University of St. Thomas School of Law
University of St. Thomas
School of Law
1000 LaSalle Ave.
Minneapolis, MN 55403-2005
www.stthomas.edu/law/
Law School Pro Bono Programs
Contact Information
Vince ThomasAssistant Dean for Student & Multicultural Affairs
vathomas1@stthomas.edu
(651)-962-4898
Sara Sommarstrom
Staff Attorney and Program Director
651-962-4859
sara@mnjustice.org
Category Type
Community Service Graduation Requirement
Description of Program
Reflecting its Catholic character, UST Law believes strongly that all lawyers (and, for that matter, all non-lawyers) have an obligation to share their gifts with those who are less fortunate. Every UST Law student must perform at least 50 hours of community service during his or her three years of law school. UST Law imposes this public service requirement for two reasons: First, the obligation to serve others does not end upon enrollment in law school and begin again upon graduation. Law students remain members of the broader community, with all of the accompanying responsibilities. Second, the most reliable indicator of whether a lawyer will do pro bono work in the future is whether that lawyer has done pro bono work in the past. Law students who have served the community-even under the compulsion of a public interest requirement-are far more likely to serve the community after graduation than those who have not. The public service requirement does not need to be law-related. Students are encouraged to satisfy the requirement through a range of activities consistent with the School of Law mission and that draw upon their own faith and values in serving the public.
Location of Program
Dean of Students
Staffing/Management/Oversight
Vince Thomas, Assistant Dean for Student & Multicultural Affairs
Funding
Student Run Pro Bono Groups/Specialized Law Education Projects
BLSAVITA
Faculty and Administrative Pro Bono
Awards/Recognition
Each Spring, the UST School of Law has a Mission Awards Ceremony in which it recognizes students, staff and faculty who have exemplified the law school's mission and vision. One category of awards focuses on Community and Service. In addition, one member of the first-year class, the second-year class and the third-year class is recognized with a Living the Mission Award which encompasses a commitment to the Public Service aspect of the Mission of UST. In addition, as part of graduation, the commencement program recognizes all graduates who have logged more than 150 service hours (three times our graduation requirement).Public Service Hours are also noted in the commencement program.
Community Service
The student-run Public Service Board works independently and with student organizations to infuse the law school culture with a commitment to public service by developing non-legal public service opportunities for students, including a Public Service Day each semester in which faculty, staff and students all are encouraged to participate. In addition, over the last year, the Public Service Board has developed relationships with a number of organizations with whom the law school now sponsors regular service projects. These include Habitat for Humanity and Feed My Starving Children. Moving ahead, the Public Service Board expects to develop a regular after-school mentoring program with at least one inner city school. Finally, the Public Service Board is planning on sponsoring at least one annual service trip to Central America.
Law School Public Interest Programs
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Contact Information
Catherine PowellAssistant Director of Career and Professional Development
cmpowell@stthomas.edu
(651) 962-4862
Office of Career & Professional Development
Elizabeth Wefel
Director of Career & Professional Development
(651) 962-4865
eawefel@stthomas.edu
Office of Career & Professional Development
Virgil O Wiebe
Associate Professor; Director of Clinical Education
(651) 962 4976
VOWIEBE@stthomas.edu
Clinical Education
Certificate/Curriculum Programs
While UST does not have a concentration in public interest or social justice, in the registration materials distributed to students each semester, we describe the array of courses most appropriate for those students interested in a public interest emphasis or social justice emphasis.
Public Interest Centers
Minnesota Justice Foundation - www.mnjustice.org Public Service Board - As noted in response to Question 9, we have a student-run Public Service Board that works independently and with student organizations to infuse the law school culture with a commitment to public service by developing non-legal public service opportunities for students, including a Public Service Day each semester in which faculty, staff and students all are encouraged to participate. In addition, through its affiliation with the Minnesota Justice Foundation, UST's students have access to an array of legal pro bono service opportunities.
Public Interest Clinics
Interprofessional Center for Counseling and Legal Services - The St. Thomas Interprofessional Center for Counseling and Legal Services offers services through independent and collaborative counseling and legal clinics responsive to the needs of diverse and underserved populations. Students from the Schools of Law, Professional Psychology, and Social Work provide services under professional supervision grounded in their respective missions, training models, and ethical codes. The interprofessional training and services are provided within the overall mission of the University of St. Thomas, a comprehensive, coeducational, Catholic university that seeks to develop morally responsible individuals who combine career competency with cultural awareness and intellectual curiosity. The Center directors, faculty, supervisors, students, and staff are committed to high quality ethical practice, interprofessional engagement, teaching and research founded on principles of social justice. Website:
http://www.stthomas.edu/iccls/index.cfm
Externships/Internships
The Crime and Justice Externship offers students a unique opportunity to learn about the causes and consequences of crime and violence in our society. Externs examine the effectiveness and fairness of the criminal justice system as well as alternative models of justice, particularly models based on restorative justice principles. Externs also work on specific projects provided by the Council on Crime and Justice, a non-profit research and demonstration organization in downtown Minneapolis that focuses on improving the lives of crime victims, offenders and at-risk populations as a means to reduce crime and violence. Externs assist the Council by providing legal research and analysis on such issues as traffic stops and searches, the collateral effects of an arrest and/or conviction, and racial disparities within the criminal justice system.
