DePaul University College of Law
DePaul University
College of Law
25 East Jackson Blvd
Chicago, IL 60604
www.law.depaul.edu
Law School Pro Bono Programs
Contact Information
Leonard L. Cavise
Professor of Law
Director, Center for Public Interest Law
lcavise@depaul.edu
312.362.6841
Shaye L. Loughlin
Associate Director, Center for Public Interest Law
sloughli@depaul.edu
312.362.7212
Cheryl D. Price
Director, Pro Bono and Community Service Initiative
DePaul University College of Law
25 East Jackson Boulevard
Chicago, IL 60604
312.362.6202
cprice13@depaul.edu
Category Type
Formal Voluntary Pro Bono Program Characterized by a Referral System with a Coordinator
Description of Program
The Pro Bono and Community Service Initiative
Created in 2005 with funding from the Center for Public Interest Law, the Pro Bono and Community Service Initiative (PBCSI) connects students with rewarding and flexible volunteer opportunities in both legal and non-legal settings. Past volunteers have staffed an expungement help desk, hosted interview workshops for juveniles with criminal histories, tutored kids, educated at-risk youth about their legal rights, worked at legal clinics, and helped individuals transition from homelessness. The number of opportunities presented and the number of students involved has expanded every year. In 2009, the school approved an aspirational goal that each DePaul College of law student complete at least fifty hours of pro bono or community service during their time at the law school.
Location of Program
Independent
Staffing/Management/Oversight
PBCSI operates collaboratively with the Center for Public Interest Law. PBCSI is managed by a part-time attorney coordinator and three students who are members of the Center for Public Interest Law Committee. University Ministry is also involved.
Funding
The Center for Public Interest Law funds the program.
Student Run Pro Bono Groups/Specialized Law Education Projects
Pro Bono and Community Service Initiative – matches students with pro bono and community service projects both in and out of the legal community.
Faculty and Administrative Pro Bono
No pro bono requirement exists for faculty. Many, however, are involved in a variety of pro bono projects including: leadership with local social service-oriented agencies, immigration/asylumcasework and human rights projects.
Awards/Recognition
There is a recognition reception for students completing at least fifty hours of pro bono or community service events at the end of each academic year. In addition, graduating students who have completed more than two hundred hours of service are honored at a special ceremony during graduation weekend.
There are four Senior Service Awards that are voted on by the faculty and announced at graduation.
Community Service
In addition to matching students with substantive pro bono projects, the Pro Bono and Community Service Initiative also connects students with non-legal volunteer opportunities.
Donate-a-Day ProgramStudents are provided with one-time volunteer opportunities that support local non-profit organizations. Each volunteer event - which typically lasts 3 to 4 hours - allows students to gather and get to know one another in a relaxed social setting while providing non-profits with the much-needed labor needed to carry out their visions..
Service Immersion ProjectsTo promote an understanding of the local and regional challenges that exist outside of Chicago, the College of Law offers a number service immersion trips. The availability of course credit and program location varies each year. Recent programs include a survey of the socio-economic and political climate in Chiapas, Mexico; the Border Project, where students assist for a week at a legal clinic on the U.S-Mexico border; and Hurricane Katrina relief efforts
The Border Project The Spring Break Border Project provides law students with the opportunity to represent detained immigrants in their removal proceedings in Harlingen, Texas, over spring break. Students work closely with the faculty from the DePaul Asylum and Immigration Law Clinic and the staff of the South Texas Pro Bono Asylum Representation Project (ProBAR) to represent clients in their immigration cases. Students stay at La Posada Providencia, a shelter for immigrants from all over the world that are seeking asylum or other legal remedies in the United States. Applications are accepted at the beginning of the spring semester, and selected students are required to participate in two orientation meetings prior to departure.
New Orleans Service Trip In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, DePaul law students have lent their support to the victims of the Hurricane. A group of committed students spent a week during December of 2005 in New Orleans, engaging in physical labor to help clean-up neighborhoods and homes and attending meetings on plans to rebuild the community. DePaul students continue to be involved in the rebuilding efforts by making this an annual service trip and by participating in a student-run hurricane relief effort.
Appalachian Spring Break Trip Since 2008, two groups of DePaul law students have visited Appalachia during spring break to assist with local environmental problems. Students in Appalachia work on a variety of projects, such as cleanup of rivers, illegal dumping areas and trails. Students also work with environmental attorneys representing communities affected by toxic waste pollution.
Service Immersion Course
Chiapas Human Rights PracticumThe Chiapas Human Rights Practicum allows students to travel to Chiapas, Mexico for ten days to meet with the major human rights and indigenous organizations in the community. Students stay primarily in San Cristobal where local human rights lawyers, activists and community leaders teach students about the local legal and political situation. Students will also spend time in the countryside, visiting communities where human rights workers are located. In the past, the group has visited Oventic which is one of the Zapatista centers (caracoles) and the village of Acteal, many of whose inhabitants were massacred by paramilitaries in 1997. Prior to departure, students must participate in a series of pre-trip orientation meetings scheduled for week-day afternoons. Students are eligible to receive one credit hour for the practicum. Spanish-speaking students are eligible for stipends to work the entire summer in a human rights office.
Law School Public Interest Programs
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Contact Information
Alisa M. Rosales, J.D.
Director for Public Interest Law, Law Career Services
arosale3@depaul.edu
312.362.8387
Certificate/Curriculum Programs
DePaul offers a Public Interest Law Certificate. The program entails required and elective coursework and an experiential component. Please visit http://www.law.depaul.edu/centers_institutes/public_interest/certificate_program.asp for detailed information.
