Law School Pro Bono Programs - Description of Programs
American University: Washington College of Law
Information on the voluntary Pro Bono Honors Pledge Program can be found at http://www.wcl.american.edu/publicinterest/probono.cfm.
Under this Program, students are encouraged to conduct at least 75 hours of pro bono work during law school. Up to 25 of the 75 hours may be non-legal community service work. The remaining 50 hours must be: legal in nature with an attorney supervisor, for the benefit of an underserved population, not for pay and not for academic credit. The Office of Public Interest maintains a listing of over 100 local legal service providers seeking WCL students for pro bono projects. In addition, there are numerous ways students can engage in pro bono activities through programs housed as the law school.
Current intensive short-term pro bono and community service opportunities: Several students each year travel with faculty to assist in cases being heard by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Further, there is a non-legal alternative spring break program each year where students travel to Latin America to work with Habitat for Humanity.
Appalachian School of Law: Appalachian School of Law
ASL's mission is to develop professionals who will serve as community leaders and community advocates. ASL provides a unique opportunity for mandatory community service that students may complete in a variety of ways. No classes are scheduled on Monday afternoons, so that the entire faculty and student body is free to perform community service during that time.
At the beginning of each academic year, a community service fair is held at the law school; local groups and organizations attend this fair and provide information to the students about opportunities available from their organization. Students are required to attend this fair and an orientation meeting. Written descriptions of community service opportunities also are distributed to the students. Students also may request approval of alternative projects in the local community or their home communities. The program is promoted to prospective students through our catalog and website. See http://www.asl.edu/misc info/commserv.htm. Each community service project is supervised by a faculty member.
Ms. O'Quin and the faculty supervisors annually review each placement site prior to the start of the academic year to insure quality placements.
Arizona State University: Arizona State University Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law
At the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law, our Director of Pro Bono Programs and Student Life supervises the voluntary Pro Bono Program. The Pro Bono Board consists of faculty, administrators and students working together to ensure that our students have an ample number of quality pro bono opportunities, and to make access to these opportunities as easy as possible. The Director and Pro Bono Board coordinates projects administered by other student organizations, promotes and monitors student involvement, and makes and implements policies and procedures relating to student pro bono activities.
At any one time, we may have about 20 student-run pro bono projects, as well as pro bono efforts that law students can do independently in accordance with policies. Some of our groups are run completely in-house, such as the Homeless Legal Assistance Project. Others are outreach projects that work in conjunction with community agencies, such as the Family Lawyers Assistance Project. One of our most unique programs is the Crime Victims' Legal Assistance Project that was a pilot program through the Department of Justice, and has now won national recognition and is being duplicated in other locations. Please visit us online at www.law.asu.edu/?id=304
Barry University: School of Law
Barry University School of Law commits itself to offering students a quality education in a caring environment that encourages community service and assures a religious dimension. The Rules of Professional Conduct recognize that every lawyer has a professional responsibility to provide legal services to those unable to pay. To foster the mission of the University and the aspirations of our profession, the School of Law has adopted a "pro bono requirement" that each student perform a minimum number of hours [40 hours] of pro bono or community service work prior to graduation.
The pro bono requirement can be satisfied by any of the following activities, if undertaken without compensation or academic credit: volunteering at a non-profit charitable organization (either law- or non-law related); providing legal assistance on a pro bono case under the supervision of an attorney; and serving people who are disadvantaged through a public agency or private organization.
Baylor University: Baylor University Law School
members work to support, encourage and coordinate pro bono work by the students.
Boston College: Boston College Law School
The voluntary Pro Bono Program centralizes pro bono activities at BC Law, connects students with pro bono placements, encourages students to explore pro bono opportunities, and provides much deserved recognition for those students serving the community through pro bono work.
The mission of the Pro Bono Program is to shape law students into lawyers who are committed to public service.
The objectives of the Program are to:
1) Benefit Boston College Law School by supporting the School’s mission and Jesuit tradition, and appealing to prospective students interested in public service;2) Benefit BC Law students by providing opportunities to gain hands-on experience, develop critical lawyering skills, build relationships in agencies and firms, gain exposure to various areas of law, and develop a greater understanding of the importance of pro bono work and public service;
3) Benefit lawyers and public service agencies by providing them with the opportunity to mentor law students, as well as assistance with their pro bono work and public service; and
4) Benefit the community by providing legal assistance to disadvantaged individuals unable to access adequate legal representation.
The Program works to achieve these objectives by:
1) Providing students with pro bono opportunities and helping facilitate their seeking placements;2) Providing recognition for students who perform pro bono work; and
3) Providing on-campus events, such as pro bono fairs and speakers, to promote pro bono work.
For more information about the Pro Bono Program, please visit: www.bc.edu/law/probono.
Boston University: Boston University School of Law
BU Law students are invited to participate in our voluntary pro bono program and to make a pledge to perform a minimum of 35 hours during their three years in law school. Upon completion of the pledged pro bono hours, students will receive a notation on their law school transcripts attesting to their participation in the program and stating the number of hours volunteered. Participating LL.M. students pledge a minimum of 12 hours for the same pro bono work.
Pro bono work, for the purposes of the BU Law program, must be unpaid and not for academic credit. To meet the goals of our program, student pro bono work should involve the rendering of meaningful law-related service to persons of limited means or to organizations that serve such persons or to other organizations dedicated to underrepresented groups and/or social issues.
The Career Development Office (“CDO”), with assistance as needed from the Public Service Committee, will determine what work will qualify as pro bono work for the BU Law program. The CDO also will track student pro bono hours.
Every year, students can also participate in two substantially subsidized spring break service trips to engage in pro bono work - The "BU Law Pro Bono/Student Hurricane Network Service Trip" to New Orleans, Louisiana and the "BU Law Pro Bono Immigration Asylum Service Trip" to Harlingen, Texas.
Now in its third year, the "BU Law Pro Bono/Student Hurricane Network Service Trip" offers BU Law students the opportunity to travel to New Orleans to volunteer in various legal organizations across Louisiana in efforts to aid displaced residents of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The trip is organized in collaboration with the Student Hurricane Network (SHN), a national student organization dedicated to helping hurricane victims in the Gulf Coast region through volunteer relief work.
This year, BU Law students will also participate in the first "BU Law Pro Bono Immigration Asylum Trip" to Harlingen, Texas. There, students will work with the South Texan Pro Bono Asylum Representation Project (ProBAR) - a joint project of the American Bar Association, the State Bar of Texas and the American Immigration Lawyers Association - on asylum cases, bond hearings, intakes, special immigrant juvenile cases, naturalization and other immigration matters.
Every year, BU Law School honors a faculty member and two alumni who have engaged in substantial pro bono work during their career by presenting them with a Pro Bono Award.
Brigham Young University: J. Reuben Clark Law School
Many non-clinical public service opportunities are offered through "Law Help" seminars on topics including elder law, street/poverty law, mediation, domestic relations, and child advocacy. The seminars have service learning components. Several other courses also have service learning components. The law school also offers opportunities for students to volunteer as community mediators. The law school's Pro Bono Alliance matches volunteer students with volunteer attorneys to work on pro bono cases provided by a local legal services organization.
Brooklyn Law School: Brooklyn Law School
The Brooklyn Law School Pro Bono program encompasses a) a large number of on-campus pro bono projects in which students provide assistance to clients in conjunction with established legal organizations or in student run programs; b) resources and assistance linking students to training and other pro bono projects in New York City; c) collaborative student projects including the Student Hurricane Network; d) pro bono projects and representation undertaken in partnership with a law firm; and, e) internships and externships at local, national and international non-profit organizations and government agencies. The School provides financial and professional support including the Public Service Programs Office, an office dedicated to assisting students with public interest, government and pro bono opportunities in a variety of contexts.
California Western: California Western School of Law
The Dean introduces the idea of pro bono service to all students in the welcoming ceremony. In November, the Office of Career Services talks with the students about the Pro Bono Program, and in February of each year hosts a Pro Bono Fair on the campus, at which only public interest organizations that provide legal services are represented. The students are encouraged to make a commitment of 50 hours of service over the course of two trimesters while in law school, making them eligible for induction into the Pro Bono Honors Society. Career Services also orchestrates a Pro Bono On Campus Interview Program each fall and spring.
The Pro Bono Coordinator meets with each student interested in working for public interest organizations through the Pro Bono Program. The Coordinator oversees the Pro Bono Program and tracks the students participating in that program.
Campbell University: Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law
Capital University Law School: Capital University Law School
The Pro Bono Recognition Program seeks to encourage and recognize public service by law students who have successfully completed 50 hours or more of pro bono legal work at approved placements. Such students receive a certificate signed by the Dean and the Assistant Dean for Career Services, their pro bono designation published on their academic transcripts, and recognition in the bulletin distributed at the hooding ceremony.
For this Program, pro bono legal services may include giving legal advice or resolving a legal problem through litigation, legislation, regulation, or alternative dispute resolution, but only to the extent consistent with the ethical constraints on the authorized practice of law. Participants may receive neither compensation nor academic credit for pro bono work.
Participants may work with a government body, nonprofit organization, or other entity if that entity is engaged in:- Providing legal services without fee or expectation of fee to:
- Persons of limited means; OR
- Charitable, religious, civic, community, governmental and educational organizations in matters that are designed primarily to address the needs of persons of limited means; OR
- Providing legal services through:
- Delivery of legal services at no fee or substantially reduced fee to individuals, groups or organizations seeking to secure or protect civil rights, civil liberties, or public rights, or charitable, religious, civic, community, governmental and educational organizations in matters in furtherance of their organizational purposes, where the payment of standard legal fees would significantly deplete the organization's economic resources or would be otherwise inappropriate;
- Delivery of legal services at a substantially reduced fee to persons of limited means; OR
- Participation in activities for improving the law, the legal system or the legal profession.
Interfaith Legal Services of the Columbus Bar Association
- Students meet with clients, conduct an initial interview, assist the client in completing the intake form, introduce the client to the attorney, assist the client in presenting the issue, and participate in any subsequent representation as permitted by the attorney and the client, and/or assist in clinic administration.
- Signature Homeless Shelter Project
- Domestic Violence Project Clinic Intake
- Students assist with abstracting recent adoption/child welfare cases for weekly email newsletter; assisting in research for cases in which the Center participates as amicus curiae; researching current issues of adoption law and policy for and assisting in preparing responses to inquiries from families, lawyers, judges, agencies, etc.; researching and analyzing proposed adoption/child welfare related legislation, both state and federal; helping to prepare "FAQs" on adoption child/welfare issues for Center website; and updating case and statute summaries for Adoption LawSite.
- Students provide free income tax service (preparation of tax returns) during the tax season for the economically challenged, handicapped and the elderly.
Case Western Reserve University: Case Western Reserve University Law School
Catholic University of America: Columbus School of Law
Our newly created Legal Services Society (LSS) will begin operation in fall 2006. LSS is a formal voluntary program managed by a collective group of students of varying grade levels comprised of an executive committee, with a full-time non-student coordinator to oversee operations.
The LSS program aims to promote volunteerism in three ways:
- Plan pro bono service opportunities open to all law students, faculty, and alumni;
- Assist the Student Bar Association in the planning and execution of voluntary community service programs to encourage volunteerism, but also to encourage participation in LSS in hopes that student volunteerism would extend to pro bono activities; and
- Plan educational events to encourage pro bono service and emphasize the importance of performing service while in practice to reach students not interested or without time to volunteer.
The faculty will have an important role to play within LSS. They will serve as mentors and volunteers. As mentors, the faculty may encourage student membership, stress within their course lectures the importance and availability of pro bono activities, and provide professional responsibility training and lectures to LSS to ensure compliance with internal and external rules governing conduct. Faculty may sponsor students and supervise their work, receiving hourly pro bono credit for their assistance. The faculty also will be able to volunteer their own hours separately, offering their time to clients within their respective fields of expertise.
In order to become a member in the Legal Service Society, an individual must pledge a minimum of 30 hours of service over 3 years and agree to abide by its rules of professional responsibility. In general, LSS sponsored pro bono projects will be designed to provide legal services to indigent or underrepresented clients. Should a member of the Society wish to participate in a project different from those sponsored by the Society, the member would petition the executive committee for approval of a project with the final decision made by the program coordinator. Alumni, faculty and students alike deserve to be recognized for the service they will be providing to the greater Washington, D.C. and CUA law community. Because no pay or academic credit is given for the volunteer pro bono work, contributions made by the participants will be honored in other ways.
Chapman University: Chapman University School of Law
Chapman University School of Law, in partnership with the Public Interest Law Foundation and Externship Program, has created the “Commitment to Service” award to encourage and recognize the public interest work of Chapman Law students. Students who complete at least 50 hours of pro bono work upon graduation will receive an award acknowledging their service. The program is administered by the Director of Externships, and information and forms are available at http://www.chapman.edu/law/students/proBono.asp.
Charleston School of Law: Charleston School of Law
Charleston School of Law students must complete 30 hours of pro bono legal service under the supervision of a practicing attorney before they can graduate. The School of Law provides students with a comprehensive list of pro bono placement sites, but students also may find their own pro bono opportunities. The Dean and the Assistant Dean for Career Services pre-approve all student pro bono work.
Students must complete twenty (20) or more Pro Bono hours work before time of graduation
City University of New York: City University of New York Law at Queens College
The stated mission of CUNY to educate and train lawyers for the practice of Law in the Service of Human Needs. CUNY's curriculum emphasizes practical experience during all three years of law school. Each third-year student is required to take at least 12 credits of in-house clinic, a field placement program, or an elective concentration of public importance.
Pro bono placements are communicated via the email and weekly notices to website.
The Mississippi Project operates during the break between fall and spring semesters.
Cleveland State University: Cleveland-Marshall College of Law
The Director of the Pro Bono Project facilitates individual projects, monthly projects (legal and non-legal) and ongoing larger projects. Each year, the Program holds a Pro Bono Program Volunteer Fair. At this Fair, students meet with representatives from non-profit agencies and governmental entities to learn about community service and pro bono opportunities.
The Project, with the help of the Student Public Interest Law Organization, sponsors monthly group projects. These single day initiatives are either pro bono or community service. Law related projects have included providing end-of-life decision to the residents of Benjamin Rose Institute for the Elderly and providing intake for the Cleveland Bar Homeless Project. Training is provided.
The Project sponsors an Alternative Spring Break during which students are encouraged to design their own volunteer week at one or more sites in the community. In addition, through the South Texas Pro Bono Asylum Representation Project, a law professor and students travel to Texas over school break to participate in this project of the American Bar Association, the State Bar of Texas and the American Immigration Lawyers Association. A full-time attorney oversees and coordinates the efforts of volunteer attorneys and students who provide representation and counseling to political asylum applicants and immigrants detained by the Immigration and Naturalization Service.
College of William and Mary: Marshall-Wythe School of Law
The Law School partners with the Williamsburg Bar Association in quarterly legal clinics. The clinics provide pro bono assistance to low-income residents throughout Greater Williamsburg. Students assist volunteer lawyers with a range of pro bono services.
The Law School also partners with the Virginia Bar Association to promote its Pro Bono/Community Servant Program. Through that program, nearly 230 William & Mary students pledged at least 35 hours of service during the 2005-06 academic year.
The Director of Externships also publicizes pro bono opportunities that are available with organizations who seek volunteers in addition to those students who are completing for-credit externships.
Columbia University: Columbia University School of Law
Forty hours of uncompensated (by cash or academic credit) law-related service between the end of the first year of law school and the last day of upper-class classes is required. See Pro Bono Program information at www.law.columbia.edu/center_program/public_interest/pro_bono
Columbia's Pro Bono Program, created in 1993, has both mandatory and voluntary components. First year students and those who have completed the graduation requirement are encouraged to do voluntary pro bono service. Oversight of the pro bono program is provided by the Associate Director of the Pro Bono Program who meets with students, creates partnership projects and placements, and ensures that the necessary forms are filed before pro bono credit is awarded. Each student must complete an Exit Questionnaire and have his or her Placement Supervisor complete a Supervisor's Report in order to receive credit. Information from the Exit Questionnaires is used in developing and revising the pro bono program.
