Public Interest Law Program | Navigate a Long Term Career

Why Do Public Interest Work During Law School?

Fact: In California, more than 75% of the essential legal needs of the poor go unmet each year. Yet, the number of attorneys and amount of money available to help underrepresented people secure justice is shrinking. By doing public interest work while in law school and/or beyond, you:

Through PILP, you will get the opportunity to see classroom lessons put into
action, to bring to life what you read and learn in school. At the same time, you will be giving back to the community and opening doors to justice.

Thinking About a Public Interest Career?

Explore this area to read more about what that might mean for you! Included are articles that discuss the benefits and challenges to a career in public interest law, including first steps for 1Ls, a guide to specialty areas, government lawyering and the benefit of pro bono to the private bar.

Equal Justice Works’ A Path to Public Interest: Practical Advice for 1Ls allows new law students to understand how one might pursue a legal career in the public sector. Available at:
Interested in a certain area of public interest law? Harvard Law School’s Specialty Guides has practical advice for law students who want to explore specific areas of law.
Government lawyers are public interest lawyers! To learn more about practicing law in the government, Vault has an incredible wealth of information for law students who seek careers in public service in local, state or federal government positions.
Understanding how public interest fits into the private bar: A Vital Mission: Reflections on the value of public service by the private bar by Bill Gates.

Whether you are applying for it as a summer job or full time attorney position, public interest employers will carefully read your resume and cover letter contents. It is important you highlight your accomplishments. Explore this area for materials on preparing a cover letter and resume with a focus toward public interest. Harvard Law School’s Office of Public Advising Sample Cover Letters and Resumes: http://www.law.harvard.edu/students/opia/details.php?id=resume-samples

“How to interview for a public interest job: It ain't no big-firm meet-and-greet" -- Law Crossing’s article on interview tips for public interest lawyers.
Let Your Resume Do the Work, an ABA publication. Learn how to perfect your legal resume to attract employers.
The Path to Pro Bono: An Interviewing Tool for Law Students
The Legal Aid Association (LAAC) website for all law students interested in public interest

Non-Profits: This is the traditional notion of “public interest law.” Each of these sites has ideas of ways you can apply for jobs in non-profit organizations.

Idealist.org
PSLawNet: NALP’s public service network worldwide
Equal Justice Works
Craigslist (search by city/state)
The Public Interest Law Initiative
The American Bar Association
Opportunitynocs.org
California Legal Advocates
National Legal Aid & Defender Association (NLADA) Job Opportunities
Law Help California

Public Interest Law Firms: Public interest law firms are generally smaller and focus on individual plaintiffs or class actions, policy or impact litigation.

The National Association of Law Placement (NALP) Directory of Legal Employers:
The National Lawyers Guild student referral guide has lots of resources for students ranging from mentoring programs to helpful resource guides.
Yale Law School’s guide to public interest law firms:
Harvard Law School’s guide to public interest law firms:

Government: Working in the government as an attorney is exciting and rewarding work. Many government positions require a JD or consider having a JD a value to the position. There are two tracks--state government and federal government opportunities. These links will aid you in exploring career options in the government and provides the link to preparing an application for the federal government honors program.

California Attorney General’s office has postings for California state government job openings.
USAJobs is the webpage for all federal government job openings.
If you are interested in apply to the federal government honors program, read and explore this guide which explains the process and lists all agencies and offices that have honors program openings along with their deadlines (Federal Honors Program).
Statewide District Attorney’s offices and Public Defenders offices are available by searching on the web for your local county office.

Law Schools: Teaching at a law school is another option for public interest minded law students. While teaching positions are extremely competitive and typically do not hire until a lawyer has been practicing for a few years, this is an option for students and attorneys to think about while in law school.

The Society of American Law Teachers site has job postings and openings. This website may be useful to students to join during law school to understand future career options as law school professors.

Other Summer Fellowships