Hofstra University School of Law
Hofstra University
Hofstra University School of Law
121 Hofstra University
Hempstead, NY 11549
law.hofstra.edu
Law School Pro Bono Programs
Contact Information
Tamara StephenDirector of Public Sector Carer Planning
tamara.stephen@hofstra.edu
(516) 463-5871
Category Type
Formal Voluntary Pro Bono Program Characterized by a Referral System with a Coordinator
Description of Program
Hofstra's Public Service Certificate Program recognizes students for volunteering, under the supervision of an attorney and without pay or credit, with (1) nonprofit organizations that provide legal representation to individuals or groups who are under-served; under-represented or of limited means; (2) government agencies; or (3) attorneys providing legal services free of charge or at significantly reduced cost. In addition, volunteer hours with the Hofstra Law School student groups that advocate on behalf of clients, such as the Unemployment Action Center [UAC] or Domestic Violence Courtroom Advocates Project [DVCAP] and for groups that provide legal education, such as Street Law and the Elmont Mock Trial Enrichment program, count towards the Certificate. Judicial internships are ineligible.The levels of service recognized are as follows: Bronze Level (50 hours), Silver Level (125 hours) and Gold Level (200 hours).
Completed program log sheets must be submitted to Tamara Stephen, the Director of Public Sector Career Planning, no later than the Friday after Spring Break of the student's third (or fourth) year.
Location of Program
The Director of Public Sector Career Planning, who is a member of the Office of Career Services, oversees the Public Service Certificate Program and collects the volunteers' log sheets.
Staffing/Management/Oversight
The Director of Public Sector Career Planning, who is a member of the Office of Career Services, oversees the Public Service Certificate Program and collects the volunteers' log sheets.
Funding
The program is funded through the general law school budget. Each of the pro bono student groups is provided office space, phones, computers and funding. Faculty pro bono projects are supported by the Law School on an ad hoc basis.
Student Run Pro Bono Groups/Specialized Law Education Projects
Domestic Violence Courtroom Advocates Program (DVCAP) The Domestic Violence Courtroom Advocates Project is a unique program that recruits, trains, supervises and mentors law students to fill the gap in advocacy, education and services in New York City's Family Courts. Volunteers receive training and assistance from the legal staff at Sanctuary for Families, one of New York's oldest and largest providers of social services for battered women. Student advocates interview domestic violence victims and help them draft their petitions; accompany petitioners when they appear before family court judges; and assist them in requesting appropriate relief from the court, such as exclusion of the batterer from the home or temporary child support. Student advocates accompany petitioners to court on their adjourn dates and assist them with their cases as they move forward. Student advocates also provide safety planning and referrals to community resources, such as shelters and counseling. Unemployment Action Center (UAC) The Unemployment Action Center (UAC) is a non-profit, student-run corporation that offers free advice and representation to persons denied unemployment benefits. Currently, Hofstra Law School's UAC Chapter has approximately 50 student advocates. The UAC has developed a comprehensive training program and training materials which guide new advocates through the intake, interview, and representation process. UAC advocates represent claimants at hearings by researching law, conducting direct- and cross-examinations, and arguing claimants' cases. During the summer, full-time summer advocates are hired through on-campus work-study positions. Hofstra is one of only 5 area law schools to have a UAC chapter and is the only NYC area UAC chapter outside of Manhattan.
Street Law Street Law is a law school-based, law-related education program. Street Law enables students to interact with high school students, teen parents, juvenile delinquents, or other community members, and teach them the basics of law and human rights necessary for survival in our law-saturated society. The curriculum may include case studies, role-plays, small group exercises, and visual analysis activities. This methodology allows citizens to take an active role in their own education while bringing about a greater sense of justice, tolerance and fairness. Ultimately, Street Law aims to develop a citizen's willingness and ability to resolve disputes through informal (non-judicial) and, where necessary, formal mechanisms. Street Law carries out its activities at 3 local institutions: Momma's House (a home for teenage mothers, where the lessons focus on parenting rights, custody rights, governmental rights, etc. involving children, abuse and neglect and landlord/tenants laws); Planned Parenthood (where the lessons focus on educating young girls about their individual rights and choices); and Port Washington Group Home for Girls (a home for troubled girls).
Amnesty International The Legal Support Network (LSN) is a national network of volunteer lawyers, law students, judges, and law professors that focuses on the legal aspects of Amnesty International's campaigns. Members of the Hofstra Law School Amnesty International Group may adopt a prisoner of conscience case, participate in urgent actions and help promote all of Amnesty International's objectives.
Faculty and Administrative Pro Bono
The faculty is encouraged to engage in law-related pro bono service.
Awards/Recognition
The Graduates Celebration and Awards Ceremony takes place a few hours before Commencement. This program consists of an elected student speaker and a faculty speaker chosen by the graduating class. Numerous course and achievement awards are presented at this ceremony. A light dinner is served immediately following this celebration. Family and friends are welcome to attend.