The school's adoption of the mandatory pro bono requirement has led, among other things, to the creation of over twenty "in-house" pro bono projects in which students work together under the supervision of a faculty member, an alum or other lawyers. In-house pro bono opportunities are promoted and facilitated at brown bag meetings and training sessions at the Law School, which are held at the beginning of each semester. Meetings are held with the student leaders of in-house pro bono projects at the end of each semester, with the lawyers who direct other in-house projects on an annual basis, and with both more frequently as needed.
Other opportunities are promoted/facilitated through many means, which include one or more of: a web-based pro bono opportunity databse; weekly e-mails to all students; brown bag meetings and training sessions at the Law School; and individual matching of a student who has a particular interest with an organization that works in the area of the student's interest.
A custom-designed computer program tracks the students and provides the information to Academic Services. The Center for Public Interest Law maintains a web-based database of student evaluations, which facilitates comparison of one student's experience with others and tracking of an organization and/or supervisor at an organization over time.
Publications of the Center include the Student Guide to the Columbia Law School Pro Bono Program, the Supervisor's Guide to Columbia's Pro Bono Program, and a document of Frequently Asked Questions.
The Pro Bono Director solicits intensive projects from public interest organizations and government agencies with which we work closely that can be done over winter break, spring break and summer vacation. The most popular intensive experience is the Spring Break Caravan in which groups of students travel to other cities to work together at an organization on matters that include criminal justice and death penalty defense (New Orleans, Atlanta, San Francisco, and Washington DC), post-Hurricane relief work (New Orleans and various cities along the Gulf in Mississippi, Texas, and Florida), environmental justice (Puerto Rico) and immigration (Miami). About 80 students, including 1Ls, participate in the Caravans.
The Assistant Dean for Public Service has the responsibility, as part of her job description, for connecting law students with pro bono opportunities. Here are examples:
- During fall orientation a “Public Service Fair” was held where representatives from local legal aid and other public interest organizations spoke to law students about term-time pro bono opportunities in their offices.
- Promotion of the Law Students in Action Project (LSAP). LSAP collaborates with local legal service providers and Cornell Law School to create a broad array of projects designed to expand the delivery of legal services to low-income and underserved communities. For example, students from the Public Interest Law Union became part of the Volunteer Research Assistance Team and compiled a comprehensive list of adoption and child support law from various states. The Spanish Translation and Interpretation Assistance Team helps public interest attorneys communicate with their Spanish-Speaking clients.
- Advising and assisting a new student group, Cornell Advocates for Human Rights. The Assistant Dean connected students with alumni working for human rights, civil rights and other public interest organizations. As a result, students worked on several legal research projects for these attorneys.
- In July 2004, Joe Iarocci '84, General Counsel for CARE (which is Atlanta based) requested a volunteer law student or students to conduct research and write a memo addressing certain provision of the United States Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Act of 2003, and its validity under the U.S. Constitution. Many students jumped at the chance.
- In 2005-06, provided information, encouragment and funding for law students who traveled to New Orleans during winter break (4 students) and spring break (18 students) to do legal pro bono work and help with clean-up projects resulting from the effects of hurricane Katrina.
Creighton University: School of Law
DePaul University: College of Law
The Pro Bono and Community Service Initiative
Created in 2005 with funding from the Center for Public Interest Law, the Pro Bono and Community Service Initiative (PBCSI) connects students with rewarding and flexible volunteer opportunities in both legal and non-legal settings. Past volunteers have staffed an expungement help desk, hosted interview workshops for juveniles with criminal histories, tutored kids, educated at-risk youth about their legal rights, worked at legal clinics, and helped individuals transition from homelessness. The number of opportunities presented and the number of students involved has expanded every year. In 2009, the school approved an aspirational goal that each DePaul College of law student complete at least fifty hours of pro bono or community service during their time at the law school.
Drake University: Drake University School of Law
The Law School's Career Development Office advertises pro bono opportunities. In addition, The Student Bar Association is offered space and supplies for the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program. Other public interest organizations, including the American Constitution Society are offered space to hold group meetings.
Drexel University: College of Law
The motto of Drexel University College of Law, Scientia, Ars, Officium – Knowledge, Skill, Duty – reflects the goals Drexel has for its law student graduates. The third element of our school’s mission, Officium , means “the duty to the public good owed by a public official.” For Drexel, it is an essential element of the College of Law because it recognizes the lawyer’s obligation to serve the public good by providing uncompensated legal service to people and organizations that cannot afford to retain lawyers.
“Pro Bono Publico” service, “For the Public Good,” is at the heart of the legal profession. Providing pro bono service to individuals or groups traditionally underserved by the private bar is the focus of Drexel’s mandatory 50 hour Pro Bono Service Requirement. Students will make an immediate impact in the world by helping those most in need. In addition, the program strives to educate students about their ethical responsibility to provide assistance and improve access to legal services throughout their professional careers. Finally, the program highlights public service opportunities that students may want to pursue as a career path.
The Pro Bono Service Requirement complements Drexel’s long and proud tradition of integrating classroom experience with the real-world environment. Under close supervision, students will develop their legal skills and gain practical, hands-on, experience in a real work setting. The Pro Bono Service Requirement is a vital part of Drexel’s curriculum and demonstrates the Faculty and Administration’s commitment to professionalism.
In order to qualify for credit towards the requirement, the pro bono service must be law-related. In addition, students may not receive financial compensation or academic credit for providing pro bono service. Moreover, a licensed attorney or other qualified supervisor must adequately supervise and review any and all work. The service must be:
- on behalf of people who cannot afford to pay for legal services, have limited access to legal services, or are underserved by the private bar, or
- aimed at protecting the rights of an individual or individuals in situations raising important public interest con¬cerns and/or important rights belonging to a significant and underserved segment of the public.
Duke University: Duke University School of Law
Students must complete 30 hours of pro bono service before graduation. They may begin doing pro bono work during their first year of law school.
See http://www.law.duke.edu/publicinterest/probono.html
The ultimate goal of the Duke Law School Pro Bono Project, created in 1991, is to help shape law students into lawyers who are committed to public service - whether that commitment is made by working full-time in a non-profit or governmental organization or by devoting time in their careers to pro bono work and other important civic and community activities. The Project connects Duke law students with non-profit, governmental and educational institutions in the community that are in need of law student assistance on projects serving the public.
Students are asked to sign a Pro Bono Pledge to contribute at least 50 hours of law-related community service while a student. Opportunities are promoted and facilitated through individual counseling, the Project's website, an annual retreat, presentations at orientation, an open house, a listserv and the law school's e-newsletter, and the work of student leaders of pro bono group projects. Students can receive assistance designing their own project or may choose from a wide variety of issue areas.
Elon University: School of Law
Emory University: Emory University School of Law
Students are encouraged to undertake pro bono projects. Those who accrue 25 hours of pro bono work over the year are recognized at a ceremony in the spring. Those who work 75 hours over three years are recognized at graduation with pro bono medals. Pro bono opportunities are posted on the public interest web page or may be initiated by student groups. Students submit pro bono hours on a timesheet to the coordinator, Professor Pratt.
Faulkner University: Thomas Goode Jones School of Law
As part of a Christian university, the law school seeks not only to provide the legal knowledge and practical skills necessary to produce competent and ethical members of the legal community, but also to instill in our students an attitude of service. This commitment to serve those who otherwise could not afford such assistance complements the legal profession's rich tradition of service.
Students are encouraged to think about ways to provide pro bono services. The law school provides opportunities through its clinics for students to begin their career of service while using the practical skills obtained in their law school courses.
The Career Services Office spearheads the focus on public service by posting notices of pro bono opportunities and sponsoring speakers on various public interest topics. The law school subscribes to a database service that highlights pro bono and public interest opportunities.
Students who perform 35 hours of pro bono or community service per year receive a certificate signed by the Dean recognizing such achievement, and a notation of service will be included on the student's transcript. In addition, graduates who complete 50 or more hours will be recognized in the graduation program. Finally, a Public Interest Service Award will be presented at graduation ceremonies to the graduating student who has most distinguished himself or herself in the area of public service.
Florida A&M University: College of Law
Florida Coastal School of Law: Florida Coastal School of Law
A Student Service Notebook is maintained to record students' pro bono hours, while a separate Service Opportunities Notebook provides placement listings. Pro bono opportunities, in addition, are publicized via email on the job opportunity listserv and on the "Pro Bono - Public Interest Law" bulletin board. The faculty are considering an official policy statement as follows: "Florida Coastal School of Law students should aspire to render at least 20 hours of pro bono public service during their tenure at the school of law. Law students successfully meeting this goal will receive a Pro Bono - Public Interest Law Program Certificate and receive recognition at graduation."
Florida International University: University College of Law
The objective of the pro bono program is to learn about a lawyer’s role in providing access to justice by assisting to provide legal services to the poor, disadvantaged, and other individuals or groups unable to secure legal assistance to address critical problems.
At the FIU College of Law, Pro Bono Legal Service is defined as “uncompensated legal work or education in conjunction with an individual lawyer, law firm, or organization on behalf of indigent individuals, a disadvantaged minority, the victims of racial, gender, or sexual orientation, or other forms of discrimination, those denied human or civil rights, or work on behalf of individuals, groups or causes that may otherwise lack access to the legal system.” See FIU College of Law, Student Handbook.
All College of Law students must complete at least 30 hours of qualifying pro bono legal service. This requirement must be completed no later than the end of the semester or summer session immediately preceding the student’s final semester of law school.
Florida State University: Florida State University College of Law
Students are required to complete and report 20 hours of civil pro bono service during the second or third year of law school. Pro bono work is defined as "work on behalf of indigent individuals or other uncompensated legal work in conjunction with an individual lawyer, law firm or organization on behalf of a disadvantaged minority, the victims of racial, sexual, other forms of discrimination, those denied human and civil rights, or other work on behalf of the public interest. Work on behalf of the public interest means legal work that is designed to represent a position on behalf of the public at large on matters of public interest. . . ." Public interest work does not include the direct representation of litigants in actions between private persons, corporations, or other representations of litigants in which the financial interests at stake would warrant representation from private legal sources.
Students are required to attend a pro bono meeting that covers all aspects of this law school requirement in the spring semester of the first year of law school. A list of pre-approved placements can be found on the school's website and hard copies are available in the Office of Student Affairs. A pro bono fair is also held each spring following the pro bono meeting. Representatives of the pre-approved placement sites are invited to campus to meet with law students about their organizations and pro bono opportunities. Information about the Pro Bono Program as well as pre-approved placement sites can be found on the law school website as well as in hard copy in the Office of Student Affairs. There is significant promotion and advertisement of the pro bono information session that is mandatory for all first year law students as well as the Pro Bono Fair that brings organizations to campus in the spring.
Students must complete a Registration Form identifying the nature and location of the pro bono placement prior to starting the pro bono work. That form must be approved by the Assistant Dean for Student Affairs. After completion of the pro bono requirement, the students must provide a Certificate of Completion that is signed by the student as well as the supervising attorney at the placement site. That information is entered into a pro bono tracking database in the Office of Student Affairs.
Many students choose to perform their pro bono work during the summer or during spring break.
Fordham University: Fordham University School of Law
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.
Franklin Pierce Law Center: Franklin Pierce Law Center
The Student Pro Bono Project, a joint project with the New Hampshire Bar Association's Pro Bono Program, began as a student initiative. The project pairs law students with NH lawyers to work on a volunteer basis on pro bono cases accepted through the NH Bar Association's Pro Bono Program. The Project is in the process of expanding to include pro bono opportunities for students in local legal aid offices and other non-profits.
George Mason University: School of Law
George Washington University: George Washington University Law School
The Pro Bono Program, formally initiated in Fall 2001, is organized through a faculty-student Pro Bono Subcommittee of the Law School's Public Interest Committee. The Committee acts as a clearinghouse for active pro bono projects. The Committee also works with the Student Bar Association, which sponsors a program that recognizes students who perform a certain amount of pro bono work by graduation.
The subcommittee members contact organizations that are most likely to have "quality" volunteer projects for law students. Approved placements are listed on the Law School's "Public Interest & Pro Bono" webpage. See http://www.law.gwu.edu/pubint. Hard copies of hours sheets and the pro bono program's description are provided in the Law School's Records Office, as well as on the webpage.
Students are asked to complete hours sheets and describe the nature of their work. One of the Pro Bono subcommittee members reviews these hours and work descriptions before they are credited to the student.
The Program sponsors an annual Pro Bono Fair, where local organizations come to the law school and meet interested students.
Georgetown University: Georgetown University Law Center
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
Golden Gate University: School of Law
GGU's full time Public Interest Adviser develops and maintains a list of current opportunities for pro bono work in the Bay Area. Students can discuss their skills, interests and availability with the Public Interest Adviser who will connect them to an appropriate placement. New opportunities are promoted throughout the year in the law school's weekly newsletter, at all law career services events, and through the public interest listserve. Outstanding pro bono work is recognized at the annual graduation Public Interest Graduation Reception and on an ongoing basis in the weekly newsletter.
In addition, students receiving the Public Interest Certificate are required to perform 25 hours of community service (not for money or credit) and required to perform 150 hours of supervised public interest legal work (can be paid or for credit).
Gonzaga University: Gonzaga University School of Law
Each student is required to complete 30 hours of public service after the first year of law school. The requirement can be satisfied by any of the following activities, if uncompensated: 1) volunteering at a non-profit charitable organization (either law- or non-law related); 2) assisting an attorney or law firm, including University Legal Assistance, on a pro bono case; or 3) serving at a public agency.
A paid student pro bono coordinator coordinates efforts with the Service Learning Coordinator on main campus at the Center for Community Action and Service Learning (CCASL) to secure placement for interested students. Students can also secure placements on their own, with approval from the student pro bono coordinator, through the University's service learning website or through the University's Community Service Fair.
Hamline University: Hamline University School of Law
In 1999, MJF launched its Law School Public Service Program, a collaborative effort that now includes the MJF, the four Minnesota law schools (Hamline University School of Law, University of Minnesota Law School, University of St. Thomas School of Law and William Mitchell College of Law), the Minnesota State Bar Association (MSBA), and over 150 agencies. The Law School Public Service Program is designed to promote an ethic of public service in Minnesota law students and to increase the availability of legal services to Minnesota's low-income and disadvantaged populations. Through the Pro Bono Component each Minnesota law school asks its students to perform 50 hours of law-related public service and makes the commitment to have placements available. MJF coordinates the volunteer placements. Lists of opportunities are made available to students in hard copy and on the web. MJF oversees placements and receives feedback from both students and supervising attorneys concerning the placements. MJF has a Newsletter which is widely distributed three times a year. MJF has sponsored intensive street law placement opportunities for students during spring break.
In recent years over winter and spring breaks, students have taught Street Law in Greater Minneapolis, assisted clients in completing immigration forms in Willmar, and participated in the Asylum Law Project, serving refugees in Texas and Florida.
Harvard University: Harvard Law School
Students must perform at least 40 hours of uncompensated, law-related public interest work on behalf of people who cannot afford (in whole or in part) to pay for legal services, or; for the government, or; at a non-profit organization as defined under IRS sections 501(c)(3) & (4) protecting rights of marginalized individuals/groups or working in the broader public interest, or; in a law firm working on a pro bono basis. The work may also be performed in a setting in which clinical credit is given, in conjunction with a faculty pro bono project, in student-initiated projects, or in many HLS volunteer student organizations. Student’s work should involve the application or interpretation of law, the formulation of legal policy, or the drafting of legislation or regulations. Work should have an advocacy or representational component. It should not be primarily clerical in nature. Eligible tasks include: assisting an attorney at trial, client and witness interviewing and investigation, drafting documents, preparing a case for trial, assisting pro se litigants in court, community legal education, and research and writing. All work must be supervised by a licensed attorney or a faculty member.
On average, students at HLS perform over 400 hours of pro bono work each (the class of 2007 did over 270,000 hours of pro bono service).
Hofstra University: Hofstra University School of Law
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.