Public Interest Centers
Center for Public Interest Law - The Center manages all aspects of the public interest law program, including the Public Interest Honors Scholars program, two public interest sections, including an evening section, of the first-year Legal Analysis, Research & Communications course, the Pro Bono and Community Service Initiative, a student volunteer program, the Journal for Social Justice, a speakers and mentors program, a Loan Repayment Assistance Program (LRAP), and greatly expanded contacts with the public interest community. Please visit the Center website for more information: http://www.law.depaul.edu/cpil
Public Interest Clinics
All of the clinics at the College of Law are public service. Community-based service learning has a long tradition at DePaul University, and the College of Law exemplifies this practice through its clinical programs. Under faculty supervision and guidance, students sharpen their skills and knowledge while engaging in legal practice outside the formal classroom setting. They earn academic credit while concentrating on the problems faced by clients in seven distinct areas: Asylum/Immigration, Civil Rights, Criminal Appeals, Death Penalty, Family Law, Poverty Law and Technology/Intellectual Property. Clinics are open to law students starting their second year, with programs lasting either one semester or an entire academic year. Please visit the Clinic website for more information: http://www.law.depaul.edu/clinical_programs/
Externships/Internships
An extensive externship program exists offering placement in many public interest fields. The program is open to upper level students and requires 180 hours field work per semester. Please visit http://www.law.depaul.edu/programs/professional_skills/field_placement.asp for detailed information.
Classes with a Public Service Component
A few courses have experiential public interest components. Such courses include Mediation, Chiapas Human Rights Practicum, ( http://www.law.depaul.edu/programs/study%5Fabroad/chiapas.asp), Economic Justice, Domestic Violence.
Public Interest Journals
Journal for Social Justice - The Journal for Social Justice is a new publication of the Center for Public Interest Law. It promotes discussion of public policy issues, encouraging submissions of interdisciplinary work. The journal offers legal practitioners, community leaders, academics and students, the opportunity to voice their concerns, share their unique experiences, offer radical viewpoints and propose solutions. Journal articles are meant to reflect the experiences of the author. The Journal also explores alternative publication formats and expands content options to broaden access and better engage readers. Center for Public Interest Law Newsletter - http://www.law.depaul.edu/centers_institutes/public_interest/newsletter.asp
Public Interest Career Assistance
The Career Services office have two staff members dedicated to public interest career services. One full time, and one student associate. For more details, please visit http://www.law.depaul.edu/students/career_services/.
Loan Repayment Assistance Programs (LRAP)
The LRAP is now in its fifth year. There are ten 2010 LRAP Recipients. Please visit http://www.law.depaul.edu/centers_institutes/public_interest/lrap.asp for more information.
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Post-Graduate Fellowships/Awards
Law School Funded:
Graduate Student Funded:
Other Funding Sources:
Term Time Fellowships/Scholarships
Law School Funded:
Public Interest Honors Scholars - The Scholars program is a program for Dean’s Merit Scholarship recipients with excellent credentials and a demonstrated commitment to the public interest. As part of the program, the College of Law guarantees the students a scholarship for public service work during the summer after their first year. The program also includes a number of special events and faculty and alumni mentors for the scholars.
Graduate Student Funded:
Other Funding Sources:
Summer Fellowships
Law School Funded:
Graduate Student Funded:
Other Funding Sources:
DePaul offers a number of summer funding opportunities for students dedicated to public service.
Helen M. Cirese Fellowship
The family of Helen M. Cirese family created this summer stipend for a student who is working in public interest law and has demonstrated high academic achievement, a commitment to public service and issues that impact women.
Cudahy Fellowship
The Patrick and Anna Cudahy Fund, a foundation which supports social service, youth, and educational organizations, has awarded several summer fellowships to students choosing to work the summer after their first year at a public interest agency of their choice.
Albert & Anne Mansfield Foundation Fellowship Program: The Mansfield Foundation provides two stipends for students who wish to work for Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago.
Pusateri Fellowship
The Pusateri Fellowship is part of a larger grant to the College of Law by the family of the late DePaul alum Lawrence Pusateri. It is dedicated to the facilitation of working in public service.
Vincentian Summer Fellowships
The DePaul University Office of Mission and Values has created to stipends for students who are committed to public interest work and to learning more about the life and legacy of St. Vincent de Paul. These stipends are only available for students who work for non-profit organization.
Public Interest Law Association (PILA) Stipends
Every year, DePaul's student-run Public Interest Law Association hosts a benefit auction to raise funds for summer stipends to support students interested in working in public interest law for the summer. Stipends enable students to work at non-profit legal organizations. For the past three years, PILA has been able to provide about 10 stipends a year to DePaul public-interest law students.
Extracurricular and Co-Curricular Programs
Lunchtime Speakers - CPIL, sometimes in partnership with various student groups, sponsors lunchtime events that feature speakers and presenters to discuss different public interest and social justice topics and issues;Vincentian Conference - CPIL sponsors an annual conference with a panel and key-note speaker presenting issues and topics related to public interest;
Receptions - CPIL sponsors evening receptions throughout the year. Specifically, there are receptions to mark the start and the close of the school year, to connect student with mentors in the public interest law community and to celebrate the LRAP recipients and program.
Student Public Interest Groups
ACLU - Raises awareness of various public interest/human rights issuesAmerican Constitution Society - Hosts speakers and panel events
Amnesty International - Hosted events to raise awareness of international human rights issues
National Lawyers Guild - Hosted speakers, film discussions. Trained legal observers. Sponsored trip to School of the Americas Protest for law students.
Outlaws - Hosts events to raise awareness about legal issues concerning the gay community
Public Interest Law Association - Hosted speakers and panels; raised and distributed money to students working in public interest fields