- Pro Bono Leadership Award - Awarded to a graduating student who has excelled in serving one or more of the Law School's student-run pro bono organizations in a leadership capacity.
- Pro Bono Service Award of Excellence - Awarded to a graduating student who has excelled in dedication to and time spent performing pro bono service through the Law School's student-run organizations and/or outside activities.
- Public Service Certificates - Awarded to graduating students who have achieved certain levels of recognition. The levels of service recognized are Bronze Level (50 hours), Silver Level (125 hours) and Gold Level (200 hours). Hofstra's Public Service Certificate Program recognizes students for volunteering, under the supervision of an attorney and without pay or credit, with (1) nonprofit organizations that provide legal representation to individuals or groups who are under-served; under-represented or of limited means; (2) government agencies; or (3) attorneys providing legal services free of charge or at significantly reduced cost. In addition, volunteer hours with Hofstra Law School student groups that advocate on behalf of clients, such as the Courtroom Advocates Program (DVCAP) and the Unemployment Action Center (UAC), and for groups that provide legal education, such as Street Law the Elmont Mock Trial Enrichment program, count towards the Certificate.
Community Service
Several student groups (and individual students) tutor children at the neighboring California Avenue Elementary school. During October 2005, Professor Barbara Barron organized a mock trial enrichment program for the entire 6th grade in the Elmont School District. About 40 Hofstra Law students (from 1Ls to 3Ls) participated in the 3 week program, for an hour each week. Since the program was an overwhelming success, it was made a permanent, ongoing organization at Hofstra, and there are plans to expand it to other school districts in Nassau County. The elementary school children first learn about the jury process, then practice direct/cross examinations and argument, and then conduct the trial.
Law students are invited to participate in the Nassau County Bar Association (NCBA) Middle School Mentoring Project. Through the project, NCBA members present programs to middle school children. The programs include discussions about what lawyers do and how the justice system works. Twice a month, from late September / early October to May, NCBA mentors go to their designated school / class during the first or second class period. Each session is about 45 minutes long. The NCBA holds an annual luncheon where all the mentoring project volunteers receive certificates.
Asian-Pacific American Law Students Association APALSA's community service includes volunteering at a soup kitchen.
http://law.hofstra.edu/StudentLife/StudentOrganizations/APALSA/index.html
Black Law Students Association Hofstra's BLSA's community service programs include sponsoring a voter registration drive; tutoring at a local elementary school; conducting workshops at Hempstead High School with the Institute for Student Achievement; holding clothing and food drives; participating in the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk.
http://law.hofstra.edu/StudentLife/StudentOrganizations/BLSA/index.html
Latin American Law Students Association LALSA's community service includes tutoring children at a local elementary school; assisting Spanish-speaking people with filling out forms at local courthouses; reading books in Spanish to Spanish-speaking children at a local hospital.
http://law.hofstra.edu/StudentLife/StudentOrganizations/LALSA/index.html
Phi Alpha Delta Phi Alpha Delta's community service includes organizing a canned food and co-sponsoring two blood drives each year.
http://law.hofstra.edu/StudentLife/StudentOrganizations/PAD/index.html
Law School Public Interest Programs
Back to top
Contact Information
Tamara StephenDirector of Public Sector Carer Planning
tamara.stephen@hofstra.edu
516.463.5871
Office of Career Services
Certificate/Curriculum Programs
Public Interest Centers
The Center for Children, Families and the LawCenter for Legal Advocacy
Institute for Health Law and Policy
Institute for the Study of Conflict Transformation
Institute for the Study of Gender, Law and Policy
Institute for the Study of Legal Ethics
Public Interest Clinics
Child Advocacy ClinicCommunity and Economic Development Clinic
Criminal Justice Clinic
Housing Rights Clinic
Mediation Clinic
Political Asylum Clinic
Securities Arbitration Clinic
Externships/Internships
Hofstra Law School is committed to providing students with classroom training in how to think like a lawyer and experiential training in how to use that thinking on behalf of real clients. One of the ways in which students get legal experience is through our Externship Program, which enables students to earn credit by working under the supervision of mentor/lawyers in a variety of practice situations. Students have a wide range of placements from which to choose, in practice areas which offer experience in the varied subject areas in which students might ultimately choose to practice. Most externships are in the public sector, which gives students the opportunity to see how different government and not for profit offices meet the legal needs of the communities they serve. Through our specialty externships with the Nassau and Suffolk County Bar Associations, students also have the opportunity for private firm placements. Students enrolled in the Externship Program for the Fall or Spring semester get three credits for working a set number of hours per week (typically 12 - 15 hours) at an assigned office. Students working over the summer for 3 credits, may work more hours over a shorter number of weeks. Students are required to keep journals and time records, and will meet regularly with their practitioner/mentor. In addition, they will meet with the Externship Program faculty supervisor to talk about their experience, and to review the functioning of the externship in general. Students will attend a weekly seminar and must produce a minimum of 25 pages of written work based upon their work with the mentor over the course of the externship. The written work may be one long research paper or legal document or a series of shorter samples of the legal work which the student worked on in their placement.