Howard University: Howard University School of Law
The Equal Justice Program (EJP), started in 1995, provides "unique opportunities for law students to engage in legal research and writing, critical analysis, public education, legislative advocacy, and litigation support regarding the myriad of problems facing society today." Pro bono placements/opportunities are promoted and facilitated through the Equal Justice Program brochure, bulletin boards, email, and internet services.
Illinois Institute of Technology: Chicago-Kent College of Law
As a way of encouraging and promoting community service and pro bono legal work, Public Interest Resource Center (PIRC) was created to help connect students interested in volunteer or career opportunities with public interest groups or agencies in need of their services. Primarily, the Center acts as a clearinghouse for short and long-term public service law as well as non-law related projects, with the realization that many students cannot fully commit themselves to a career in public interest upon graduation. Therefore, enabling students to benefit from doing pro bono work while in law school is a Center priority.
Indiana University: Indiana University School of Law, Bloomington
Indiana University: Indiana University School of Law, Indianapolis
The School of Law established the Pro Bono Program in 1993 to introduce law students to the professional obligation of attorneys, the benefits of providing public service, and to recognize the needs of the under-represented in society. As a Pro Bono Program participant, students volunteer on supervised projects for non-profit organizations, government agencies, and individual attorneys doing unpaid legal work. The work must benefit the under-served, under-represented, or organizations with limited resources. The Pro Bono Program is open to all IU-Indianapolis law students who have completed their first semester of classes. See www.indylaw.indiana.edu/career/probono.htm
Inter American University of Puerto Rico: Inter American University of Puerto Rico School of Law
Students are required to take a 2-semester, 6-credit clinical course in which they work with cilients of the Legal Assistance Clinic
John Marshall: Law School – Atlanta
The JMLS Pro Bono Program exposes students to the importance of providing pro bono services and encourages their participation through formal recognitions and incentives.
Lewis & Clark College: School of Law
The Pro Bono Program, created in 1997, offers students an opportunity to act as volunteer legal interns with public service organizations. Pro bono placements/opportunities are promoted and facilitated through notices posted on a prominently situated window dedicated to pro bono, through individual student meetings with the Public Interest Law Coordinator or the Career Services professional, through an annual week of Pro Bono Panels (featuring as many as 20 organizations), through the Pro Bono Honors Program Awards (which offers recognition to students completing a minimum number of pro bono hours), and through email promotions (for specific opportunities and specific developed pro bono programs) to a pro bono list-serve.
A student Evaluation Form is included in the Pro Bono Honors Program packet. The forms are collected and kept in a notebook for future students to review.
Liberty University: School of Law
Liberty University School of Law does not mandate volunteerism; however, it does aim to develop a culture of service among its law students, faculty, staff, and administration. In and out of the classroom, faculty members are encouraged to model and promote the value of pro bono and community service and to emphasize the pro bono obligation of all persons licensed to practice law.
Faculty and administration encourage students to apply the practical skills they learn in law school to a lifetime of public service. From its inception, the law school has offered students the opportunity to participate in Street Law as an independent student group project that is supported administratively by the Center for Career & Professional Development (CCPD). During the fall and spring semesters, students teach practical, law-related classes in two separate locations. On Monday evenings they teach detained youth at the Lynchburg Regional Detention Center, and on Tuesday evenings they teach teenagers from four separate group homes who gather together at the Presbyterian Home, also in Lynchburg.
In addition, with the administrative support of CCPD, the law school matches students with private practitioners who request assistance on pro bono projects, and it facilitates the placement of students in uncompensated, not-for-credit internships in public defender offices, prosecutorial offices, legal aid offices, and other not-for-profit organizations.
Students are also offered the opportunity to participate in a wide variety of externships; to work pro bono in the Center for Constitutional Litigation and Policy (a public interest center formed through a partnership between Liberty Counsel and Liberty University School of Law); and to avail themselves of public service opportunities offered through PSLawNet and career fairs (e.g., the Equal Justice Works Career Fair and Conference and the Southeastern Minority Job Fair).
Louisiana State University: Paul M. Hebert Law Center
Loyola Law School: Loyola Law School, Los Angeles
The Public Interest Law Department oversees the pro bono program, which was instituted by the faculty in October 1992, along with other programs. Students are provided with an "Approved Pro Bono Listing" and are responsible for contacting those agencies in regards to completing their 40-hour requirement. This list is not exclusive; students wishing to satisfy their pro bono requirement with other verifiable public interest organizations can do so with the approval of the Director.
The Public Interest Law Coordinator is responsible for tracking and clearing students who have satisfied the mandatory requirement before graduation. Students are asked to evaluate their experiences at their pro bono placement and offer any suggestions or comments about the evaluation portion of the supervisory log report form, which they must submit to document/verify the completion of their forty hours.
Students must complete a minimum of forty unpaid hours of legal services in an approved public interest agency or complete at least two units in approved public interest externship programs. Only services provided to traditionally underrepresented groups.
Loyola University Chicago: Loyola University Chicago School of Law
The Office of Career Services coordinates the dissemination of information of Pro Bono opportunities on the local, regional, and national levels. The office utilizes PSLawNet, the public service law network (PSLawNet.org), and its on-line career search website.
Loyola University New Orleans: Loyola University New Orleans School of Law
Law students at Loyola have the option of participating in the Gillis Long Student Pro Bono Program to satisfy the Law and Poverty requirement needed for graduation.
Students may satisfy the Law and Poverty requirement by fulfilling any one of the following options: take the Law and Poverty Seminar (LAW 782); take Street Law (LAW 833); represent low income people in the Clinical Seminar (LAW 897); or perform 50 hours pro bono legal services to the poor in one academic year in a pre-approved setting.
The Gillis Long Student Pro Bono Program requires fifty hours of pro bono work which the student may perform at any time during their law school career. The Pro Bono Program places students at approved sites where students can gain practical legal experience while performing legal work such as conducting client interviews, legal research and writing, and, in some cases, representing clients before the courts where it is permitted by law. Areas of practice include such fields as domestic law, homeless law, mental health law, juvenile law, social security issues, the death penalty, elder law, consumer law, and AIDS issues. The Gillis Long Student Pro Bono Program seeks to provide students with the opportunity to gain practical legal experience to aid their development as professionals, create a greater awareness of the obligation to provide legal services to the disadvantaged, foster development of the bar, and provide quality legal services to our community.
All placements must be approved in advance by the Pro Bono Coordinator. Pro bono placements with private practitioners or firms may be approved where: (1) there is no concurrent paid employment relationship between the law student and the private practitioner or firm, and (2) the work to be performed has been assigned through the local legal aid services provider, by court appointment, or by referral from the local office of the public defender, or (3) it has been approved by the Coordinator of the program in advance. Students can volunteer with one of the in-house clinics.
The program is open to first through third year students. The fifty-hour requirement is merely a minimum guideline. Students are encouraged to do more. Placements are promoted through brochures, newsletters, and the program's interactive website: http://law.loyno.edu/probono/ The Program's interactive, web-based administration makes it easy for students to sign up, select a placement or propose their own, submit pro bono hours, and complete their evaluations.
Marquette University: Marquette University Law School
MULS uses a referral system designed to match students with law-related pro bono opportunities in the community.
Pro-Se Initiative – Milwaukee County Courthouse: This initiative places students at the Milwaukee County Courthouse to provide information to pro-se litigants regarding basic family, small claims and child support procedures, including form direction and review.
Marquette Volunteer Legal Clinic – House of Peace: This clinic matches volunteer attorneys with law students who provide brief advice, counsel and referral to low-income individuals on the near North side of Milwaukee. The clinic has two attorney and 2 student coordinators and operates once per week year round. Services do not include ongoing casework.
Independent Pro Bono Placement: The Office of Public Service in cooperation with the Career Planning Center coordinates the placement of students in various pro-bono opportunities with community agencies throughout the state including: Legal Action of Wisconsin, Legal Aid Society of Milwaukee, AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin, ACLU of Wisconsin, Disability Rights Center of Wisconsin and Catholic Charities Immigration Services.
Mercer University: School of Law
Michigan State University: College of Law
Mississippi College: Mississippi College School of Law
Though there is no formal pro bono program; volunteer opportunities are posted by Career Services on job posting board and also placed on the School's website.
New England School of Law: New England School of Law
The program is situated within the school’s Center for Law and Social Responsibility (CLSR) and operated in coordination with the school’s Career Services Office. The CLSR dedicates itself to the ideal of law as a means through which to achieve socially responsible goals. In keeping with this mission, the CLSR supports the faculty, students, and alumni in classroom, scholarship, pro bono projects and other activities that study or otherwise address social problems that can be addressed through the law and those that are products of the inequities in the legal system itself. The CLSR serves, in part, as the New England School of Law's implementation of Massachusetts Rule of Professional Conduct 6.1, a rule encouraging lawyers to engage in public service activities. The CLSR also aims to assist in the school's mission to perform "public service and other work that further the interests of justice." Its website includes information about its four projects as well as information regarding employment, public service work, and public interest and pro bono web links.
The four projects of CLSR are Criminal Justice, Environmental Advocacy, Public Service, and Women’s and Children’s Advocacy, through which students may take courses, enroll in clinics, or volunteer.
Faculty recommended volunteer opportunities and in-house pro bono group projects are listed on the Law School's website on student organizations. The CLSR also sponsors a fellows program through which graduates may earn a position as a salaried school employee and spend ten months post-graduation working part-time as a member of the CLSR staff on a substantive public service project.
New York Law School: New York Law School
The Law School's Public Service Certificate program recognizes students who have committed substantial time to working in the public interest, and students who earn the Public Service Certificate receive a notation on their transcript. Pro bono opportunities are promoted and facilitated via internal communication systems, including email, a printed and electronic newsletter, a Career Services searchable database, and the school's website. In addition, NYLS is an active participant in PSLawNet, a global website which provides students with comprehensive information about pro bono opportunities.
New York University: New York University School of Law
NYU students have many opportunities to get involved in public service in student pro bono groups, clinics, summer internships, and term-time internships. NYU guarantees funding for summer internships for all 1L and 2L students. The Public Interest Law Center (PILC) has five full-time staff and is responsible for all public interest activity at the law school, including pro bono promotion and facilitation.
North Carolina Central: North Carolina Central School of Law
NCCU Law School established the Pro Bono Program in 1996 to promote law student involvement in public interest law and pro bono service. The Pro Bono and Public Interest Program seeks to inspire and recruit students to be the pro bono and public interest attorneys of the future and also to be a source of volunteerism for the North Carolina public interest law community. The program facilitates student placements with public interest organizations across the state; sponsors speakers and events on public interest law topics; and offers public interest career advising, recognition for student pro bono service, and support for student-led pro bono projects. The program also provides support for two ongoing law school-based, student-led pro bono projects, the NCCU Law Innocence and VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance) Projects, and for new student-led pro bono initiatives, such as the Just Democracy/Election Protection initiative of Fall 2004.
First-year students are encouraged to attend Pro Bono Program events such as panels and speakers during Fall semester and to volunteer on a limited basis during Spring semester. First-year students typically volunteer with the NCCU Law Innocence and VITA Projects and with the Durham County Teen Court program.
A major event initiated in 2005-06 is the Public Interest Organization Fair, at which representatives from public interest organizations have the opportunity to showcase their programs and talk with interested students in an informal setting.
The Pro Bono Program is a resource for students seeking a pro bono opportunity and advising about careers in public interest law. We maintain ongoing relationships with more than twenty legal services and public interest law organizations in the area and across the state and regularly publicize their needs for student volunteers and summer interns via electronic bulletin boards and e-mail alerts. The Pro Bono Coordinator provides individual counseling to students seeking a pro bono opportunity or public interest law summer internship and serves as advisor to the Public Interest Law Student organization (PILO) and the Innocence Project.
Northeastern University: Northeastern University School of Law
The Public Interest Requirement was instituted in 1994 with the incoming class. Students may meet the Public Interest Requirement in a variety of ways. These include: successfully completing a full-time public interest co-op comprised of spending 11 weeks and 35 hours per week (385 hours) in a public interest work setting; taking a law school clinic; performing 30 hours of pre-approved legal pro bono work; or doing a public interest independent study. Please note that in 10 years of operating under the requirement, an average of 84% of each graduating class satisfied the requirement through co-op, the most significant time commitment. Eighty-eight percent of the two most recent graduating classes satisfied the requirement by doing a public interest co-op. To satisfy the requirement, all students must receive a written evaluation from their attorney or faculty supervisor.
Northern Illinois University: Northern Illinois University College of Law
The Pro Bono Service Opportunities program is in recognition of the commitment the College of Law has to encourage pro bono publico legal services. Pro bono services is defined as work done for the benefit of underserved populations by public agencies, public interest or pro bono organizations or charitable or other nonprofit groups or corporations. In this voluntary program, students who successfully complete a cumulative 60 hours of approved pro bono service will receive a notation on their transript. Pro bono service includes only voluntary, uncompensated work for which academic credit is not received.
Northwestern University: Northwestern University School of Law
Students are encouraged to serve at least 40 hours of public service work over the course of their time at Northwestern Law. Acknowledging that not all students will choose public interest law as a career, students may volunteer in a wide range of legal and non-legal community service projects. Our public service coordinator assists students in finding placements, organizes opportunities and keeps track of their efforts.
Through our public service program, students work with many organizations that approach us on an as-needed basis, but we also have established a few key partnerships that continue on a regular basis from year to year, including an educational partnership with Chicago Public Schools' Futures Exchange Program, a partnership with Chicago Youth Programs, the Tax Assistance Program, and the Unaccompanied Children's Advocate Project. To assist in the expansion of legal representation of the poor, we also partner with several legal service organizations, including Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago, Cabrini Green Legal Aid Clinic, Center for Disability and Elder Law and Catholic Charities Legal Referral Program. For more information, go to the public service website at http://www.law.northwestern.edu/publicservice
Notre Dame: Notre Dame Law School
Pro Bono and community service activities are sponsored by the Career Services Office, the Student Affairs Office, and student-run groups. The Career Services Office collaborates wiith student organizations to coordinate pro bono activities and work with the Legal Aid Services of Indiana of South Bend to provide volunteer service opportunities. Pro bono announcements are placed on bulletin boards and electronic list serves so that students are kept informed about pro bono activities and opportunities.
GALILEE (Group Alternative Live-In Legal Education Experience) is highly encouraged. Students spend their Christmas break living among citizens of the inner cities to learn about the legal needs of the urban poor. The program lasts for about 10 days and is followed up with a weekend retreat in the spring so that students are provided the opportunity to discuss and share ideas about their experience.
Nova Southeastern University: Shepard Broad Law Center
The Pro Bono Honor Program recognizes students who provide pro bono legal work for public service or government organizations while enrolled in law school. Students volunteering a minimum of 50 hours are awarded this graduation honor. Placements are secured by meeting with the program director and/or participating in Public Interest Law Day. The program is part of the Public Interest Law Center (PILC), which provides information, resources, and acknowledgement to students who are interested in serving the community through public interest law.
http://www.nsulaw.nova.edu/career/pilc/probono.cfm
Ohio Northern: Claude W. Pettit College of Law
Ohio State University: Ohio State University Moritz College of Law
The Public Service Fellow Program at Moritz College of Law recognizes students who volunteer legal service to a non-profit (501)(c)(3) organization or to a governmental agency. Fellows will be recognized at the Honors Convocation, which precedes the Hooding Ceremony, and the PSF designation will be added to student fellows' transcripts. There are four levels of distinction:
- The Public Service Fellow will be given to students who accumulate between 50 and 149 hours of volunteer legal service.
- The Public Service Fellow with Recognition will be given to students who accumulate between 150 and 249 hours of volunteer legal service.
- The Public Service Fellow with Dean's Special Recognition will be given to students who accumulate between 250 and 449 hours of volunteer legal service.
- The Public Service Fellow with the Dean's Highest Honors will be given to students who accumulate 450 or more hours of volunteer legal service.
Oklahoma City University: Oklahoma City University School of Law
Pro bono service is promoted by and information on opportunities (local and other) is provided through the Professional Career and Development Center. The Professional Career and Development Center, in conjunction with local attorneys and associations, as well as PSLawNet and the Equal Justice Works organization, sponsors training and speakers on pro bono service. OCU LAW is a member of NALP, which now hosts the PSLawNet volunteer opportunity database, and is a member of Equal Justice Works, which holds an annual national pro bono and public interest career fair.
