ABA/LSDOffers Public Interest Funds

Interested in starting a public interest or diversity awareness project at your law school? The Law Student Division has two programs you should know about.

The Outreach Assistance Initiative (OAI) seeks to promote public service programs with the goals of reaching out to communities, enhancing the image of the legal profession, and providing opportunities for law students to make a difference in the lives of others. OAI achieves this in two ways: first, by providing up to $500 grants to law schools for the implementation of public service programs; and second, by serving as a resource center of information about projects. The OAI Manual, available free from the Division’s Chicago office (312-988-5624) or at the LSD’s web site (www.abanet.org/lsd/manuals.html), provides step-by-step instructions for instituting public service projects that have proved successful at other law schools.

The Professionalism, Ethics, and Diversity (PED) Fund, established two years ago in response to incidents of hate speech committed at several law schools across the country, encourages professionalism and diversity programming at law schools through $500 grants. Last year, nine schools used PED funds to sponsor panels on professionalism and ethics, diversity, and minority student outreach, as well as a disability awareness workshop and a Native American Law Day. The LSD’s Board of Governors voted last spring to make the PED Fund a permanent Division program and allocated $8,000 to this year’s fund, $1,000 of which can be used for immediate responses to hate speech, hate crime, and related action. Contact the Division’s Chicago office for an application, or download one at www.abanet.org/lsd/ped.html.