Drake University School of Law
Drake University
Drake University School of Law
2507 University Avenue
Des Moines, IA 50311
www.law.drake.edu
Law School Pro Bono Programs
Contact Information
Trisha A. Fillbach
Director of Career Development
Drake University Law School
2507 University Avenue
Des Moines, IA 50311
(515) 271-4119
(515) 271-1858 Fax
trisha.fillbach@drake.edu
Category Type
Formal Voluntary Program Characterized by a Referral System with Coordinator
Description of Program
The Law School's Career Development Office advertises pro bono opportunities. In addition, the Student Bar Association is offered space and supplies for the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program. Other public interest organizations, including the American Constitution Society and Equal Justice Works are offered space to hold group meetings.
Location of Program
Drake University Law School's Career Development Office serves as the central location. The office works in collaboration with the Dean's Office, Admissions Office and Financial Aid to ensure students interested in public interest courses and/or employment receive the information and assistance they need.
Staffing/Management/Oversight
Director of Career Development Office oversees the program.
Funding
Office space is offered to the VITA program each spring.
Student Run Pro Bono Groups/Specialized Law Education Projects
Equal Justice Works hosts Public Service Law Day to celebrate the contributions of lawyers and judges in the field of public service.
Drake Law Women's Pro Se Domestic Abuse Program - After attending an evening's training, law students assist women seeking court protection in filling out the necessary paperwork and helping the women work through the process (without providing legal advice).
Hispanic Law Student Associationworks with the Polk County Bar Association and HOLA Center of Des Moines award volunteer opportunities.
Student Bar Association / ABA - A Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program is offered annually.
Volunteer Students - After training, students serve as volunteer Court Appointed Special Advocates.
Faculty and Administrative Pro Bono
A faculty member is expected to contribute public and professional service within the legal community to improve society and meet important public needs, which includes providing pro-bono legal services, government service, public service consulting, legislative drafting, or other forms of voluntary non-compensated service to the community.
Awards/Recognition
Supreme Court Day Celebration - The Ferguson Prize Gold($1000) and Silver ($500) are presented to the students who best exemplify the commitment of Drake Law School and the legal profession to public service, and who has rendered outstanding, primarily legal assistance to eligible individuals or groups in the Law School Clinic or to the other public service projects integrated with the Law School.
The William and Ellen Cooney Hoye Award ($500) is presented to the graduating student who in the opinion of the faculty demonstrates the greatest promise as an advocate.
Drake encourages public service and will award a certificate to any student who completes 60 hours of public service during his/her law school career. The students' names are included in the graduation program as having received the certificate.
Community Service
The Christian Legal Society sponsors various community service activities, including a mitten tree in December and serving meals at a local homeless shelter.
The Public Service Scholars, SBA, and the NAACP annually host the Halloween Hoops Shoot Out Party for between 200 - 275 inner city children.
Reggie’s Sleepout raises homelessness awareness and money in support of Iowa Homeless Youth Centers.
Equal Justice Works holds Court to Court 5K fundraiser for Iowa Legal Aid.
International Law Society raised funds for UNICEF through a school carnival.
Drake Law Women holds Raffle for a Reason to raise money for Children and Families of Iowa.
Law School Public Interest Programs
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Contact Information
Carole A. Tillotson
Assistant Director of Career Development
Drake University Law School
2507 University Avenue
Des Moines, IA 50311
(515) 271-4974
(515) 271-1858 Fax
carole.tillotson@drake.edu
Trisha A. Fillbach
Director of Career Development
Drake University Law School
2507 University Avenue
Des Moines, IA 50311
(515) 271-4119
(515) 271-1858 Fax
trisha.fillbach@drake.edu
Certificate/Curriculum Programs
Students must complete 60 hours of public service during their law school careers to obtain the Public Service Certificate.
Public Interest Centers
Middleton Center for Children's Rights
Agricultural Law Center
Constitutional Law Center
National Training Center for Public Service Attorneys - Hosts NITA conference for public service attorneys annually
Health Law and Policy Center
American Judicature Society
Legislative Practice Center
Public Interest Clinics
Neal and Bea Smith Legal Clinic
Advanced Criminal Defense Clinic-Trial
Advanced Criminal Defense Clinic-Appellate
Children's Rights Clinic
Criminal Law Clinic
Elder Law Clinic
General Civil Practice Clinic
First Year Trial Practicum
Externships/Internships
Drake University Law School offers numerous externship/internship opportunities including: Prosecutor, Environmental Law, Federal Public Defender, Ethics, Insurance, Independent, Probate, Securities, U. S. Attorney's Office, Administrative Law and Judicial Clerkships, Iowa Civil Rights, Iowa Workers Compensation and Iowa Legal Aid.
Classes with a Public Service Component
- First-year Trial Practicum
- Environmental Litigation.