Pepperdine University: Odell McConnell Law Center
Students are encouraged to volunteer with existing clinical and externship placements. The Union Rescue Mission Clinic uses a lot of student and faculty volunteers. The Clinical Education Programs Office facilitates a Public Counsel's Adoption Day. Students under the supervision of attorneys provide free legal representation to people adopting children who have been neglected and/or abused and are currently in the foster care system.
Regent University: School of Law
The Office of Law Career & Alumni Services in conjunction with the Virginia Bar Association encourages public service by students through recognizing their successful completion of an approved placement through the Making the Commitment Program. The Virginia Bar Association is challenging every law student in Virginia to make the commitment.
The placement must be for a minimum of 35 hours per academic year. Students must complete both a proposal of work and supervisor agreement.
All students participating in the Making the Commitment Program are honored at a Public Interest Awards Reception held each fall; are given a certificate of appreciation signed by the dean of the law school; and are publicly recognized in front of family and peers at their commisioning ceremony as part of graduation.
Roger Williams University: School of Law
Twenty hours of uncompensated, law-related public service is required for graduation. The 20 hours must be completed on one project and 30 days in advance of the anticipated graduation date. Students may not receive academic credit for their service.
The Feinstein Institute's Director of Public Service and Community Partnerships administers the school's pro bono requirement. She creates projects for students and hosts presentations about them. A list of volunteer opportunities is circulated.
Students are encouraged to create their own projects, but all projects must be approved in advance. Some pre-approved projects are group projects at the law school, with a regular training component. Others are at various organizations under the supervision of attorneys or other appropriate staff of the agencies. Students are required to evaluate the experience and complete a journal about their public service work, what they learned, whether or not it influenced their career choice, etc.
The Institute also administers an innovative, pro bono project called the Pro Bono Collaborative (PBC). The PBC is partially funded by the Rhode Island Foundation and partners large law firm attorneys and law students with community-based organizations to offer pro bono legal assistance.
Rutgers: The State University of New Jersey, Center for Law and Justice (Newark)
Under the supervision of the Director for the Eric R. Neisser Public Interest Program, students operate the Pro Bono Program which provides opportunities for students to volunteer in a wide variety of civil and criminal law placements in Newark and the surrounding communities. Rutgers participates in PSLawNet and, thus, placements are available throughout the country. Student are encouraged to donate at least 35 hours a year of legal assistance to the poor and underrepresented communities. Projects have included AIDS legal services, criminal defense, immigration law, women's issues, civil court, and family law.
Rutgers: The State University of New Jersey School of Law, Camden
The Rutgers - Camden Law School Pro Bono Program currently consists of eleven projects, including the Bankruptcy Pro Bono Project, the Domestic Violence Pro Bono Project, the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Project, the Pro Bono Research Project, the Children’s SSI Project, the Financial Literacy Project, the Defender Project, the Street Law Project, Election Protection, the Immigration Project, and the Pro Bono Mediation Project. All include training and supervision. In addition, many opportunities are available to do pro bono work in local public interest programs, in Camden and in greater Philadelphia.
Staffing the Pro Bono Program are Assistant Dean Eve Biskind Klothen, 225- 6608, eklothen@camden.rutgers.edu, and Pro Bono Coordinator, Pamela Mertsock-Wolfe, 225-6406, pmertsoc@camden.rutgers.edu.
Promotion and facilitation of opportunities occurs through brochures, articles, mention at Admitted Student Day, presentations at First Year and Transfer Orientations, a session in the Professional Responsibility class, a prominent place on the website, and a panel discussion by local attorneys about how to fit pro bono into private practice.
Saint Louis University: Saint Louis University School of Law
Web address is http://law.slu.edu/public_services
Saint Mary’s University of San Antonio: Saint Mary’s University of San Antonio School of Law
The Public Interest Law Program's mission is to create opportunities for law students to engage in legal pro bono work. Most of these opportunities are created through partnerships with other organizations such as legal aid organizations, public defender organizations, the state's attorney general, bar groups, private attorneys, other law schools, etc.
Current projects include: Free Wills Clinic; Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Project; Immigration Initiative; St. Jude's Ask-A-Lawyer Clinic; and the Pro Bono Fair.
St. Mary's is also a member of Equal Justice Works which entitles our law students to compete for various fellowship positions.
The Public Interest Law Program also offers career counseling to law students interested in pursuing public interest work.
Saint Thomas University: Saint Thomas University School of Law (FL)
The Pro Bono Program is designed to give second- and third-year students legal experience under the supervision of lawyers in a variety of not-for-profit offices, government agencies and law firms. The objectives of the Program are to: 1) supplement the educational experience of students by developing a lasting commitment to public services; 2) enhance empowerment and access to the legal system for persons and communities who have been traditionally underserved by the bar, and 3) build a positive identity that strengthens admission, placement, and the overall standing of St. Thomas University School of Law in the South Florida community and nationally.
The Program is administered through the Career Services Office. It maintains information about the organizations and publishes a Pro Bono Student Manual with a directory to assist students in securing a variety of pre-approved placements and opportunities as well as the procedures and forms necessary to secure and propose new placement sites of their own choosing. The requirement can be met through one or more extended-service placements or through several small ones. All new sites must, however, be approved before the student can begin work or receive pro bono credit. The Government and Public Interest Job Fair, held annually in February, serves to bring local pro bono placement supervisors to campus so that students can meet and discuss pro bono opportunities with them.
Evaluation forms are in the Student Pro Bono Manual. Career Services staff meets with the supervisors in their offices periodically to discuss their needs, training procedures and other matters in order to better advise students.
Students are reminded periodically in newsletters and in notices to mailboxes that breaks and summers provide time to explore pro bono opportunities.
Samford University: Cumberland School of Law
The pro bono program began in 2001 as a student run organization, Public Interest Law Organization (PILO), with a faculty advisor. The Student Coordinator assigns placements for receptive organizations based on the need of the organization and the aptitude of the participating students. Other students help create interest in other students. Students are asked to volunteer a minimum of 50 hours at approved placements. Less commitment is expected for VITA. Written evaluation is provided by the student and the organization. Students are encouraged to volunteer during the Christmas holiday break, Spring Break and summer. PILO organizes public interest speakers and events.
Since April 1, 2002, the pro bono program has come under the auspices of the Assistant Dean for Student Services and Public Interest Director. Part of the function of this new position is to offer assistance and leadership with student pro bono projects and other public interest programs.
Santa Clara University: Santa Clara University School of Law
The Pro Bono Recognition Program is designed for and by Santa Clara University School of Law students. The Program is committed to supporting community-based legal service projects. In order to accomplish this goal, the Program depends on the dedication and commitment of student volunteers. The Pro Bono Recognition Program provides an arena where students can become involved in the community and also enhance their law school experience.
In addition to the personal satisfaction of volunteering much-needed assistance and gaining valuable and practical legal experience, students are eligible to receive a Pro Bono Recognition Award from Santa Clara University School of Law. All it takes is 50 hours of not-for-credit or compensation work for a public interest, public sector or non-profit organization during the school year (May to May).
Seattle University: Seattle University School of Law
The work of the Access to Justice Institute reflects the mission of Seattle University School of Law: to lead its students toward a lifetime of service to justice for all. AtJI connects the law school to the community at large, collaborating with hundreds of attorneys, judges and advocates from every field and drawing more than 300 student volunteers each year. AtJI enables students to connect their classroom learning to real clients, cases and attorneys while providing invaluable services to low-income communities.
Students volunteering with AtJI have the option to be placed as volunteers in one of 55 community legal service agencies that have formed collaborative partnerships with the Institute, or, they can participate in one of the following projects administered by the AtJI staff. In-house projects include: The Community Justice Centers, Immigration Court Project, Hague Convention Project, Unemployment Insurance for Battered Women Project, Language Bank, Real Change Homeless Newspaper Project and Begal Aid Newsletter Project. More information on these projects can be found at http://law.seattleu.edu/atji
Seton Hall University: Seton Hall University School of Law
Students at all levels of learning and experience are encouraged to participate in the Center for Social Justice's Pro Bono program. At minimum, students in the program donate 35 hours of their professional time during a semester. Students can complete the 35 hour requirement during the course of a semester or during school breaks.
South Texas College: South Texas College of Law
The South Texas College of Law Pro Bono Honors Program is open to all students who have completed the first year of law school study. The Program has two components. First, it “matches” interested students with community public interest projects. Second, it monitors student participation and recognizes those students who contribute 50 or more hours of pro bono service. Although it is a “stand-alone” program, it operates closely with the Public Interest Process Clinic in keeping abreast of current service needs in the community.
Students can either select from a list of “pre-approved” placements, or students can propose their own placement with a lawyer or agency engaged in pro bono service. Each student and supervisor signs an agreement, and the law school tracks the hours worked and the final evaluation of the service by both the student and supervisor. Many of the pre-approved placements involve agencies with which the law school has had a multi-year relationship through the academic internships. The extensive list allows the law school to help the student in selecting a service opportunity that is commensurate with the student’s lawyering skills level or addresses the student’s subject matter interest.
The program is available to all interested second and third year students, whether or not the student intends to donate 50 hours of service in order to qualify for special recognition. http://www.stcl.edu/students/probono
Southern Illinois University: Southern Illinois University School of Law
Southern Methodist University: Dedman School of Law
The goal of SMU's pro bono requirement is to enhance the legal profession and the law school curriculum by exposing lawyers-to-be to the importance of and the need for a life-long commitment to public service. The Director of the Public Service Program helps students meet the pro bono requirement. Students can search for a pre-approved placement on the Public Service Program website. In addition to information available on this website, students may access hard copy information about pre-approved placements in the career/public service library. Students may propose their own public service placement by submitting to the Public Service Director a Student Initiated Placement (SIP) form for approval. All Public Service Program forms are available on this website.
To qualify, service must be law-related with no academic credit nor financial remuneration received. The 30-hours cannot be satisfied until after completion of the first-year curriculum. Students may perform their 30-hours at any of the law school's clinics (civil/criminal/family violence/tax), provided that the hours are not being claimed for both public service and academic credit.
Southwestern University: Southwestern University School of Law
Southwestern is committed to public service. Law students have many opportunities to work with nonprofit organizations that provide free or low-cost legal assistance to low-income or underserved communities.
The Southwestern Public Interest Law Committee, comprised of students, faculty, and staff, furthers the goals of Southwestern. The Committee works to enable law students to obtain summer grants to provide legal services to the underserved members of society. The Committee also sponsors events each year to raise awareness of the importance of providing legal services to the community, including speaker's programs and various activities to raise funding for summer public interest law grants.
The Student Affairs Office, Career Services Office, Legal Clinic and Externship Office are available to provide information to students interested in law-related and public service volunteer opportunities.
Stanford Law School (SLS) is committed to excellence in legal education and views pro bono legal service as integral to that goal. SLS also seeks to advance the ethical standards of the legal profession in the United States, which state that lawyers should aspire to provide significant pro bono publico legal services. Through its voluntary Pro Bono Program, students are encouraged to contribute 50 hours or more of pro bono service during their time at SLS.
Like other programs under the auspices of the Levin Center, the Pro Bono Program is designed to inspire, teach, cultivate the interests and passions of, and provide experiential learning opportunities for law school students.
By doing pro bono work and, hopefully, clinical work in the 2L and 3L years, students learn important skills, such as legal research and writing, client interviewing and the crafting of legal arguments, among others, early in their legal careers. These skills greatly benefit students as they begin their careers in the public interest sector, government or law firms. Doing pro bono work also helps students to contextualize what they are learning in their classes and gives them "real world" experience. Students discover, first-hand, how the ability to navigate the complexities of the law can make a tremendous difference in the lives of the people that they help – whether it is preventing a person’s eviction from her home or filing a temporary restraining order against an abusive partner.
Currently, there are 19 pro bono projects covering a wide range of legal areas:
- Alternative Break options that include Student Hurricane Network, Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia, Rural Education and Access to the Law, and a specialized trip to the Arizona-Mexico border
- Domestic Violence Pro Bono Project
- Equality Pro Bono Project (LBGT rights)
- Fresh Lifelines for Youth
- Guardianship Pro Bono Program
- Housing Pro Bono Program
- Immigration Pro Bono Program
- Language Bank
- International Human Rights
- Low Income Tax Preparation Aid
- Medical-Legal Collaborative Pro Bono Program
- Mediation
- Rural Legal Services
- Stanford Law School Social Security Disability Project
- StreetLaw
- Student Animal Legal Defense Fund
- Volunteer Attorney Program
Additionally, the Pro Bono Program is piloting two new immigrants’ rights programs with Bay Area agencies and a First Amendment project with the ACLU.
Stetson University: Stetson University College of Law
All students are required to complete 20 hours of pro bono service. Students will be formally introduced to these requirements during their First-Year Orientation. All pro bono requirements must be completed six months before graduation. At least 10 hours of the 20 hours must be completed in legal-related activities.
Legal-related activities are limited to:
- pro bono service for the indigent,
- pro bono work for a public agency, and
- pro bono work for a private attorney on a case in which the attorney is working pro bono
Students may complete the remaining 10 hours in non-legal activities.
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> pro bono service for the indigent,
> pro bono work for a public agency, and
> non-profit agencies
Stetson is a charter member of the Public Service Law Network Worldwide, a global network of law schools and law-related public service organizations that fosters community service and encourages future lawyers to incorporate public service into their careers.
Students have performed their pro bono service at a variety of Tampa Bay organizations. Listed below are a few examples of these organizations. A complete list is available online at www.law.stetson.edu/studentlife/probono.asp
Suffolk University Law School: Suffolk University Law School
Through its voluntary Pro Bono Program, Suffolk University Law School seeks to foster in every member of the law school community a moral and professional obligation to ensure access to justice for all citizens. In furtherance of this goal, Suffolk Law School challenges all incoming law students to complete at least 50 hours of law-related volunteer work before they graduate.
The Pro Bono Program at Suffolk Law School defines “pro bono work” for students in accordance with the ABA’s Model Rule 6.1, which defines pro bono broadly, to include free and reduced fee service to the poor, as well as activities for “improving the law, the legal system or the legal profession.” To count as pro bono, students may not receive pay or credit for their work. In addition, students must be supervised by an attorney and Suffolk Law students may not use Massachusetts Student Practice Rule 3:03 certification to perform pro bono work. All students who meet or exceed the 50-hour goal will receive recognition for their pro bono service.
Pro Bono opportunities are solicited, centralized, and promoted to law students through the Program’s website, weekly e-letters, presentations at orientation, and an annual open house. The Director of Pro Bono Programs facilitates student pro bono work through individual counseling and online matching of volunteers with appropriate placements. Students may choose pro bono work from a wide array of issue areas, as posted by the Program, or they may initiate their own projects with the assistance and approval of the Director.
Law students may also participate in Suffolk’s Pro Bono Partners Program. Pro Bono Partners pairs interested Suffolk Law School alumni and other attorneys with upper-level law students to work together on pro bono cases from the Volunteer Lawyers Project, Health Law Advocates, the Victim Rights Law Center, or other qualifying nonprofit legal services agencies. Pro Bono Partners also works with the Committee for Public Counsel Services (CPCS) to match upper-level students with certified private bar counsel on cases involving public criminal defense, child and family law, and mental health litigation.
Syracuse University: College of Law
Temple University: James E. Beasley School of Law
Public Interest Experience (PIE) has historically been Temple's pro bono program. PIE began in 1993 as a student initiated project of the student chapter of the National Lawyers Guild. It gives students the opportunity to participate in one of the region's public interest organizations during the school year. Temple holds the “PIE Fair” each fall, where members of the local public interest community are invited to meet our students and tell them of pro bono opportunities with their agency.
Pro bono placements are further promoted and facilitated in a variety of ways by the Director of Public Interest Programs. Students receive individual counseling on pro bono placements and members of the public and private bar contact the Director with individual projects that need law student assistance.
Temple is currently developing a new pro bono program to increase pro bono opportunities for its students.