The seminar offers students an opportunity to gain a first-hand understanding of the workings of the criminal justice system as well as alternative models and strategies for improving public safety and increasing public confidence across all segments of our increasingly diverse population. The seminar also affords students another opportunity to consider the compatibility of their ethics, values, faith, or passion for social justice as it relates to their image of the kind of lawyer or judge they hope to become.
Students earn two law school credits for their work in the Crime and Justice Externship. The total time commitment constitutes 100 hours of fieldwork and classroom time. The course is graded pass/fail, based on attendance and class participation, a presentation of a paper, and a final evaluation by the adjunct professor of the student's project work, including interim drafts of the final paper.
We also require every second and third year student to participate in the Mentor Externship Program, a program in which each student is paired with practicing lawyers and judges and experiences a variety of lawyering tasks/events in which they can anticipate participating when in practice. They then share in an intergenerational reflection on the experience of lawyering. As part of the Mentor Externship Program, each student develops a Person and Professional Development Plan identifying both the experiences they hope to have during the year as well as the ways in which they plan on integrating pro bono or public service into their professional development. Students earn one credit hour.
Classes with a Public Service Component
Minnesota Justice Foundation Seminar - The MJF Seminar, subtitled Legal Scholarship for Equal Justice, offers students an opportunity to research and write about issues/policies that members of the public interest bar have identified as being worthy of deeper consideration and evaluation. The course, which is offered jointly by all four Twin Cities schools, offers three students from each school the opportunity to do supervised research that is directly related to helping assure equal access to justice.
Public Interest Journals
Public Interest Career Assistance
We publish & distribute the Public Interest Press, a bi-weekly, electronic newsletter informing students of public interest volunteer, employment opportunities, as well as programming, guest speakers, and newly created job search resources to assist students seeking public interest or public sector employment. In addition, we maintain infomation on students interested in public interest work and send regular personalized emails to such students informing them of opportuntities and inviting them to work with us to apply for fellowships, and other public interest and public sector opportunities. We work with Minnesota Justice Foundation to ensure students are seeking and obtaining volunteer experience with a long list of public interest organizations and legal aid agencies in Minnesota. We also work jointly to ensure qualified students are applying for local MJF fellowships.
We assist students in applying for our competitive clinic program, which has programs in immigration, family law and elder law. We also assist students in applying for competitive national positions of public interest leadership.
We also conduct regular outreach with public interest and public sector employers (inviting them to campus, taking them to lunch and out for coffee, etc.) to ensure they are aware of UST and its multitude of bright students interested in public interest work.
Loan Repayment Assistance Programs (LRAP)
See USTLaw LRAP: http://www.stthomas.edu/law/financing/lrap.asp Minnesota LRAP: www.lrapmn.org
Post-Graduate Fellowships/Awards
Law School Funded:
The Interprofessional Center for Counseling and Legal Services provides an opportunity for UST School of Law graduates to further careers in public service by serving as postgraduate fellows. Fellows work as staff attorneys and supervise student work in collaboration with the faculty and staff of the center.
The fellowship positions are designed for recent graduates of the University of St. Thomas School of Law who have shown a demonstrated commitment to public service and social justice. Appointments are for one year, with the expectation that appointments will be renewed for a second year. Successful candidates should have previous experience in public interest law, strong communication and interpersonal skills, and excellent oral advocacy and writing skills. Prior participation in the Interprofessional Center is not required. Fellows will receive a salary competitive with entry level legal aid attorneys in Minnesota, an excellent benefits package, and substantial loan repayment.
University of St. Thomas Law graduates who are awarded fellowships will have an opportunity to gain significant legal practice experience, develop ties to other public interest lawyers and organizations serving the Twin Cities, and assist in the supervision of law students participating in the Legal Services Clinic. Fellowship recipients are expected to work closely with faculty and students in all three practice areas. Fellowship applicants must be eligible to practice law in the state of Minnesota and are expected to sit for the July bar exam following acceptance into the program.
http://www.stthomas.edu/law/financing/centerfellowships.asp
Graduate Student Funded:
Other Funding Sources:
Term Time Fellowships/Scholarships
Law School Funded:
John R. Roach Fellowship - We look at the applicants past experiences and commitments for evidence that the applicant has dedicated his/her life to serving the community. NOTE: The number of scholarships varies from year to year (it has been 2 some years and 3 other years) as does the percentage of tuition covered, which has been between 25-50%. The Roach Fellows agree to work for 3 years in qualifying public interest employment. Qualifying employment for the Roach Fellowship is the same as for UST LRAP (which is described elsewhere in the survey). See: www.stthomas.edu/law/financing/roachfellowship.asp
Graduate Student Funded:
Other Funding Sources:
Summer Fellowships
Law School Funded:
Graduate Student Funded:
Other Funding Sources:
Extracurricular and Co-Curricular Programs
Vocation Retreats - The law school offers a weekend Vocation Retreat at the start of each semester which focuses, in part, on helping students reflect on how God is calling them to use their gifts to be of service to those in need, both as a law student and, in the future, as a lawyer. In addition, as part of Orientation and as part of all Admissions Open Houses, we take time to talk with students about the Public Service Requirement and the importance of pro bono service.
Student Public Interest Groups
