a non-profit organization.
Other Funding Sources:
Through a combination of these sources, Georgetown was able to fund 121 students during summer 2005. Our student-run fellowship program is one of the largest in the country, and routinely raises more than $150,000 annually. The student fundraising is complemented by a substantial law school contribution, as well as federal work-study money.
Extracurricular and Co-Curricular Programs
Dozens of career-related workshops are conducted each year, including a brown bag series featuring alumni in specific public interest careers (such as public defender and legal services). Numerous other activities and events are also held annually, such as a public interest auction, issue-specific symposia (e.g., women and the law), an international human rights law week, and a speaker series. Public interest programs are conducted virtually every week. Sam Dash Conference on Human Rights – This annual conference was established to honor Professor Dash's contributions to international human rights and domestic civil rights. The conference brings together leading human rights scholars and policy-makers to discuss current issues involving the promotion of human rights throughout the world.
Student Public Interest Groups
ACLUAIDS Law Movement
American Constitution Society
Criminal Justice Association
Death Penalty Project
Environmental Law Society
Federalist Society
Georgetown Student Animal Legal Defense Fund
Minorities for the Public Interest
National Lawyers Guild
Outlaw
Students Against the Death Penalty
The Equal Justice Foundation
Women Legal Alliance