Texas Southern University: Thurgood Marshall School of Law
Texas Tech University School of Law: Texas Tech University School of Law
Texas Wesleyan University: Texas Wesleyan University School of Law
Students are required to perform 30 hours of law-related pro bono service through the Equal Justice Program. They may fulfill the requirement at any point after their first-year of law school, including during school breaks.
Approved by the faculty in December 2000, the Equal Justice Program was designed by the Student Affairs Committee, a faculty committee with ad hoc representation from the administration. The program's purpose is two-fold. First, it ensures that all students will have the opportunity to practice lawyering skills in a real-world setting before they graduate. Second, it imparts to students the importance of giving back to the community in recognition of the privileged status lawyers occupy.
Potential placements are contacted and asked to fill out an Equal Justice Placement Form describing the opportunity they can offer our students. These agencies are invited to campus to participate in Equal Justice Day, an annual gathering of representatives from the organizations offering placements and students interested in learning how best to fulfill their pro bono requirement.
The College of Law encourages students to engage in pro bono service through its Public Service Fellows Program administered through the Assistant Dean for Student Affairs and Public Programs, through supporting in-house pro bono projects and through its listings of other pro bono opportunities in the Office of Career Services. "Public Service Fellows" are those students who volunteer at least 50 hours of legal services to a governmental agency or to a 501(c)(3) organization, including student pro bono groups.
Thomas Jefferson School of Law: Thomas Jefferson School of Law
The law school encourages pro bono service through its Pro Bono Honors Program, which was started in 1999. The Office of Career Services provides interested students with a list of local volunteer opportunities. Career Services also works with our Public Interest Law Foundation on an annual summer internship fair.
Thomas M. Cooley Law School: Thomas M. Cooley Law School
Cooley Volunteer Corps (CVC). CVC is a program that matches organizations with law students who seek substantive volunteer experience. It is designed to foster law student community service and to encourage future lawyers to incorporate public service work into their careers. Any law student who has completed 9 credits, and is in good academic standing is eligible to participate.
Disaster Legal Relief. Since 2007, over 200 Cooley students have traveled to New Orleans during their term break to partner with legal agencies involved with disaster relief work. Students work on probate issues involving homes in the lower Ninth Ward helping clients clear title to devastated homes, public defender cases in criminal courts, clearing the backlog of divorce cases from the hurricane, helping people obtain and maintain public benefits, helping people stay in their homes, and related cases.
Professionalism Portfolio. Every student at Cooley is offered the opportunity to create a professionalism portfolio through participation in a structured plan offered by The Center for Ethics, Service, and Professionalism. The program requires self-reflection and training in personal responsibility, ethics, and service. A variety of volunteering, public service, and pro bono opportunities are offered. Students are encouraged to participate and their work is documented and reflected upon. The finished portfolio highlights the student’s professional development, personal code of conduct, and offers employers insight into an applicant’s knowledge, skills, ethics, and character.
Non-Profit Incorporation Project . Cooley’s Center for Ethics, Service, and Professionalism, and the Cooley Volunteer Corps, offer start-up legal services to charitable nonprofit corporations at Cooley’s Grand Rapids campus through the Nonprofit Incorporation Project. The Project has served well over 30 organizations that offer such a variety of charitable works as taking disabled children hunting and fishing, showing inner-city children the path to become pilots, rehabilitating properties in decaying inner-city locations to anchor redevelopment, providing transitional services to Somali refugees, and providing education to the children of Niger.
Service to Soldiers. Michigan soldiers on active duty and returning from war receive free legal service through this Cooley referral program. Students, faculty and staff work to match soldiers with Cooley Law School alumni and other attorneys who offer their specialized legal training to U.S. military personnel.
Liberian Law Institute and University of Liberia School of Law. Cooley students collect, sort, and ship law school texts to replace texts burned during Liberia’s civil war.
Wills & Trust Kit Seminars.The State Bar of Michigan, AARP, the Michigan Attorney General’s office, the Office of Financial & Insurance Services, and Cooley partner to provide information to older adults about the dangers of falling victim to “will and trust kit” providers.
Land Conservancies. Professor Gerald Fisher provides counsel on negotiating, drafting and enforcing conservation easements, and on presenting and approving millages to purchase land for conservation; and he has served on Senate ad hoc committees, assisted in drafting the Wetlands Act and model ordinance provisions, and presented seminars on local wetland regulation and on conservation easements. Professor Frank Aiello oversees efforts to revise the model form of Conservation Easement used by land conservancies in Michigan, and has provided hundreds of pro bono hours in land acquisition transactions, including some currently in development. Each semester, one or two Cooley students assist Professor Aiello with each transaction. Examples of transactions include helping land conservancies acquire land and conservation easements against donated greenspace and other natural and undeveloped areas.
Alliances and Partnerships. Partnering with many state and local entities enables Cooley to serve the communities in which our campuses are located and the state as a whole. Cooley Law School has over 13,000 graduates worldwide so pro bono and volunteer opportunities are also available through the vast alumni network.
Lansing – Cooley students, faculty and staff offer assistance at Cristo Rey Community Center, Advent House Ministries, The People’s Law School, Loaves and Fishes, Beekman Therapeutic Riding Center, Lansing Area AIDS Network, Habitat for Humanity, Lansing Food Bank, Lansing Teen Court, Volunteers of America Homeless Shelter, Open Door Ministries, and Lansing area schools. Cooley students also volunteer with the Ingham County Prosecutor’s office and the PPO office at the Ingham County courthouse to assist victims of domestic violence as victim advocates. As needs arise in the greater Lansing area our community partners look to Cooley for assistance and can count on our willingness to serve those less fortunate.
Grand Rapids – Cooley students and faculty volunteer to offer legal advice and direct assistance to clients of Dégagé Ministries, Mel Trotter Ministries, Hispanic Center of West Michigan, Ferguson Apartments (residents were once homeless and are living with mental illness), West Michigan Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and the Legal Assistance Center. The Grand Rapids campus also raises money, organizes food and clothing drives, and puts together teams to serve dinners for St. John’s Home, God’s Kitchen, and other area shelters.
Auburn Hills – Cooley students, faculty and staff serve at Oakland County Abuse and Neglect Council’s CARE House, prepare tax returns for indigent Pontiac residents through a program with Lighthouse of Oakland County, and work with Pontiac Northern High School to bring character education and direct assistance to the schools. Cooley’s Family Law Assistance Program (FLAP) coordinates with the Oakland County Bar Association and Lakeshore Legal Aid to offer pro bono services to indigent domestic violence and family law clients in Oakland County. Opportunities are abundant throughout the year to provide clothing to area shelters and to donate to food to area pantries and families.
Touro College: Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center
Students must fulfill the Public Interest Law Perspective Requirement in order to graduate. Students may do so in one of three ways:
- successful completion of one of the following clinics: Civil Rights Litigation Clinic, Criminal Law Clinic, Elder Law Clinic, International Human Rights/Asylum Clinic, Family Law Clinic, or Legal Institutions-Civil Clinic, when the placement is in a Pro Bono position
- completion of forty (40) hours of Pro Bono work
- completion of twenty (20) hours of Pro Bono work and successful completion of either Rights of the Poor or Racism and American Law.
Tulane University: Tulane University School of Law
A minimum of 30 hours of approved uncompensated, law-related pro bono service under the supervision of an attorney is required. Many students, however, choose to contribute significantly more than the basic requirement.
The Tulane Law School Community Service Program was approved by the faculty in 1987, established in 1988 and became effective with the class of 1990. The required pro bono service may be performed in the New Orleans metropolitan area or elsewhere, if the student obtains prior approval. The required hours are ungraded, but appear on the student's transcript as pro bono credit. Among the approved Community Service placements are student-run programs, such as VITA (Voluntary Income Tax Assistance) and Street Law, law school sponsored programs, such as POPS (Project for Older Prisoners), ELLA (Entertainment Law Legal Assistance), and the Tulane Katrina Legal Assistance Program, as well as numerous placements with public-interest non-profit organizations and with local, state or federal government entities. See http://www.law.tulane.edu/prog
Opportunities are promoted and facilitated through an Annual TLS Pro Bono Fair, brochures, notices on bulletin boards, the law school newspaper, at meetings and events and on the program's website. Required forms include a Student Survey and the attorney's Supervisory Report. To monitor placement quality, the Director follows up by phone and e-mail with both students and attorneys.
University at Buffalo Law School, SUNY: School of Law
Law-related pro bono service is encouraged through the Career Services Office, the Clinical Programs and student pro bono group projects. The student pro bono groups advertise their participation in pro bono legal services and call for members through events such as "table days" in the fall (where student groups sit at tables on the first floor of the Law School in a student group fair atmosphere). They also advertise through flyers and in the student newspaper. In addition, in the spring of the first year of law school, students learn about and are encouraged to provide pro bono legal services in the required Legal Profession and Ethics course. Professors in this course present or provide panel presentation about pro bono legal service, including opportunities through CSO placements and Clinical Programs.
University of Akron: C. Blake McDowell Law Center
Akron’s program has a faculty coordinator, the director of the School of Law’s Civil Litigation Clinic, who devotes time to coordinating, assisting in recruiting and placement of students with pro bono interest and in keeping track of volunteer hours. The Student Bar Association helps coordinate student activities. Many student organizations include public service activities as part of their regular programming. The Akron Public Interest Law Association devotes almost all of its time and energy to pro bono pursuits.
University of Alabama: University of Alabama School of Law
The Public Interest Institute promotes pro bono service primarily through its recognition programs: The Order of the Samaritan, The Volunteer Lawyers Program Student Award and The Dean's Community Service Award. The faculty and staff of the Institute, with assistance of students, coordinate student placements in law and non-law related volunteer placements. A majority of student organizations participate in volunteer projects through the Institute.
University of Arizona: James E. Rogers College of Law
VLP Advocates Program, conceived in 1999 by students on our Community Service Board, allows students to work under supervision of volunteer lawyers, to deliver legal services to those most in need of civil legal help. More than 480 students have volunteered (124 in 2005, 110 in 2004) and approx. 1,000 cases are handled annually.
In 2004-2005, the program had the following components: (Guided by the law school's Coordinator of Special Projects and the Director of Tucson's Volunteer Lawyers Program, the program has expanded beyond what was offered in 2004-05.)
Child Support Project -Students review pleadings of pro se litigants at domestic default hearings to make sure that child support was calculated accurately and, if not, they prepare new and accurate documents.
Domestic Relations Clinics - Students meet with clients, provide basic information and advice, and assist in completing self-help forms.
Guardianship Clinics - Students meet with unrepresented clients at their guardianship hearings in Probate Court, explain the proceedings and review the client's file to ensure that all legal requirements have been met. Students also appear before the court and offer recommendations as to whether the client should be awarded guardianship. For more information, see www.law.arizona.edu/Depts/Community/default.htm, www.vlparizona.org/LawStudents.htm
The Justice Project was formed through the Arizona Attorneys for Criminal Justice and is coordinated by a faculty member. Teams of 2-5 students (many of them first-years) handle cases where there appears to have been a miscarriage of justice. Their work includes such things as reviewing trial records, searching for evidence which can be DNA tested, drafting post-conviction petitions and putting together commutation requests. They stay in contact with their "clients" and some have the opportunity to meet with them in prison. The number of cases and students vary each year, but in a typical year, 8 cases will be handled by 22-25 students.
In the Pro-Bono Appellate Project, coordinated by the Asst. Dean of Student Affairs, students work on 9th Circuit Court of appeals cases and travel to San Francisco in groups of 2-3 to argue in front of the Federal Court of Appeals. The Courts R Us program gives low-income family high school students an opportunity to work in the legal field during summer. Law students serve as role models, train and match attorney mentors with the students, and introduce them to different aspects of legal education by giving them a law school tour and planning other activities.
Through the Teen Court program, students help prevent middle and high school students from entering the juvenile justice system. They train high school students to be judges, prosecutors and defense attorneys for their own in school court. The court handles cases of students who have broken rules. Law students also assist teachers with program development and mentoring.
University of Arkansas at Fayetteville: School of Law
Under the direction of the Coordinator, students volunteer and participate in a variety of service activities for the community, both legal and non-legal. In addition to matching students with existing community programs, the Coordinator locates and publicizes pro bono opportunities, and keeps records of student and supervisory participation.
The School of Law maintains strong ties to Legal Aid of Arkansas, the primary agency charged with providing pro bono legal services to the poor in Northwest Arkansas. Students volunteer on a regular basis with local Prosecutors, Public Defenders, Teen Court, private attorneys, and with many local non-profit organizations, students also volunteering in many other locations throughout the country, such as the Delta Academy/Delta Gems Mentoring Program
University of Arkansas at Little Rock: William H. Bowen School of Law
The UALR Bowen School of Law’s primary pro bono program is the Altheimer Public Service Program. This program is a joint service-learning program undertaken by the Bowen School of Law and the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service. The program’s purpose is to fund and implement joint service-learning projects undertaken by students from both schools. The program is intended to recognize the two schools’ common goal of public service, stimulate the commitment to public service among the schools’ students, and contribute to the immediate needs of the community and the State of Arkansas. The students participating in the program plan and undertake different service-learning projects each year. For the 2006-2007 academic year, the students participating in the program have decided to partner with a local non-profit organization that is working to revitalize part of the downtown area of Little Rock, Arkansas. The students have designed projects to complement and further the urban and economic redevelopment efforts of this non-profit organization.
In addition to the Altheimer Public Service Program, the UALR Bowen School of Law also provides pro bono opportunities to students by serving as a liaison between its students and the local non-profit community. The law school is creating a directory of non-profit organizations and is inviting such organizations to be listed in the directory so that students who would like to engage in pro bono volunteer work may be referred to the organizations that best suit the students’ interests.
University of California at Davis: University of California at Davis School of Law
The King Hall Pro Bono Program, started in 1990, encourages students who have completed at least one semester of law school to contribute a minimum of 50 hours of law-related service in a year. This must be performed under the supervision of an attorney or a member of the Law School Faculty. The Career Services Office keeps listings of pro bono opportunities, handles inquiries and certifies hours to the Law School Registrar. Students wishing to participate in the program are encouraged to check with the Career Services Office regarding placements. Upon approval, students can initiate their own placements.
The Public Interest Clearinghouse Pro Bono Project is a collaborative effort of The Public Interest Clearinghouse, member law schools (UC Davis, Hastings College of Law, and the University of San Francisco), and various legal organizations. Students are able to choose work in a variety of practice areas. Student projects could include: certified court practice, client interviewing, legal research and writing, case investigation, legal hotline intake, trial preparation, or policy analysis. Students will be placed firms engaged in pro bono cases, with solo or small firm practitioners, or directly with legal service organizations. See www.pic.org
University of California, Berkeley: University of California, Berkeley, School of Law
Berkeley Law students have organized a variety of volunteer clinical projects, which include the California Asylum Representation Clinic; the East Bay Workers' Rights Clinic; Community Legal Outreach, through the East Bay Community Law Center; the projects of Advocates for Youth Justice, including Juvenile Hall Outreach, Expulsion Representation, Education Advocacy and Berkeley High School Student Court; the Napa Advocacy Project (providing legal advice in a state psychiatric hospital); and the Iraq Refugees Assistance Project.
These projects are typically open to first-year students who work under the supervision of second- and third-year students and skilled practitioners. No course credit is given for participation in student-run pro bono projects.
In addition to these opportunities, the Associate Director for Public Interest Programs in Berkeley Law’s Career Development Office develops and maintains a list of pro bono project referrals from local community organizations. Students have also initiated their own independent pro bono projects.
Berkeley Law Pro Bono Pledge: Students who complete at least 50 hours of law-related volunteer work before they graduate receive recognition in the graduation program and a certificate acknowledging their public service. Individual students also receive special recognition for exceptional service. Most students far exceed the 50 hour mark during their time at Berkeley Law.
University of California-Hastings: College of the Law
The delivery of pro bono services is viewed as an integral and intensely satisfying part of a legal education; providing pro bono services also enhances a law student’s development of a professional identity. Hastings fosters and encourages pro bono participation by all members of our community in an effort to improve access to justice for all.
