Site Compares Programs in Public-Interest Law
October 12, 2006 | Read Time: 1 minute
Prospective students can visit a new Web site to learn about — and compare — law schools’ public-interest offerings.
The E-Guide to Public Service at America’s Law Schools provides information on 115 law schools. The information was compiled by Equal Justice Works, a Washington charity that seeks to promote a public-service ethic among lawyers, and was published with Newsweek.com.
“Most law students actually go to law school with a desire to do public-interest work or to do justice work,” says David Stern, chief executive officer of Equal Justice Works. “They’re wide-eyed and they’re eager to help people who are without access to legal services.”
But, he says, before the new guide was available, there was nowhere for prospective students to get information about public- interest programs when considering which law school was the best fit for them.
The guide provides information on such topics as whether there are staff members at the law school dedicated to running public-interest programs, the kinds of opportunities students have to provide pro-bono services, and whether the school offers loan- repayment assistance to graduates who take public-service jobs. The site does not rank the programs based on the information.
The guide has been three years in the making, with much of that time spent consulting with law-school deans, faculty members, advisers, and public-interest lawyers. Mr. Stern says that those discussions have already spurred some law schools to re- examine their own public-interest programs, which he says was another goal Equal Justice Works had for the guide.
“We want all boats to rise with this project,” says Mr. Stern. “Our ultimate hope is that every school will improve their offerings so as to attract the best students to their school.”
To get there: Go to http://www.ejw.newsweek.com.