The weekly seminar provides an opportunity to meet with all other externs and to examine substantive and ethical legal issues that have arisen during the placements. Each student presides over a session of the seminar on at least one occasion.
If you are interested in learning more about the available externships, submit the externship form to Professor Marcia Levy, Assistant Dean for Skills Training at (516) 463-4256 or lawmnl@hofstra.edu, or visit the Program's web site at law.hofstra.edu/Academics/Programs/acadpg_externship.html.
Classes with a Public Service Component
Domestic Violence Seminar - This course examines the problem of domestic violence between adult intimate partners (not as against aged parents or regarding direct child abuse, although the course will look at the effects upon children exposed to domestic violence and the law's response). The course considers problems of domestic violence starting with psychological origins of violence. It focuses on domestic violence and its consequences in the legal system in a number of arenas, including family law, civil litigation in various forms (from restraining orders to tort recovery), criminal law response, federal law response, race issues, immigration, and legal responses to same sex or other forms of non-marital intimate domestic violence.In addition to the classroom component, there is an externship component that will be available to a limited number of students. This will involve one day a week spent in the domestic violence division of the Suffolk County court system, representing abused complainants who are seeking orders of protection. Under the Suffolk Student Practice Order, students can appear in court, can argue before the bench and can examine witnesses. One additional credit will be given for the externship experience. The one-credit externship may not be taken apart from the course, and is not a requirement of the three-credit course.
Public Interest Journals
HOFSTRA LABOR & EMPLOYMENT LAW JOURNAL, Volume 22, No. 2 (Spring 2005) - The 40th Anniversary of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 http://law.hofstra.edu/Academics/Journals/LaborAndEmploymentLawJournal/labor_vol22no2.html
Public Interest Career Assistance
The Director of Public Sector Career Planning assists students and alumni who are interested in working for government agencies or for organizations that assist the under-served populations in our society. Hofstra's Office of Career Services also sponsors public interest programming and panels throughout the school year.
Hofstra is a member of a consortium of twenty law schools in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania that sponsor the Annual Public Interest Career Reception. This Reception was established to provide students with information about the public sector market and the opportunity to meet attorneys and other students with similar interests. The reception enables students to make contacts and talk with public interest practitioners about their work and experiences. Participating students gain a greater understanding of the range of public interest work.
Hofstra also annually funds several students' attendance at the Annual Peggy Browning Fund's National Workers' Rights Conference for Law Students. The conference is geared toward students interested in public sector labor law, particularly workers' rights issues. This conference is held every October at the George Meany Center for Labor Studies in Silver Spring, Maryland. The conference includes a networking reception, panel discussions, a keynote address and four interactive workshops.
Hofstra also participates in the Annual Public Interest Legal Career Fair. This annual program is usually held on a Thursday and Friday in February at the New York University School of Law. The Fair is co-sponsored by schools in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. The Fair gives prospective employers the opportunity to meet with current students and allows students to gain greater perspectives on various aspects of public interest law.
Loan Repayment Assistance Programs (LRAP)
For information, please see
http://law.hofstra.edu/pdf/finaid_lrap_inst_criteria_2007.pdf
If you have questions regarding Hofstra's LRAP program, please e-mail lawfinaid@hofstra.edu or call (516) 463-5929.
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:
Child and Family Advocacy Fellows receive $5,000 summer stipends each of their summers.
http://law.hofstra.edu/JDAdmissions/FellowshipsAndScholarships/CFA/index.html
LGBT Fellows receive $5,000 summer stipends each of their summers.
http://law.hofstra.edu/JDAdmissions/FellowshipsAndScholarships/LGBT/index.html
The Unemployment Action Center (UAC) is a non-profit, student-run corporation that offers free advice and representation to persons denied unemployment benefits. During the summer, full-time summer advocates are hired by the law school through on-campus work-study positions.
Graduate Student Funded:
Hofstra's Public Justice Foundation (PJF) raises money each year to provide summer stipends to students working in the public sector. If both a PJF Fellow and his/her placement are work-study eligible, the PJF Fellowship will be supplemented by federal work study and substantially increase the amount of money received by the PJF Fellow.
Other Funding Sources:
Extracurricular and Co-Curricular Programs
Hofstra's Office of Career Services also sponsors public interest programming and panels throughout the school year.
Student Public Interest Groups
The Public Justice Foundation (PJF) is the Law School's public interest law student organization. The objectives of PJF are twofold: first, to raise awareness about public sector law practice by facilitating student employment in the area; and second, to expose the Law School community to important legal issues through debate and discussion. PJF holds various fundraisers, including an annual service auction, which fund summer fellowships for Hofstra Law School students who take nonpaying jobs in the public sector that they otherwise would be unable to accept due to financial constraints. In furtherance of its second objective, PJF has sponsored debates and other educational programs