Students are asked to commit to deliver a minimum of 45 hours of pro bono services over the course of their three years at Hastings by signing the Pro Bono Pledge. The hours may be satisfied in a gradually increasing manner (10 hours in first year, 15 in 2nd and 20 in 3rd) or may be satisfied in a single year.
Detailed lists of possible pro bono placements are available and assistance is provided to students interested in locating a pro bono placement which matches their interests.
University of California-Los Angeles: University of California-Los Angeles
The purpose of the Center for Public Interest Programs is threefold: 1) to serve as the School of Law’s main information center for public interest and community service activities, 2) to provide career counseling and advice to students and graduates interested in pursuing public interest internships and post-graduate public interest internships and post-graduate public interest employment, and 3) to encourage and facilitate pro bono work by students. The Center’s primary program for promoting pro bono is its “Give 35” program, through which students are encouraged to volunteer 35 hours of free legal help to a public interest organization during the school year.
The Center maintains a list of organizations seeking student volunteers, accessible to students via a database and notebooks that are located in the office. Information on pro bono opportunities is also provided through handouts distributed to all students and a public interest newsletter called Public Interest News. The Center depends substantially on student organizations for in-house pro bono programs.
University of Chicago: University of Chicago Law School
University of Cincinnati: University of Cincinnati College of Law
The Center for Professional Development, through it's Public Service Coordinator, creates and facilitates public service opportunities for the U.C. Law community by serving as a liaison between the College of Law, the local legal services community and the Cincinnati Bar Association. The Coordinator manages the volunteer opportunity program which includes coordinating student placements and designing individual projects, developing training and support materials and recruiting students among other activities.
Information on pro bono offerings is made available at the beginning of each academic year. As new projects and/or collaborations with local legal services organizations or the organized bar become available, informational meetings are held. The quality of student placements is measured informally.
Students may also participate in pro bono activities through several student run organizations that are provided administrative counsel and support.
University of Colorado: School of Law
University of Connecticut: University of Connecticut School of Law
The Office of Career Services, in conjunction with the Public Interest Law Group (PILG), promotes and facilitates pro bono and public service opportunities and placements through the Pro Bono Program. The Pro Bono Program, which was started in 2000, provides support to legal professionals in serving the community and educates students about their legal and ethical responsibilities. Through the Program, the Law School underscores the role of public service in an attorney's life and makes students aware of the critically unmet needs in the community. The Pro Bono Program gives students the opportunity to perform valuable community service while fostering a tradition of pro bono work that will accompany them throughout their professional careers.
The Pro Bono Program relies heavily on the feedback from participating students and their supervising attorneys and/or agencies to evaluate the quality of pro bono placements.
University of Dayton: University of Dayton School of Law
Program started October 2000.
University of Denver: Sturm College of Law
Students must complete a minimum of 50 hours of uncompensated public interest work during their law school career, either voluntary or for credit, as a prerequisite to graduation.
To fulfill the Public Service Requirement, every J.D. student entering the College of Law will be required to perform a minimum of 50 hours of supervised, uncompensated, law-related public service work at some point during his or her law school career as a prerequisite to graduation. The Public Service Requirement, together with all the other public service components of the College of Law environment, will ensure that DU remains in the forefront of legal public service in the Rocky Mountain region.
The goals of the Public Service Requirement are threefold: 1) Educate students about their professional responsibilities, particularly their obligation to perform pro bono work as practicing attorneys, and to encourage a lifelong commitment to public service; 2) help students develop practical lawyering skills by supervising students in real world situations, teaching them to integrate the theory of law with the practice of law; and (3) raise awareness among students of meaningful career and pro bono opportunities.
Students may satisfy their 50-hour Public Service Requirement through participation in the Student Law Office, a public interest internship, various pre-approved classes, or by doing a Public Interest Practicum under appropriate supervision. Students enrolled in the Practicum may do so either for no credit or one credit, and are enrolled in a concurrent Public Interest Seminar.
The College of Law is developing an extensive database of willing practica supervisors. Additionally, students with their own ideas for a practicum may submit a proposal to the Director of Public Interest for approval. The goal is to be as inclusive as possible, allowing students to explore and expand upon their personal interests.
Please see www.law.du.edu/publicinterest
University of Florida: Fredric G. Levin College of Law
The mission of the Pro Bono Project is "to help students develop an awareness of their future ethical and professional responsibilities to provide service to their community. Participation in the program gives students the opportunity to perform valuable community service while learning about the legal needs of the underserved and developing the legal skills necessary to help meet those needs." The College recommends that students aspire to perform 35 hours of pro bono legal work during law school. See www.law.ufl.edu/career/probono.
In order to participate in the Pro Bono Project, students are required to complete a Commitment Form which is returned to the Center for Career Services. The Public Interest Coordinator provides a list of approved organizations and also encourages students to find placements that cater to their specific interests either through PSLawNet or in their hometowns. The work must benefit an underserved population in the community and be performed without either compensation or academic credit. Students agree to perform all assignments in a professionally responsible manner which includes maintaining client confidentiality and refraining from giving legal advice to clients.
The Public Interest Coordinator makes site visits to each of the Pro Bono placements every summer to check on the placements as well as the students. The Pro Bono Liaison Committee is responsible for keeping up with the assigned placements and notifying the Public Interest Coordinator of the activities on a regular basis.
Pro Bono Opportunities are posted on the Career Services Board and the Project holds Pro Bono small groups each semester to introduce incoming students to the Pro Bono Project. In addition, to promote the Pro Bono Project, the Project holds an annual Pro Bono Symposium attended by representatives from approved pro bono placements. After a panel discussion, there is a networking luncheon for students to meet the employers and discuss their interests further.
Students are encouraged to participate in the Pro Bono Project during the Winter, Spring, and Summer breaks. In particular, the College's Spring entering class has a four-week break between the Summer and Fall semesters during which finding employment is difficult. It is the Project's policy to encourage students to perform pro bono work during that period.
University of Hawaii: William S. Richardson School of Law
The preparation of lawyers who recognize the significance of their public service obligations is an important objective of the William S. Richardson School of Law. In 1992 the William S. Richardson School of Law adopted a Law Student Public Service graduation requirement. The class of 1995 was the first graduating class obliged to fulfill the requirement. The Law Student Public Service (better known as "Pro Bono") Program introduces the concept of pro bono service to law students and is an integral part of the academic program at the law school. It provides law students the opportunity to address unmet legal needs in the community while enriching their legal education.
The Pro Bono Program at the William S. Richardson School of Law was one of the first law school pro bono programs in the nation and is thought to be the first student-initiated mandatory program in the nation. In April 1991, a student organization, Advocates for Public Interest Law, presented a formal proposal to the faculty. Recognizing both the long tradition in the legal profession to serve the underprivileged and to ensure legal access for all as well as a national movement in its infancy toward mandatory pro bono service in the legal profession, the student leaders wanted the law school to foster in all law students a life-time professional commitment to public legal service by creating a pro bono graduation requirement.
Students are required to locate and to provide law-related pro bono work under the supervision of an attorney, law school faculty or dean, or other supervisor, as approved by the Pro Bono Program Director. The definition of law-related pro bono work is construed liberally and includes law related work with any federal, state, or local government agency, court or legislature. Law students are encouraged to provide a portion of their pro bono service for indigent clients. The pro bono work is meant to be law-related in nature, not clerical or administrative. Additionally, an evaluation component that encourages the student to discuss and evaluate his or her experience with the Pro Bono Program Director is built into the program.
Successful completion of the pro bono service requirement is a condition for graduation. Law students who enroll in the School of Law must complete 60 hours of pro bono service prior to graduation. Transfer students must complete a total of 10 hours of pro bono service for every semester enrolled in the School of Law. The pro bono requirement began with the entering class of August 1992. All law school admittees are given notice of the pro bono graduation requirement when acceptance letters are sent to them.
For further information, see www.hawaii.edu/probono
University of Houston: University of Houston Law Center
UHLC Pro Bono Volunteer Initiative
The University of Houston Law Center emphasizes social responsibility and public service. As an outgrowth of these values, the Dean's Council, as representatives of UHLC students, has created the Pro Bono Volunteer Initiative Program. The school recognizes that a successful, well-rounded life includes contributions to the community through public service. The purpose of this initiative is to encourage the student body to give back to the surrounding Houston community. In this way, students will be helping others, educating themselves about the needs of neighbors, and creating life habits of public service.
The program documents and collects information on existing volunteer contributions made by students and staff that presently go unrecognized. To encourage involvement of those not currently committed to organizations, we will provide links and information on groups with volunteer needs.
For more information see http://www.law.uh.edu/pil/volunteer/homepage.html
University of Idaho: College of Law
Starting with the Class of 2006, each student will be required to complete 40 hours of pro bono legal service as a condition of graduation. The service must be provided without compensation and without academic credit. The requirement is met by work in any of the legal service categories enumerated in ABA Model Rule 6.1, regarding Pro Bono Publico Services
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University of Illinois: University of Illinois College of Law
Pro bono service is encouraged through the offering of a pro bono notation which appears on the graduate's transcript, is noted in the graduation program, and appears in a letter to the student on behalf of the College of Law acknowledging their service. Service qualifying for the notation must be legal in nature, since it is designed to recognize the special needs of the community for legal services and the unique ability of law students and lawyers to provide those services. It must also be done on a pro bono basis. The College of Law has accepted the ABA Model Rule of Professional Responsibility 6.1 list of four categories of work that qualify as pro bono.
The promotion and facilitation of pro bono and public service opportunities is diverse and integrated into the College's daily activities. Depending upon the nature of the pro bono item, promotion of the activity could occur by the following and other methods: Academic Advising and Course Counseling Handbook, Clinic Office, Curricular Dissemination, Daily Docket, Dedicated Bulletin Boards, eAttorney, E- mail listserv, Handouts, Individual Communications (electronic, verbal, or written), Internet and Intranet Web Pages, Law Bulletin, Mail Boxes, Promotional Tables in the Pedersen Pavilion, and in the Public Interest Center.
One avenue of facilitation for community involvement is the Volunteer Fair which features representative from many community groups.
University of Iowa: University of Iowa College of Law
The University of Iowa College of Law’s Public Service Program creates opportunities for law students to extend their education as future lawyers and leaders beyond the classroom and traditional clinic programs through community-based volunteer work. The result is a two-way exchange of skills and ideas that benefits the communities served while helping students better understand their communities and their role as lawyers and community leaders. The program advances the mission of the College of Law to serve Iowa and to educate future lawyers and leaders.
The “Lawyers and Leaders” series consists of workshops, lectures, and other programs that focus on pro bono traditions, leadership development, practical lawyer and life skills, and community issues.
The Boyd Service Award is bestowed at graduation on students who have completed at least 100 hours of service. The award is recognized by a designation on the diploma and by wearing an honor cord on graduation apparel.
The Pro Bono Society is a law student group that emphasizes the importance of public service and volunteerism in the legal profession. The Pro Bono Society serves as a vehicle to assist law students seeking to earn the Boyd Service Award. Membership is an earned honor that signifies an objectively measured commitment to serving others during the school year, as well as the development of the skills and values important to a life of public service in the tradition of “pro bono publico.” Students must complete 15 hours of service and attend at least one “Lawyers and Leaders” program each semester to be eligible for membership.
A Student Advisory Board provides advice and counsel to the Associate Dean in strategic planning, programming design, and implementation of the College’s public service programs.
University of Kansas: School of Law
the website.
Placements are evaluated by student and employer input.
These opportunities are encouraged through the award of scholarships.
University of Kentucky: College of Law
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.
University of La Verne: College of Law
The University of La Verne’s Mission Statement identifies Community Service as one of four major concerns that “affirm a positive and rewarding life for its students.” The University believes that “service is a primary goal of an educated person. The University therefore encourages its students to experience the responsibilities and rewards of serving the human and ecological community.”
Law students who want to engage in law related pro bono activities can contact the Director of Clinical Programs. For non-law related pro bono activities and community service opportunities, the students see the Assistant Dean of Students.
The College of Law’s pro bono program is:
- A voluntary program for the law students.
- Students should aspire to perform 30 hours, or more, of volunteer work. Students who are able to perform 30 or more hours of pro bono publico work will be recognized during graduation.
- Students may volunteer for law related and non-law related activities.
- To be considered, the volunteer work must not result in the student receiving remuneration, academic credit, and/or some form of tangible reward.
University of Louisville: Louis D. Brandeis School of Law
Law students are required to complete 30 hours of public service at approved placements after their first year of law school.
The Samuel L. Greenbaum Public Service Program began as a voluntary program and became a mandatory program for the entering class of Fall 1991. The Program coordinates and certifies students' pro bono service. It provides a catalog listing of approved placements; students are required to reserve a placement with the Program Assistant before contacting the placement and beginning their public service hours. As a condition to receiving credit for their public service hours, the students are required to complete a Student Evaluation Form for each placement.
The Program allows service out of state. It also encourages group projects, including pro bono legal clinics. Law students have been instrumental in organizing legal clinics for those with low income.
University of Maine: University of Maine School of Law
The law school's faculty has enacted a voluntary pro bono legal service standard under which every student is strongly encouraged to provide a minimum of 80 hours of pro bono legal service prior to the time of graduation.
A Pro Bono Committee comprised of faculty members, students, and the law school's Director of Career Services oversees the program. The Career Services Office publicizes pro bono opportunities available to students and provides a mechanism for students to report their pro bono hours. Students who meet the voluntary standard of 80 hours of public service are recognized during an annual luncheon and receive special mention at graduation.
University of Maryland: University of Maryland School of Law
Service to vulnerable populations is not simply an aspiration; it is a requirement. Under the Cardin Requirement, all full-time students must take courses that connect theoretical study with legal services on behalf of people and communities without access.
The University of Maryland School of Law recently developed a voluntary pro bono and community service initiative for law students. This public service initiative has been introduced to the incoming students in the fall of 2006. To support this initiative, the law school has designated a director of pro bono and public service initiatives and a law student paid research assistant. The law school is working in partnership with the Maryland's Pro Bono Resource Center to expand opportunities for law students and provide support to public interest organizations. In addition to the Cardin requirement, the School of Law promotes pro bono and community involvement to all its students. It is an active member of PSLawNet and Equal Justice Works. Students also have access to two full time public service counselors and a resource coordinator to discuss pro bono opportunities and placements.
The collaboration with the School of Law and the student public interest law association, Maryland Public Interest Law Project and the Maryland Pro Bono Resource Center assists in identifying and encouraging additional public service opportunities for law students in the broader legal and social community.
University of Memphis: Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law
The importance of fostering and encouraging student pro bono activities is recognized in the law school’s rules and policies. The activities vary from year to year, depending upon student interests. At present (7/06) students are involved in immigration and social security appeals projects.
University of Miami: University of Miami School of Law
The University of Miami School of Law is committed to instilling an ethic of service in the public interest in the student body. From Orientation to graduation and beyond, students are strongly encouraged to become involved in a wide range of community and advocacy efforts in the public interest. Through course offerings, clinical opportunities and service initiatives, students are encouraged to explore issues relating to marginalized constituencies and communities and consider global issues affecting others. Many of the courses allow students to interact with practitioners/public interest attorneys. Our extensive curriculum offers many clinical opportunities, field placements and hands-on training environments, enabling students to learn alongside practitioners while earning credit or pro bono hours.
The school is dedicated to creating a network of public interest practitioners who are actively involved in the learning experiences of our students. Through an extensive speaker series and mentoring opportunities, UM Law students are able to develop close relationships with leading public interest and pro bono attorneys.
Investing in our future attorneys, UM School of Law offers numerous scholarships and awards designed to support our public interest/pro bono students. Students are eligible for selection in our Miami Scholars Program, the 3L Scholarship Program and the Public Interest Program, which all provided substantial financial support to students with demonstrated leadership in public interest and those who commit to continue their professional careers in the public interest.
Students are recognized for their community advocacy and pro bono service through the annual recognition reception and transcript recognition where the level of service has reached a minimum of 25 hours. Each year, we have been thrilled to see the exponential growth of the number of students, and the number of hours, dedicated to community and advocacy efforts.