Public Interest Journals
Constitutional Law Symposium http://www.law.drake.edu/centers/conLaw/#conLawSymposium
Drake Journal of Agricultural Law http://students.law.drake.edu/agLawJournal/
Public Interest Career Assistance
Students are provided with individual counseling, public interest employer panels, and group meetings regarding funding opportunities for summer including Loan Repayment Assistant Programs, Federal Work Study and the College Cost Reduction and Access Act. In addition, students have access to a full resource library of public interest opportunities. Students also attend on and off-campus public interest job fairs. Drake Law School provides on-campus interview program that includes public interest employers and a dedicated public interest career counselor. Drake Law School devotes an entire week to public interest issues and includes a one-day career fair for public interest organizations.
Loan Repayment Assistance Programs (LRAP)
The Law School is committed to 6 full-tuition Public Service scholarships each year (2 for students in each class, 1L, 2L, and 3L) and to 4 three-quarter tuition Public Service scholarship each year (2 for students in each of the 2L and 3L classes).
Post-Graduate Fellowships/Awards
Law School Funded:
The Law School is committed to 6 full-tuition Public Service scholarships each year (2 for students in each class, 1L, 2L, and 3L) and to 4 three-quarter tuition Public Service scholarship each year (2 for students in each of the 2L and 3L classes).
Graduate Student Funded:
Other Funding Sources:
Term Time Fellowships/Scholarships
Law School Funded:
- Drake Law School is committed to 6 full-tuition Public Service scholarships each year (2 for students in each class, 1L, 2L, and 3L) and to 4 three-quarter tuition Public Service scholarship each year (2 for students in each of the 2L and 3L classes).
- Drake University has committed $60,000 in Federal Work Study funds for Community Service for the past several years.
- For more than a decade the Law School has funded Charles & Joseph Howard Fellowships in the Drake Legal Clinic through the earnings from the students’ work in providing representation under the Legal Clinic’s grant with the Iowa State Public Defender’s Office. Typically, these earnings have been sufficient to award two to four Fellowships; Fellowship awards are made by the Director of Clinical Programs, in consultation with the Director of the Criminal Defense Clinic. Students must have a 2.00 law school cumulative grade point average. Howard Fellows are certified under the Iowa Supreme Court Student Practice Rule. Fellows must commit to a minimum of ten weeks and 200 hours of client representation. The Fellowship provides a scholarship that covers 2 - 4 hours of Summer Tuition, approximately $2 – 4, 000.
Graduate Student Funded:
Other Funding Sources:
Since 1997, the law school has secured grant funding to support a Summer Poverty Law internship. This grant provides paid internship opportunities for Drake law students with Legal Services Corporation offices in Iowa and with local and state agencies representing children in need of assistance. Interns had full-time work (400 hr.) at $15 per hour. The internship qualifies under the Iowa Supreme Court Student Practice Rule as law school-supervised academic experiences because of faculty supervision; however, because students are paid through grant funds, the students do not receive academic credit. In addition, for more than ten years, the Law School has committed scholarship funds to support summer public interest internships. The law school authorized scholarship funding to support externships and Legal Clinic Howard Fellows internships. The externships permit work in a range of public interest programs anywhere in U.S.
Summer Fellowships
Law School Funded:
- The Agricultural Law Center has secured grant funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, some of which has been allocated to support 10 summer internships. Students have received a stipend of $2,500, with a minimum time commitment of 240 hours. Students receive no academic credit.
- Since 1997, the law school has secured grant funding to support a Summer Poverty Law internship. This grant provides paid internship opportunities for Drake Law students with Legal Services Corporation offices in Iowa and with local and state agencies representing children in need of assistance. The internship qualifies under the Iowa Supreme Court Student Practice Rule as law school-supervised academic experiences because of faculty supervision; however, because students are paid through grant funds, the students do not receive academic credit.
Graduate Student Funded:
Other Funding Sources:
Since 1997, the law school has secured grant funding to support a Summer Poverty Law internship. This grant provides paid internship opportunities for nine Drake law students in 2005 with Legal Services Corporation offices in Iowa and with local and state agencies representing children in need of assistance. In the summer of 2005, interns had full-time work (400 hr.) at $15 per hour. The internship qualifies under the Iowa Supreme Court Student Practice Rule as law school-supervised academic experiences because of faculty supervision; however, because students are paid through grant funds, the students do not receive academic credit. In addition, for more than ten years, the Law School has committed scholarship funds to support summer public interest internships. For the summer of 2005, the law school authorized scholarship funding to support four externships and three Legal Clinic Howard Fellows internships. The externships permit work in a range of public interest programs anywhere in U.S.
Extracurricular and Co-Curricular Programs
Public Service Scholarship Program speakers
Dwight D. Opperman Lecture Series
Bi-weekly Public Service Scholarship Program speakers
Constitutional Law Symposium
Agricultural Law Symposium
Student Public Interest Groups
American Constitution Society
Animal Legal Defense Fund
Arts and Law Society
Asian Pacific American Law Student Association
Black Law Student Association
Criminal Justice Society
Drake Agricultural Law Association
Drake Law Democrats
Drake Law Outlaws
Drake Law Republicans
Drake Law Women
Environmental Law Society
Equal Justice Works
Hispanic Law Student Association
International Law Society
Public Interest Scholars
Student Bar Association
Student United for Consumer Advocacy
The Federalist Society
