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Public Interest
Requirement
The Rule
All students must fulfill a
public interest requirement as a condition of graduation.
Public Interest under this
rule is defined as employment or service with a:
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government agency;
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legal aid, legal services, public defender, victim advocate or similar agency;
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an
organization or attorney advocating law reform or performing pro bono legal
representation; or
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any placement the dominant characteristic of which is service to
underrepresented groups.
Within this rule, “public
interest” and “public interest setting” are defined in terms of the two primary
purposes of the rule, which are: 1) educational - to expose all students
to the legal, strategic, institutional, interpersonal, and ethical issues
involved in counseling and representing systematically underrepresented groups;
and 2) - justice - to improve the access of the underrepresented to legal
services by supporting service providers to those groups and by encouraging law
students to consider careers in service to such groups.
“Public interest” as defined
herein does not refer to a judgment on the social value of the matter or matters
to which a student is assigned; it refers to the dominant characteristics of the
practice setting in which the student is placed. However, a student can
satisfy the 30 hour pro bono option if the student receives prior approval to
work uncompensated doing a pro bono project for a private firm. A placement
that substantially fulfills the criteria and purposes of this rule is not
disqualified because the student is assigned to work on matters that could be
defined as socially counterproductive.
Judicial internships are not
included in this definition. Private firms operated for profit are only
included under the 30 hour pro bono option, as explained below.
The requirement may be
fulfilled in any of the following ways:
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completion of a public interest clinical course;
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completion of a co-op in a public interest setting;
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30
hours (total) of uncompensated legal work in a public interest setting
or an approved public interest pro bono project with a private firm during
the second semester of the first year, second and/or third year of law
school; or
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completion of a public interest independent study project of at least three
credit hours if, in the opinion of the supervising faculty member and the
Assistant Dean of Academic and Student Affairs, the project substantially
fulfills the objectives of this rule and there is a a showing of a compelling
reason why a student cannot comply with the requirement by doing a co-op,
taking a clinical course, or performing 30 hours of pro bono work.
Policies and Procedures
General
Procedures for Monitoring Compliance
Since a student's graduation
is contingent upon satisfying the public interest requirement, the Office of
Academic and Student Affairs oversees the process to ensure that each student
complies with the requirement.
At the end of a law student's
second year in May, he/she will be notified in writing if he/she has not
satisfied the requirement. Students who have not yet satisfied the requirement
will be reminded in writing that in order to graduate they must fulfill their
public interest obligation by the end of their third year. No student, however,
will be permitted to start the winter quarter of their third year without having
informed the Office of Academic Affairs and Student Services how they
specifically intend to satisfy the requirement (e.g., the specific co-op,
clinical course, pro bono placement or independent study). If a student intends
to satisfy the requirement by performing a Pro Bono project, he/she must
complete that project no later than April of his/her third year.
Students who satisfy the
Public Interest Requirement by completing a 30 hour pro bono project or a public
interest independent study must submit a Public Interest Requirement Completion
form in order to get credit for the requirement.
Determining whether a student
complies with the requirement by doing either a public interest co-op or taking
a clinical course is fairly simple.
Co-op
Each quarter, the Co-op
Office prints a book of all the participating co-op employers ("Employer Book"),
with a one page description of each employer. Each co-op which satisfies the
public interest requirement is identified by the following symbol, * PIR, under
the Remarks section of its description. Students who develop their own co-ops
with employers who clearly meet the definition of public interest under this
rule will satisfy the public interest requirement.
If a student works for a
co-op employer who has not been designated *PIR or has developed his/her own
co-op with an employer who may not clearly fit under the public interest
definition, and the student believes that the employer’s work may fit under the
catch-all provision in the definition or for some other reason meets the spirit
of the public interest requirement, the student may petition the Public Interest
Requirement Committee to approve of the co-op as satisfying the requirement.
(The student should initially consult with the Co-op Office because they may be
able to determine if the co-op meets the definition of the requirement and there
may be no need to petition the Committee). The Committee shall consist of
students (a student representative elected from the first year class and one
student representative from each rotation for the second and third year
classes), administrators (Bettye Freeman, Randi Friedman, Valerie Kapilow and
Jeff Smith) and faculty (Karl Klare). The Committee will inform students as
soon as possible whether their petition has been approved. If the Committee
disapproves the petition, the student may appeal the decision to the Chairperson
of the Committee on Curriculum, Academic and Student Affairs, who may issue a
decision in consultation with with his/her committee members.
The Co-op Office will provide
the office of Academic and Student Affairs with a list every quarter of those
students who have successfully completed a public interest co-op as defined
under the requirement.
Clinical Programs
Completion of any one of the
law school’s clinical programs satisfies the pubic interest requirement. The
Office of Academic Affairs and Student Services will keep track of the students
who have successfully completed one of the law school's clinical programs.
Pro Bono Project
Certifying that a student has
fulfilled the new requirement by performing 30 hours of pro bono work requires a
more elaborate monitoring procedure. Those students seeking to fulfill the
requirement by performing 30 hours of pro bono work will be required to follow
three additional steps.