The HOPE Public Interest Resource Center, the Center for Ethics and Professionalism, and the Career Planning Center work together to support and foster a passion for public interest in UM Law students in and out of the classroom. The Assistant Dean of Public Interest and Pro Bono, along with a dedicated Career Counselor, provides academic and career advising to students interested in pursuing public interest careers.
The University of Miami School of Law has demonstrated its extraordinary commitment to public interest and pro bono through the creation of the Assistant Dean for Public Interest and Pro Bono and the growth of the HOPE Public Interest Resource Center. The energy and enthusiasm among faculty, students and alumni has propelled Miami to the forefront of public interest law education and opportunities.
University of Michigan: University of Michigan Law School
The Office of Public Service (OPS) develops the vision for, and implements, the Pro Bono Program for the University of Michigan Law School community. OPS is dedicated to helping students and graduates integrate public service with their professional development and to guide those wishing to pursue careers in government or public interest. OPS supports pro bono work by: 1)initiating pro bono projects; 2) developing and implementing pro bono projects with the many active student groups; and 3)working with faculty on their pro bono projects.
University of Minnesota: University of Minnesota Law School
In 1999, MJF launched its Law School Public Service Program, a collaborative effort that now includes the MJF, the four Minnesota law schools (Hamline University School of Law, University of Minnesota Law School, University of St. Thomas School of Law and William Mitchell College of Law), the Minnesota State Bar Association (MSBA), and over 150 agencies. The Law School Public Service Program is designed to promote an ethic of public service in Minnesota law students and to increase the availability of legal services to Minnesota's low-income and disadvantaged populations. Through the Pro Bono Component each Minnesota law school asks its students to perform 50 hours of law-related public service and makes the commitment to have placements available. MJF coordinates the volunteer placements. Lists of opportunities are made available to students in hard copy and on the web. MJF oversees placements and receives feedback from both students and supervising attorneys concerning the placements. MJF has a Newsletter which is widely distributed three times a year. MJF has sponsored intensive street law placement opportunities for students during spring break.
In recent years over winter and spring breaks, students have taught Street Law in Greater Minneapolis, assisted clients in completing immigration forms in Willmar, and participated in the Asylum Law Project, serving refugees in Texas and Florida.
University of Mississippi: School of Law
University of Missouri: Kansas City School of Law
The Clinical Program and the Office of Career Services collaborate to assist students in volunteering with public interest law organizations. Each year there is a Volunteer Fair which gives public interest law organizations the opportunity to recruit students.
Volunteer opportunities – both law and non-law related -- are advertised by the Office of Career Services, the Law Clinic, faculty, the Student Affairs director and the Public Interest Law Association (PILA).
University of Montana: University of Montana School of Law
The mission of the University of Montana School of Law's required clinical program is to provide for third-year students faculty-supervised, experience-based learning by representing clients in clinics serving the public interest. The clinical program engages students in applying, enhancing, and integrating substantive and skills components of legal education, improves their ability to identify and resolve ethical and professionalism issues, and assesses student performance and the law school's competency-based curriculum. Most students enroll in their first or second choice of clinic.
There are also some pro bono opportunities. The local legal services office recruits students to assist in its pro se family law clinic. Students also provide tax assistance through VITA program, in conjunction with the School of Business.
University of Nebraska: University of Nebraska College of Law
University of Nevada, Las Vegas: William S. Boyd School of Law
The William S. Boyd School of Law Community Service Program, in collaboration with Clark County Legal Services and Nevada Legal Services, is a mandatory program. After completing a training course, second semester, first-year students provide free legal information courses on family law (divorce), paternity/custody, small claims, bankruptcy, guardianship, and immigration. In conjunction with the Neighborhood Justice Center some students are trained as mediators and conduct co-mediations and mediations throughout the academic year.
Through the voluntary Partners in Pro Bono Program, a student is partnered with an experienced attorney and the two work together on a pro bono case. This project is a partnership of the law school (Associate Dean for Administration and Student Affairs) and Clark County Legal Services.
http://www.law.unlv.edu/communityServiceProgram.html
University of New Mexico: University of New Mexico School of Law
All UNM law students must complete a six-credit clinical course before graduation. Law students are able to enroll in a variety of clinical courses to complete this graduation requirement.
Career and Student services routinely arranges for pro bono work to be done by students together with lawyers and agencies. Students have opportunities to serve in the public defender's office, on a pro bono basis and to serve on various boards and committees who focus on service to the poor.
University of North Carolina: University of North Carolina School of Law
The UNC School of Law Pro Bono Program began in the fall of 1997. Since its inception the Pro Bono Program has filled hundreds of placements with attorneys in non-profit organizations, private practice, and North Carolina's legal services organizations. The program is administered by ten law students, matching students with placement needs.
The UNC School of Law Pro Bono program encourages and facilitates pro bono within the law school. The program matches law students with practicing attorneys across the state to work on cases that the attorneys have taken for free or on reduced rates. The Pro Bono Program provides clients with high quality, low cost legal representation. Additionally, working on pro bono projects gives students valuable hands-on experience while encouraging attorneys to take on cases that they might not otherwise have the resources to do. The program also works with student organizations on their pro bono projects.
The program is the central point for all pro bono activities at the law school and maintains a database to keep track of student pro bono activities. When students complete 50 hours of pro bono service, they receive a Letter of Recognition from the Dean of the law school. Students performing over 75 hours of pro bono service receive a certificate from the North Carolina Bar Association and the law school acknowledging their service at the end of their third year. The law school makes a special recognition at graduation of students who have performed over 100 hours of pro bono service. Furthermore, students with more than 50 hours of pro bono service earn a notation on their transcripts. The Pro Bono Program operates primarily from August to April, with special projects going on during the Winter and Spring Breaks.
University of Oklahoma: College of Law
The Pro Bono program at the University of Oklahoma College of Law is called Students for Access to Justice, or SATJ. It began in April of 2004, and continues to grow. This program is overseen by a member of the faculty and gets assistance from the Office of Career Services. There are two paid student coordinators--a second-year student and a third-year student. Both student coordinators work approximately five hours per week. The third-year, or senior coordinator, is responsible for the training of the junior coordinator, and the junior coordinator is expected to take over the senior coordinator's position upon the senior coordinator's graduation.
The student coordinators find placement opportunities and connect them with interested students. They are responsible for recruiting both participating organizations and student volunteers. The student coordinators monitor the placements and collect data when the placements are finished.
University of Oregon: University of Oregon School of Law
Through the School of Law's Pro Bono Certificate Program, started in 1996, students are encouraged to perform at least 40 hours of law-related pro bono work after completing their first semester and before graduation. A Pro Bono Executive Board comprised of faculty and students, implements the school's student pro bono program. The students are selected by the Student Bar Association and the faculty members are appointed by the Dean. The Board pays one student to help coordinate the efforts and to help identify key pro bono opportunities that may interest specific interest groups. See http://www.law.uoregon.edu/org/probono
The Board provides a current list of local organizations that accept pro bono volunteers and access to the Public Service Law Network. It encourages students to arrange their own pro bono situations. Board members promote opportunities through emails, bi-annual open houses with speakers, the pro bono challenge with eye-catching stickers and slogans, expanded group projects such as Street Law, articles and an award ceremony. The Board is available to answer student questions about how to contact organizations.
The Associate Director for Career Services serves as the Director of the Pro Bono Program and Chairs the Executive Board, tallies pro bono hours, orders certificates of completion, relays names to the Administration for recognition at graduation, and serves on the local county bar pro bono committee. She acts as the law school liaison between the law school Pro Bono Board and community organizations that hire law students for pro bono work.
University of Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania Law School
Penn's Public Service Program, created in 1989, was an outgrowth of a faculty effort to explore ways of meeting the increasing gap between the needs and the resources in the legal community. The Program is based on two premises: 1) that attorneys have an ethical obligation to devote some portion of their professional energy on pro bono work, broadly defined; and (2) that law students' experience in performing law related work would increase their ability and inclination to engage in such services during their careers as attorneys. The Program's mission includes the extension of the legal services delivery network and concomitantly, the development of innovative approaches to legal services work. The Program emphasizes the development of student clinical projects that leverage the supervisory skills of a shrinking public interest bar, attempting to meet increased community needs while at the same time cultivating public spiritedness and leadership in our students.
The Pro Bono Program, just one program of the Public Service Department, has a custom designed database that is updated daily to match students with the placement of their choice. Once a placement is approved and listed in the roster, the entire student body can review the placement description. Students may consult the Program staff to discuss available opportunities. The Program monitors compliance through correspondence, phone calls, site visits, and forms.
University of Pittsburgh: School of Law
The Director of Career Services and Public Interest Initiatives serves as the primary referral source for student pro bono opportunities. The Director has an established relationship with the Allegheny County Bar Association Pro Bono Coordinator and works with the ACBA to promote pro bono opportunities for law students. The Director also co-sponsors a Pro Bono and Volunteer Fair each year with the student organization PLISF (Pitt Legal Income Sharing Foundation). The Director published student pro bono opportunities in the weekly Professional Development Newsletter, Pitt Law Works. Additional pro bono and volunteer projects are promoted by the Dean of Students, Law School Faculty and student organizations in the Law School’s E-Docket Newsletter.
University of Puerto Rico: School of Law
All students are required to take in their last year the course: Legal Aid Clinic (3 credits each semester). This is a live clinic course for low income clients. The 13 sessions including diverse topic, such as: Minors, Inmigration, Mediation, Gay Lesbian
In addition, the school provides a voluntary and formal pro bono experience coordinated by a School official. The Enlace Program with students from public high schools adjacent to the UPR campus.
More recently the School has provided ample support to the pro bono services rendered by ANDA an Environmental Law Students Organization which has provided support and orientation to community environmental leaders from all parts of Puerto Rico.
University of Saint Thomas: School of Law (MN)
Reflecting its Catholic character, UST Law believes strongly that all lawyers (and, for that matter, all non-lawyers) have an obligation to share their gifts with those who are less fortunate. Every UST Law student must perform at least 50 hours of community service during his or her three years of law school.
UST Law imposes this public service requirement for two reasons: First, the obligation to serve others does not end upon enrollment in law school and begin again upon graduation. Law students remain members of the broader community, with all of the accompanying responsibilities. Second, the most reliable indicator of whether a lawyer will do pro bono work in the future is whether that lawyer has done pro bono work in the past. Law students who have served the community-even under the compulsion of a public interest requirement-are far more likely to serve the community after graduation than those who have not. The public service requirement does not need to be law-related. Students are encouraged to satisfy the requirement through a range of activities consistent with the School of Law mission and that draw upon their own faith and values in serving the public.
University of San Diego: University of San Diego School of Law
The University of San Diego School of Law Pro Bono Legal Advocates (PBLA) is a student-run organization that provides opportunities for law students to donate their time and talents to the community. The purpose of PBLA is to promote charity, selflessness, and justice in law students so that each may bring those qualities into the professional arena. PBLA achieves its goals each year by molding its programs to meet the changing needs of the student body.
PBLA is dedicated to giving legal assistance to the local community. Through each of its seven programs, PBLA helps bring legal help to those who would otherwise be lost in the legal system or who might not be able to afford competent counsel. In addition, PBLA provides programs that are not specifically law-oriented for those who want to help out in the local community. Current programs include AIDS home visits, guardianship, domestic violence prevention, juvenile law, mediation and a high school mentoring program.
University of San Francisco: University of San Francisco School of Law
The Law in Motion Service Program's motto is "Knowledge, Service, Justice." It provides legal and non-legal community service projects for law students, faculty and staff. Among its activities is a Spring Break Project in the Tenderloin District of San Francisco.
The University of San Francisco School of Law is also a member of the Public Interest Clearinghouse. Its Pro Bono Project is a collaborative effort of the Public Interest Clearinghouse, member law schools (UC Davis, Hastings College of Law, and the University of San Francisco), and various legal organizations. At the School of Law, the Office of Student Affairs, in cooperation with the Office of Career Services and the Public Interest Clearinghouse, promotes and advertises pro bono opportunities.
University of South Carolina: University of South Carolina School of Law
The University of South Carolina Pro Bono Program, established in 1989, strives to engage all students in one or more pro bono opportunities. It is run by a faculty Director who is assisted by a Student Advisory Board. Duties of the board members include: recruiting fellow students, serving as a sounding board, bringing new ideas and projects to the attention of the Director, serving as a representative of the Pro Bono Program on various law school and Bar committees, and being spokespeople for the Program.
The Program publishes informational brochures and a newsletter, works closely with the South Carolina Bar, and holds fundraisers. A special effort is made to have available short-term projects for the summer. http://www.law.sc.edu/probono/
University of South Dakota: University of South Dakota School of Law
University of Southern California: University of Southern California Gould School of Law
The student-run Pro Bono Campaign, begun in 1992, encourages students to perform a minimum of 35 hours of pro bono during the school year. Two officers of the Public Interest Law Foundation are dedicated exclusively to the Pro Bono Campaign. The Associate Dean for the Office of Public Service and the Assistant Dean for the Career Services Office advise and support the students, as does the entire PILF Board which includes two deans, a faculty member and five graduates.
Pro bono opportunities are promoted and facilitated through various means. Some programs are run through our in-house clinics or the Office of Public Service; others are coordinated with local legal services offices, many of which include student trainings offered in the Law School building; and additional opportunities are off-site. All programs are advertised in the Law School's weekly newsletter and through a pro bono listserv.
USC also requires an upper-division professional skills course which may be satisfied by taking a clinical course or externship.
University of Tennessee: University of Tennessee College of Law
The student pro bono program has several components. They are:
U.T. Pro Bono (started in 1993): This free-standing student-run organization promotes and coordinates pro bono service projects open to the entire student body. Its focus is on providing legal assistance to those who otherwise could not afford representation. The organization has a faculty advisor, and each service project also has an involved faculty member. UT Pro Bono sponsors group projects in several subject areas. It publicizes opportunities through College email, public meetings, workshops, trainings, posters on bulletin boards, notices in the weekly newsletter published by the College of Law, and by word of mouth. The coordinators of each project have primary responsibility for evaluation and monitoring, but the overall leadership of UT Pro Bono, faculty project advisers, and the overall faculty adviser evaluate progress periodically and at the end of each academic year.
Career Services Support: A designated staff member in Career Services devotes part of her time to helping students with a strong interest in pro bono to find clerkship and internship opportunities and to find jobs that will allow for significant pro bono involvement.
Pro Bono and Public Interest Advising Network (PPLAN): This group of faculty advisers offers one-on-one career counseling for students with a special interest in pro bono or public interest law, sponsors occasional speakers and other programs on pro bono and public interest law careers, and makes recommendations to the law school about ways it can better help students find pro bono and public interest law placements in the community or with in-house group projects. Pro Bono and Public Interest Law Committee: This faculty, staff, and student committee works to promote both pro bono and public interest law through a range of activities and projects, including a special area of the law school's website, speakers, an advising network, etc.
The Dean has given enthusiastic support for student pro bono work. He has built the subject into recruitment events for applicants, orientation events for new law students, and gatherings of alumni advisers.
Intensive short-term pro bono: Several delegations of students have traveled to Miami in past years to work for a week or so on refugee and asylum cases there.
University of Texas at Austin: University of Texas at Austin School of Law
The William Wayne Justice Center for Public Interest Law works to educate all students about the need to increase access to justice through pro bono. The Justice Center sponsors pro bono and community service projects, presents awards that recognize pro bono work by students, arranges special classes for first year students on access to justice issues, and assists student organizations develop pro bono activities. The Justice Center works closely with the Career Services Office and the Office of Student Life to promote pro bono work. The CSO maintains a listserve where volunteer opportunities are publicized, recruits and maintains relationships with public interest organizations, and helps students secure paid and non-paid placements. The OSL includes presentations on pro bono as part of orientation, and works with the Justice Center to encourage student groups to engage in community service and pro bono.
University of the District of Columbia: David A. Clarke School of Law
In conjunction with the Law and Justice Course and Community Service Program, first-year students must participate in the Community Service Program. The Law and Justice Course and Community Service Program is a unique part of the first-year experience at the David A. Clarke School of Law. The course is one week long under the direction of Professor Edgar S. Cahn that runs prior to the start of first-year classes. In addition to participating in the classroom portion of the course, first-year students must participate in the Community Service Program, engaging in a minimum of forty hours of pro bono service to the District of Columbia community. Full-time faculty run the program. Faculty advisors develop projects in which the students can participate or approve a student's choice of an independent community service placement or project. The community service work must be legal in nature and in the public interest.
