The Career Development Office (CDO) has partnered with the Public Interest Law Organization (PILO), Experiential Education, and the Pro Bono Initiative (PBI) to put together programs and events for Public Interest Law Week (Aug. 26 – Sept. 3), helping students get information, network, and pursue jobs. Here’s what’s planned:
Monday, Aug. 26
- Intro to public interest careers: Learn about the vast and rewarding array of public interest careers with CDO Director Jaclyn Howell and PBI Director Caisa Royer
- 12-1:15 p.m. in Rooms 6613 and 6619
- RSVP now
Tuesday, Aug. 27
- Public interest pastries: Join us for informal pastries, bagels, and coffee with alumni, CDO, Experiential Education, PBI and PILO
- 9-11:30 a.m. in the Student Engagement Center (second floor)
Wednesday, Aug. 28
- Spring to D.C. breakfast information session: Enjoy hot breakfast and learn more about the Spring to D.C. program
- 7:30-8:30 a.m. in Room Flynn (sixth floor)
- RSVP now
- Equal Justice Works (EJW) information session: Learn about the largest public interest hiring fair in the country and EJW post-graduate fellowships. Charleen Hutson, EJW program manager, will discuss summer placements, long-term jobs, and designing your own fellowships.
- 12-1:15 p.m. in Rooms 6613 and 6619
- RSVP now
Thursday, Aug. 29
- Public interest Q&A table: Ask us anything about public interest careers in this informal session
- 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. in second-floor café area
Tuesday, Sept. 3
- Public Interest Careers Fair: Meet public interest employers during an hour of tabling, followed by an hour of networking over appetizers.
- 5:30-7:30 p.m. in the multipurpose room on the sixth floor
- RSVP now
PILO talk
Public interest careers include prosecutors, public defenders, university general counsels, Title IX attorneys, and the JAG Corps—and the settings can include nonprofits and foundations focused on the environment, civil rights, disability rights, and education.
2L Claire Munsell, who will be leading the Public Interest Law Organization this year with Sydney Brubaker, says she is excited to connect students with public interest opportunities so they can discover the type of public interest legal career that most appeals to them.
“Since public interest law is defined as ‘anything affecting the well-being, the rights, health, or finances of the public at large,’ but ‘most commonly advocating for those living in poverty or marginalized populations,’ it can mean very different things to different people,” she says. “I’m excited for more S.J. Quinney College of Law students to gain exposure to a variety of public interest careers, and I also hope that students who aren’t drawn to ‘traditional’ public interest law get to discover areas in which they’d like to make a positive impact, perhaps by doing pro or low-bono work in the future.”
Munsell also wants students to know that PILO is for everyone, whether they’re planning to work in-house, for a firm or nonprofit, in government or in a JD-optional job.
“PILO is here to help students identify how they’d like to make the world a better place and ways they could serve those goals no matter where they build their career. Because pro bono and low bono work is incredibly important, working in the public interest isn’t exclusive to certain jobs or employers,” she says.
Though graduation is still more than a year away, Munsell is excited about her career path after law school.
“I want to leave a positive legacy behind me, and a public interest career will allow me to do that directly through my work. That isn’t to say that practicing public interest law is the only way to create a positive impact on the world as an attorney, but for me, public interest law is both the fulfillment of my lifelong goals and in alignment with my values,” she says.
Learn more about PILO and PBI at the Public Interest Pastries event on Tuesday, Aug. 27, in the Student Engagement Center.