First, those students will
have to submit a proposal to the Public Interest Requirement Committee briefly
indicating the nature of the proposed project, the supervising attorney and the
number of hours the student proposes to work on the project. The proposed
project must be reviewed and approved by the Public Interest Requirement
Committee at least four weeks prior to the start of the proposed project.
Students who intend to fulfill the requirement through this pro bono project
option must seek approval from the Committee for a specific project by the
second week of the spring quarter of his/her third year. The Committee will
inform students as soon as possible if their proposal has been approved or
disapproved. If the Committee disapproves the proposal, the student may appeal
the decision to the Chairperson of the Committee on Curriculum, Academic and
Student Affairs, who may issue a decision in consultation with with his/her
committee members.
Second, once a student has
completed his/her approved pro bono project, the student must submit a Public
Interest Requirement Completion Form which is filled out by both the student and
the supervising attorney and which certifies that the student has successfully
completed the project by performing 30 hours of law-related service .
Third, upon completion of the
pro bono project, the student must submit a Pro Bono Evaluation Form assessing
his/her experience. The student Pro Bono evaluations will be made available in
a binder for other students. The binder will be located in the Co-op/Career
Services Resource Rooms.
A student will not be
considered to have satisfied the pro bono option until the Evaluation Form and
Completion Form have been submitted. The Completion Form is to be submitted to
Randi Friedman or Jeff Smith. The Evaluation Form is to be submitted to Valerie
Kapilow. All forms must be in by the end of April of a student's third year in
order to be processed in time for graduation.
Public Interest Independent Study
The Committee understands
that the faculty, at its meeting of December 8, 1994, expressed the view that
the independent study option should only be allowed upon a showing of a
compelling reason why a student cannot comply with the requirement by doing a
co-op, taking a clinical course, or performing 30 hours of pro bono work. The
committee therefore requires students electing to satisfy the requirement
through a public interest independent study project, of at least three credits,
to obtain prior approval from the Assistant Dean of Academic and Student
Affairs, as well as the sponsoring faculty member, as required in the rule
itself.
The following three credit
independent study projects have been pre-approved as satisfying the public
interest requirement: the Cert Clinic and Court Watch.
Upon completion of an
approved public interest independent study, the student must submit a Public
Interest Requirement Completion Form which is filled out by both the student and
the supervising faculty and which certifies that the student has successfully
completed the independent study.
Policy Guidelines
1) The Committee will be
carefully reviewing pro bono projects submitted by first year students to ensure
that they have the requisite skills to do the project and that the project
satisfies the public interest requirement. Without exception, first year
students must get the pre-approval of the Committee for 30 hour pro bono
projects that are to be done in the second semester of the first year.
2) First year students
cannot satisfy the public interest requirement through their LCD projects.
3) Students selecting the pro
bono option cannot engage in multiple projects, totaling 30 hours. They must
select one project for at least 30 hours.
4) A student on co-op
at a private firm cannot satisfy the 30 hour pro bono option by working on that
firm's pro bono project(s), even if the student is willing to forsake 30 hours
of compensation. Students seeking to satisfy the requirement via the pro bono
option, must pursue such work independently of a co-op.
5) A student who engages in
public service community work such as with "Each One, Reach One" or "City Year",
cannot satisfy the requirement because it is generally not "legal" in nature.
However, if a student is engaged in a special pro bono legal project for
a public service organization, the student can submit the proposed project for
approval to the Public Interest Requirement Committee and such project will be
assessed on a case by case basis to see if it meets the standards set forth in
the requirement.
6) Generally, working for a
trade union or trade association does not satisfy the requirement because these
employers do not meet the definition of public interest under this rule.
However, a student can petition the Committee to review his/her work with a
trade union or trade association, on a case by case basis, to determine if the
dominant characteristic of the particular work to be performed will serve an
underrepresented group.
7) Because of the Co-op
non-communication rule, students shall be prohibited from initiating
contact with co-op employers in order to satisfy the requirement. However, there
is a way, consistent with the non-communication rule, for students to accept
projects with co-op employers. Co-op employers can initiate contact with
faculty and administrators to request student assistance on short-term projects.
(See, Hypothetical 6, discussion of the non-communication rule, appearing in the
Co-op Handbook). These opportunities will be posted on a central bulletin board
and students will be free to respond directly to employers. The bulletin board
will be located in the Co-op section of the Co-op/Career Services Resource Room
and will be designated as the place for posting pro bono opportunities.
Students will be advised that they should not take any affirmative steps to make
the co-op employer aware of their interest in applying for a co-op position.
Also, the Co-op Office will
make an effort to inform public interest employers who are not able to get a
full-time co-op student for a particular quarter that there may be students
interested in doing short-term projects. Any such opportunities would then be
posted on the pro bono bulletin board.
8) The role of the Public
Interest Requirement Committee will be to review student petitions requesting
that a co-op be deemed to have satisfied the requirement, approve 30 hour pro
bono projects and deal with any other policy and administrative issues arising
out of the requirement. The decisions of this group may be appealed to the
Chairperson of the Committee on Curriculum, Academic and Student Affairs, who
may issue a decision in consultation with with his/her committee members.
All official policy changes
will be published in the NUSL Student Handbook.
Forms
The following forms are
available from Student Services and on the web:
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