The course introduces students, at the very beginning of their law school experience, to the School of Law's mission of training advocates for justice and providers of legal services for low-income people. It also introduces students to core lawyering competencies of legal analysis, problem solving and professional responsibility. The program raises students' awareness of community needs and facilitates their ability to tackle policy questions and implement strategies to address the problems of disenfranchised people. In addition, students gain information regarding career options and encounter public interest lawyers who may serve as role models. Students are required to submit time sheets and an essay summarizing the community service experience. The program also encourages communication between first-year students and their faculty advisors on community service as well as on academic and many other topics.
The David A. Clarke School of Law's legislative mandate requires that the School of Law train law students through faculty-supervised representation of low-income District residents. Consistent with its mandate, the School of Law strongly emphasizes clinical education and pro bono legal services. Students are required to complete 40 hours of law-related public interest community service and 700 hours in the clinic programs that serve low-income District of Columbia residents. In addition, the School of Law provides summer public interest fellowships to eligible students and offers an internship course which includes placement in public interest, public service, and public policy organizations.
University of Tulsa: College of Law
TU Law Pro Bono Program Goals are:
INSTILLING – a life long commitment to pro bono services, beginning as a law student
ASSISTING – real clients with real legal needs under the supervision of lawyers committed to pro bono work
ENABLING – public service organizations to increase their case load and individual lawyers to accept more pro bono cases
University of Utah: University of Utah College of Law
More information can be found at www.law.utah.edu/probono/. The Pro Bono Initiative is led by Director Kristin Erickson, Associate Dean of Legal Career Services, and is supported by a program coordinator. Participation in the Initiative is strongly encouraged for all students and limited to those who have completed their first semester of coursework. Student placements vary by semester and cover numerous fields of interest. Community street law clinics are sponsored through the Pro Bono Initiative as well as placements with private practice attorneys, firms, and community organizations. A certificate of achievement is awarded to participants volunteering 50 or more hours by graduation.
University of Virginia: University of Virginia School of Law
The Pro Bono Project encourages students to volunteer at least 25 hours annually to a project or projects of their own choosing. The Pro Bono Project is administered by Assistant Dean for Pro Bono and Public Interest Kimberly Emery and is housed in the Law School's Mortimer Caplin Public Service Center. Emery and her staff in the Public Service Center assist students in locating appropriate pro bono placements and also assist student-run organizations with the development of their own pro bono projects. Graduating students who completed at least 75 hours of pro bono work during their three years at the Law School are recognized in the commencement brochure and at an award ceremony during graduation weekend. A graduating student who has exhibited "an extraordinary commitment" to pro bono is also honored with the annual Pro Bono Award.
In 2004-05, 263 students participated and logged over 11,300 hours of pro bono service, and 51 students in the graduating class received recognition for completing 75 or more hours of pro bono work.
In addition to providing much-needed legal services to indigent clients and other underrepresented groups (it is estimated that currently 80 percent of civil legal needs are unmet), pro bono projects allow law students to gain valuable practical experience, such as legal research and writing skills, essential interviewing techniques, and other investigative and advocacy skills.
Pro Bono Project Database and Sample Projects
Emery and her staff maintain the pro bono database, which offers students easy access to an array of projects in both the local Charlottesville area and the world. Projects can be short-term or long-term, but must necessitate the use of legal skills. Qualified placements include nonprofit organizations, attorneys and law firms working on pro bono cases, local governmental offices, legal services organizations, and federal government agencies. The database also contains a comprehensive listing of all past projects. Organizations that have used law student volunteers previously are likely to do so again, and students seeking a specific type of placement should be sure to review the database's listing of closed projects. The database contains a wide array of different types of projects. Past projects have included:
Legal Aid Intake Project - Volunteers provide client intake services for the local Legal Aid Society at soup kitchens and homeless shelters. The Project also includes the Family Advocacy Project, a partnership with the U.Va. Children's Medical Center.
Virginia Capital Representation Resource Center - Student volunteers provide legal research and writing assistance and also provide investigative services in state habeas cases.
Charlottesville Public Defender's Office - Students volunteer to assist attorneys with criminal defense cases.
EarthRights International-Washington, D.C. - Student volunteers provide legal research and policy analysis on a variety of international human rights issues.
Students working on pro bono Projects may do legal research and writing, client and witness interviews, policy review, investigation and evidence gathering, and actual trial work. Third-year students who have their practice certificates may represent clients in court under the supervision of a licensed attorney.
University of Washington: University of Washington School of Law
All students enrolled in the Juris Doctor program are required to perform 60 hours of public service legal work to graduate. Students can fulfill the public service requirement in any of the following ways:
- By enrolling in and satisfactorily completing a law school clinic. Currently the Law School offers eight clinics in different areas: Appellate Advocacy, Child Advocacy, Criminal Law, Immigration Law, Indian Law, Mediation, Refugee Advocacy, and Unemployment Compensation Law. There is no limit on the number of clinic credits a student can take.
- By enrolling in and satisfactorily completing a Public Service Externship for at least two academic credits. Students can undertake externships with government agencies, nonprofit organizations, legislative bodies, the judiciary, or private law firms on pro bono matters. Students cannot undertake externships with a private law firm or agency on fee-generating matters. Students can enroll in externships only after completing the first year of law school, can take a maximum of 15 externship credits, and must work 30 hours over the course of a quarter for each credit.
- By enrolling in and satisfactorily completing the Street Law Course. In this program, students are assigned to teach a practical law course to high school students.
University of Wisconsin: Law School
While no formal voluntary pro bono program is currently available at the Law School, we are working on a model program which we hope to have in place by early 2007.
Valparaiso University: Valparaiso University School of Law
Since 1990, students must complete 20 hours of pro bono legal service prior to graduation. Qualifying service tracks the language of Rule 6.1 of the Indiana Rules of Professional Conduct and includes assisting a private attorney on matters handled without a fee or a reduced fee, assisting an attorney who represents the government, assisting a judge, and assisting an attorney employed by a public interest organization. The activity must be of the type of work expected of an attorney or law clerk.
The program is supervised by Professor Ivan Bodensteiner and administered through the Career Planning Center. Students may fulfill the pro bono requirement starting in the summer following their 1L year and must complete it prior to graduation. Opportunities are facilitated by the Career Planning Center. Students make the contacts themselves. Supervising attorneys confirm that the work was done and are encouraged to comment.
Students have the option of doing the work during the summer, over breaks and during the academic year.
Vanderbilt University: Vanderbilt University Law School
The law school has a policy encouraging pro bono activity by law students. The Pro Bono Program of the Vanderbilt Legal Aid Society is student run by students but has a professor as the faculty sponsor. The VLAS organizes a number of activities designed to assist traditionally underrepresented groups in the Nashville area, such as residents of state prisons, mental health hospitals, and juvenile detention facilities. These activities are directed by law student members of the Society, assisted by members of the Law School's clinical faculty. Informal meetings are sponsored for law students to exchange ideas and experiences relating to public interest law practice.
The Pro Bono Program allows students to assist local attorneys with pro bono cases. The Program is administered in coordination with the Nashville Bar Association, with the objective of encouraging current and future lawyers to undertake more pro bono work. The cases involve a variety of practice areas such as personal injury, social security benefits, and divorce. Participating students work one-on-one with attorneys and gain practical experience assisting in library research, legal writing, and client or witness interviews. Any student may participate on a voluntary basis; second-year and third-year students can earn one extracurricular credit per semester by completing certain requirements set by the Legal Aid Society. In addition, during orientation, all 1Ls are required to engage in a pro bono project.
Vermont Law School: Vermont Law School
Villanova University: Villanova University School of Law
The Director of Public Service Careers and Pro Bono Programs works closely with the clinical faculty, student Public Interest Fellowship Program, student Pro Bono Society and the Alumni Affairs Office to develop educational programs and student pro bono/public service placements. Information about pro bono opportunities, including training sessions, panel discussions and other presentations, is publicized through the Law School weekly newsletter, the Gavel Gazette; via email from the Director to law students; and through the various student organizations. Students are also informed about the various websites that provide information about pro bono opportunities. To monitor placement quality, the Director contacts the students and the field supervisors on a regular basis about their placement and experience. For more information, see: http://www.law.villanova.edu/studentservices/careerstrategy/probonoprograms.asp
The Director also oversees administration of Villanova's "Lawyering Together" program, which pairs practicing attorneys with Villanova Law students to handle pro bono projects. This program works in coordination with the SeniorLAW Center, the Support Center for Child Advocates and Philadelphia Volunteers for the Indigent Program, all of which are headquartered in Philadelphia, PA. See http://www.law.villanova.edu/administration/alumnirelations/lawyeringtogether.asp
The Director coordinates the administration of other standing and ad-hoc pro bono projects, including:
- Disability Project with the Legal Clinic for the Disabled (students present "Know Your Rights" workshops and conduct intake clinics for persons who are disabled);
- Federal Defender Capital Habeas Unit project (students assist in preparation for capital cases);
- Homeless Advocacy Project Adopt-A-Shelter program (students conduct intake and assist homeless women and children with various civil matters);
- Pennsylvania Immigration Resource Center Pro Bono Project (students assist immigrant detainees with habeas petitions);
- Street Law with the Chester City School District (students present workshops in classrooms K-12 on various aspects of the law); and
- VITA (students assist low income community members with tax return preparation).
Also, public interest scholars are required to participate in at least one clinical course and either a second clinical course or an externship.
Wake Forest University: Wake Forest University School of Law
Washington and Lee University: School of Law
The Law School has no centralized pro bono program, though it does have student group pro bono projects. Students interested in volunteering in the community are directed to the University's Shepherd Program for the Interdisciplinary Study of Poverty and Human Capability. The Shepherd Program offers law students academic and service learning opportunities through summer work with agencies that offer legal services to disadvantaged persons and communities in rural and urban settings throughout the eastern U.S. It also coordinates academic-year volunteer service in the community. See http://sheperd.wlu.edu .
Volunteer opportunities are promoted through posters placed campus-wide, broadcast emails on the campus electronic bulletin board, the student handbook, an organization fair at the beginning of the school year and student government.
Washington University: School of Law
The Public Service Project at Washington University School of Law was established in 2000 to encourage and facilitate law student, faculty and staff participation in volunteer public service projects. Its goals are (1) to foster and encourage in law students an understanding of professional responsibility that includes a commitment to public service during and after law school; (2) to benefit the community by providing desperately needed services that those with legal training are privileged to possess; and (3) to strengthen law students' legal and professional skills by providing both valuable hands-on experience and opportunities to establish ties with community leaders and organizations. Both legal and non-legal volunteer opportunities are encouraged.
The Public Service Coordinator, with the help of the student Public Service Advisory Board, administers the public service project by supporting public service initiatives and developing new opportunities for students. Opportunities are publicized through the Public Service Bulletin, sent out weekly via email, and displayed on the Public Service Project website.
The following pro bono projects are administered directly through the Public Service Project:
- St. Louis Volunteer Lawyers & Accountants for the Arts (VLAA) Nonprofit Incorporation Project - VLAA student volunteers, under the supervision of an attorney, assist arts organizations by helping them incorporate as nonprofit organizations.
- Refugee/Asylum Seekers Project (RASP) - Students are trained to work with Interfaith Legal Services for Immigrants to assist its clients in completing asylum applications. Students have the option of assisting the client beyond the application process.
- Public Service Research Initiative (PSRI) - Students involved with PSRI provide research assistance to legal aid/legal services attorneys, pro bono attorneys, and attorneys working for nonprofit organizations or the government in Missouri and Southern Illinois.
Wayne State University: Wayne State University Law School
In Fall 2007, Professor and Clinical Director David Moss will launch an HIV/AIDS Pro Bono Project in which he will coordinate student and faculty volunteers to assist those needing legal assistance with issues relating to HIV/AIDS.
In addition, we have several independent student-run pro bono projects, including projects run by the Student Board of Governors (the law school student government), the St. Thomas More Society, and the Hurricane Relief Network.
West Virginia University: West Virginia University College of Law
Law students are encouraged to donate up to 25 hours of their time each semester (many provide far more than 25 hours) to provide pro bono legal services to the poor and the unrepresented. Students frequently work with the Center Director (an attorney) in representing indigent clients.
Students, who do not receive credit or financial compensation for their efforts, also contribute their time to assist West Virginia state judges, the West Virginia Attorney General, prosecutors and legal aid lawyers. Volunteer law students and attorneys have provided thousands of hours of pro bono legal assistance, in myriad areas, to hundreds of needy West Virginians.
Western New England College: School of Law
Students (and faculty) are encouraged to participate in pro bono projects and activities, and the Career Services Office and individual professors maintain lists of ongoing and available projects and activities.
Western State University: Western State University College of Law
In the school’s programming and course of study, the faculty attempts to inculcate an ethic of public service. Central to this effort is the Public Service Program which provides resources, programs, and placements to enable students to use their developing legal skills to provide assistance to their communities and to the underprivileged. Student service is approved by the Director and subject to faculty oversight. Public interest service is recognized throughout the law school community in the form of awards, certificates and transcript notations. The program also recognizes public interest service of a non-legal nature that nevertheless supports and reinforces the program’s mission.
Whittier Law School: Whittier Law School
The Whittier Law School Public Interest Law Foundation Board is intimately involved in planning all student pro bono activities, as is the community service committee of the Center for Children's Rights. Opportunities are promoted through brochures and other promotional materials.
The Law School uses a number of tools, most commonly supervisor review forms.
Widener University: Widener University School of Law
The Public Interest Resource Center (PIRC) in Wilmington and the Public Interest Initiative (PII) in Harrisburg are dedicated to connecting students with public interest information and volunteer opportunities. PIRC and PII locate volunteer placements throughout PA, DE, and NJ. They also monitor student and placement satisfaction, and track hours of service in order to administer the pro bono distinction graduation recognition program. Information regarding our our pro bono programs may be found at http://www.law.widener.edu/academics/pi/.
Willamette University: Willamette University College of Law
The Pro Bono Honors Program is designed to encourage students to participate in community-based volunteer legal service projects. The Program allows students to enhance their learning experience through hands-on involvement in the community, while providing valuable services to people in need.
William Mitchell College of Law: William Mitchell College of Law
In 1999, MJF launched its Law School Public Service Program, a collaborative effort that now includes the MJF, the four Minnesota law schools (Hamline University School of Law, University of Minnesota Law School, University of St. Thomas School of Law and William Mitchell College of Law), the Minnesota State Bar Association (MSBA), and over 150 agencies. The Law School Public Service Program is designed to promote an ethic of public service in Minnesota law students and to increase the availability of legal services to Minnesota's low-income and disadvantaged populations. Through the Pro Bono Component each Minnesota law school asks its students to perform 50 hours of law-related public service and makes the commitment to have placements available. MJF coordinates the volunteer placements. Lists of opportunities are made available to students in hard copy and on the web. MJF oversees placements and receives feedback from both students and supervising attorneys concerning the placements. MJF has a Newsletter which is widely distributed three times a year. MJF has sponsored intensive street law placement opportunities for students during spring break.
Yale University: Yale Law School
The Pro Bono Network is administered through the Career Development Office, see http://www.law.yale.edu/stuorgs/4926.htm for more information. Additional information about the Liman Program can be found at www.law.yale.edu/intellectuallife/ArthurLimanPIFellowship&fund.htm
Yeshiva University: Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law
During First Year Orientation, The Center For Public Service Law encourages students and provides them with information to become involved in the School's various Pro Bono Projects (Cardozo Youth Advocates, Court Advocates Project, and the Unemployment Action Center). The Center also directs students to consult local and state Bar Associations for additional city-wide pro bono projects. Additionally, during Public Law Advocacy Week, many local organizations attend the Volunteer Fair where students can speak with representatives and sign up for various projects.
The Center for Public Service Law provides assitance to all students interested in pro bono projects that may be housed throughout the area.
