Boston College School of Law
Boston College
Boston College School of Law
885 Centre Street
Newton Centre, MA 02459
www.bc.edu
Law School Pro Bono Programs
Contact Information
Freda Fishman, Associate Director for Public Interest Programs, (617) 552-4345, fishmafr@bc.edu
Category Type
Formal Voluntary Program Characterized by Administrative Support for In-house and Collaborative Student Group Projects
Description of Program
The Law School provides support to student organizations involved in pro bono in terms of counseling, programming and organizing. A staff member also provides significant administrative support to these student organizations. Individual students are offered pro bono opportunities through the PSLawNet database and program. Students attend a training session in order to identify a local organization with which to volunteer. The students, including first years, participate in a wide variety of legal work on a pro bono basis at public service organizations, the courts, or government agencies during the semester and summer.
Through the Miami/El Paso Immigration Asylum Project, interested law students go over winter break to either El Paso or Miami to help low income immigrants fleeing persecution in their home countries. Students have written motions, interviewed clients, and prepared country conditions reports and memoranda. Students have also observed courtroom proceedings and visited detention centers.
Location of Program
Office of Career Services and Office of Student Affairs
Staffing/Management/Oversight
The Public Interest Career Counselor and the staff of the Office of Student Affairs work together to provide assistance to student pro bono projects.
Funding
The Curtin Public Interest Law Center provides office and conference room space for student organizations involved in pro bono projects. The school also provides funds and administrative support to Shelter Legal Services, housed on campus, as well as the Immigration/Political Asylum Project.
Student Run Pro Bono Groups/Specialized Law Education Projects
Domestic Violence Advocacy Project - The primary goals of the DVAP are to educate and advise the BC Law community about domestic violence issues, and to establish a network of BC Law students to volunteer in local shelters and other domestic violence advocacy related areas. DVAP also helps raise funds and other necessities for local shelters through activities such as clothing drives and canned-food drives. DVAP is associated with Northeastern University School of Law's Boston Medical Center Project that allows law students to work as advocates in hospital emergency rooms during evenings and weekends.
Children's Rights Project - Researches domestic and international issues related to the legal rights of children and presents panels on topics concerning children and the law. Selects some of its members for actual legal experience during the semester and summer.
Community Economic Development (CED) law group -- A group of law students interested in helping people by applying their legal skills to develop communities economically. In addition to education events, the CED law group sponsors an internship program with Hale and Dorr Legal Services Center, located in Jamaica Plain in Boston. Students work 5-10 hours per week at the Center under the Community Enterprise Project. The CEP project matches assigns clients to students, who then use their legal skills to draft mortgage documents, write a loan agreement, rewrite a non-profit organization's by-laws, and research city regulatory rules on behalf of a non-profit organization.
Student Animal Legal Defense Fund - Provides educational, lobbying and volunteer opportunities for those interested in protecting the rights of animals. Law related opportunities are varied, including helping prosecutors in animal abuse cases, defense lawyers of fur protestors, and persons wanting to name their companion animals as beneficiaries to their estates.
Shelter Legal Services - Partnership project with Boston University.
Faculty and Administrative Pro Bono
Awards/Recognition
Community Service
PILF Work Weekends
The Inner-city Youth Outreach Tutoring Program: This program provides academic and test preparation assistance to junior high and high school students in Boston's Dorchester neighborhood.
Law School Public Interest Programs
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Contact Information
Certificate/Curriculum Programs
Public Interest Centers
Public Interest Clinics
Externships/Internships
Classes with a Public Service Component
Public Interest Journals
Public Interest Career Assistance
Loan Repayment Assistance Programs (LRAP)
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:
Graduate Student Funded:
Other Funding Sources:
Extracurricular and Co-Curricular Programs
Student Public Interest Groups
Last updated: 4/18/2003
