Courses: The Law School offers an array of courses that include public-interest law topics. The GALILEE program provides first-year students with a unique opportunity to explore urban-poverty issues through a three- or four-day immersion program. Following the first year of law school, law students may engage in direct representation of low-income clients through the Legal Aid Clinic, which has a broad docket of civil cases, including immigration. Students also can gain valuable experiences through the Legal Externship-Public Defender course. Other courses likely to be of interest to students who are considering a career in public-interest law include consumer law, family law, and trial skills courses to mention a few.

Community Service: One common element of many student organizations at the Law School is community service. Indeed, Orientation for new students includes a four-hour service project in which most most first-year students choose to participate. Projects recently undertaken by student organizations include: making and serving meals to members of Dismas House; food and clothing drives for the area’s impoverished; involvement with Big Brothers Big Sisters; tutoring area grade-school and high- school students; and, volunteering at the South Bend Homeless Center.

Summer Employment: The Law School Career Service Office coordinates summer public-interest positions for first-year students. In recent years, more than two-thirds of the class has participated in this program and these students have benefited from the opportunity to be engaged in the work of non-profit organizations, legal aid societies, state and federal governmental entities, and public defender offices in all regions of the country.

Full-Time Employment: The Career Services Office (CSO) coordinates a variety of initiatives to encourage students who wish to be employed in public-interest work following graduation. Each fall and spring, the CSO hosts a variety of informational programs and services, including a public-interest reception that brings to campus public-interest attorneys from across the country. The CSO also coordinates participation in public interest career fairs held in Washington, D.C. and Chicago, as well as a campus-wide, not-for-profit career fair.

Financial Assistance: For prospective law students considering a career as a public-interest attorney, one especially critical issue is educational debt. Each year, the Law School provides nonrepayable fellowship assistance to approximately 60 percent of the typical entering class, with an average award amount that in recent years has averaged $14,000. In 2001, the Law School established an expanded Loan Repayment Assistance Program (LRAP) to assist eligible Law School graduates who choose to work in public interest, public service, or other similar positions after graduation. By expanding LRAP, the Law School seeks to help alleviate an obstacle prevents graduates from pursuing positions in public-interest and public-service employment.

Profiles of Notre Dame Public Interest Lawyers
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Online Videos: ND Alumni and Students Comment on Serving the Public and Being a Different Kind of Lawyer
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