Marquette University Law School
Marquette University
Marquette University Law School
P.O. Box 1881
Eckstein Hall
Milwaukee, WI 53201
www.law.marquette.edu
Law School Pro Bono Programs
Contact Information
Angela F. Schultz, JD
Pro Bono Legal Services Coordinator
Marquette University Law School
Eckstein Hall, Room 138J
P.O. Box 1881
Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53201-1881
angela.schultz@marquette.edu
414.288.6823
Fax: 414.288.6403
Category Type
Formal Voluntary Pro Bono Program Characterized by a Referral System with Coordinator
Description of Program
Marquette University Law School offers a broad range of active and supported pro bono initiatives for its students. A student’s pro bono experience starts with taking a voluntary pro bono pledge when they enter law school. Marquette’s fulltime pro bono coordinator then helps students find the right pro bono placement at one of the many Marquette-sponsored programs, or at independent placements throughout the community.
The following programs are all examples of current pro bono initiatives that demonstrate Marquette’s commitment to serving the poor and underprivileged, or visit www.law.marquette.edu/jw/probono.
Marquette Volunteer Legal Clinics - the MVLC clinics are a part of Marquette’s pro bono initiative. The MVLC clinics are free walk-in legal clinics, staffed by volunteer attorneys and law students who provide legal information and referral services at four community-based locations. The MVLC clinics are located at the House of Peace Community Center, Hillview Council for the Spanish Speaking, the Veteran’s Affairs Medical Center, and the Milwaukee Justice Center within the Milwaukee County Courthouse. Visit www.law.marquette.edu/jw/mvlc
Know Your Rights Program - law students volunteer at the Kenosha Detention facility to present information and interview detained immigrants for potential legal representation by the National Immigrant Justice Center.
Legal and Medical Partnership for Families - LAMP is a medical-legal partnership between Marquette University Law School, the Medical College of Wisconsin, Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin, and the Legal Aid Society of Milwaukee. Law students assist volunteer attorneys in providing limited legal advice and referral services (including referrals for pro bono representation) to low income pediatric patients and their families at the Downtown Health Clinic and the Martin Luther King Heritage Health Center near campus.
Milwaukee Foreclosure Mediation Program - the MFMP provides parties involved in a foreclosure action the opportunity to participate in mediation. Marquette coordinates the mediation program through a chief mediator and program coordinator, who are assisted by volunteer law students and attorney mediators. Law students volunteer to review cases for mediation, respond to inquiries, and serve as co-mediators after training. Visit www.law.marquette.edu/foreclosure
Milwaukee Justice Center - the Milwaukee Justice center is a partnership between the Milwaukee Bar Association, Marquette University Law School, and the Milwaukee County court system. The MJC has daily self help sessions where law students and other volunteers provide procedural advice to self-represented litigants in the areas of family law and small claims at the Milwaukee County courthouse. Marquette also has a Marquette Volunteer Legal Clinic in partnership with the Milwaukee Justice Center at the Milwaukee County courthouse that provides limited legal advice and referral services through volunteer attorneys and law students.
Marquette Legal Initiative for Nonprofits - M-LINC provides Wisconsin nonprofit organizations with access to free legal advice. Law students field service requests and conduct research under the guidance of the M-LINC director. M-LINC also provides more in-depth services for one nonprofit each year, which includes multidisciplinary consultations from students and faculty at Marquette University Law School and Marquette University undergraduate programs in business, marketing and communications. Visit www.m-linc.org
Servicemembers and Veterans Legal Assistance of Wisconsin - SAVLAW assists service members with legal issues impacting their ability to serve through a pro bono referral system, and provides veterans with limited legal advice and referrals for civil legal matters through the Marquette Volunteer Legal Clinic for Veterans. Law students assist attorneys on the pro bono panel with cases, as well as work alongside volunteer attorneys at the clinic. Visit www.savlaw.org
Volunteer Income Tax Assistance - through VITA , law students assist in preparing hundreds of tax returns for low income individuals and international scholars/students during the Spring semester each year.
Independent Pro Bono Placements - law students volunteer at various community agencies throughout the state including: Legal Action of Wisconsin, Legal Aid Society of Milwaukee, AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin, ACLU of Wisconsin, Disability Rights Center of Wisconsin and Catholic Charities Immigration Services.
Location of Program
Pro bono is coordinated through the Office of Public Service by a fulltime pro bono coordinator.
Staffing/Management/Oversight
Marquette has a fulltime assistant Dean of Public Service and a fulltime pro bono coordinator, both of whom are attorneys. Marquette also has a part-time director for the Marquette Legal Initiative for Nonprofits and a part-time program assistant and adjunct professor for the Marquette Volunteer Legal Clinics, both pro bono initiatives. The Milwaukee Foreclosure Mediation Program has two fulltime employees, a chief mediator and a mediation coordinator, that oversee the pro bono mediators and law students. The pro bono work performed through the VITA program for Marquette is overseen by Professor Vada Lindsey.
The Marquette Volunteer Legal Clinics, Marquette Legal Initiative for Nonprofit Corporations and Servicemembers and Veterans Legal Assistance of Wisconsin are overseen by pro bono advisory boards, on which, law students serve as well. There are student coordinators for the Marquette Volunteer Legal Clinics, Alternative Spring Break, SAVLAW, and the Milwaukee Justice Center self help clinic sites.
Funding
Law School Operating Budget
Student Run Pro Bono Groups/Specialized Law Education Projects
Milwaukee Street Law Project- students teach substantive law courses and prepare high school students for statewide mock trial competitions in the Milwaukee Public high schools. Students can receive credit for participation in this program.
New Orleans Alternative Spring Break - the Lawyers Guild sponsors an alternative spring break where students work with local attorneys on a variety of legal issue related to Hurricane Katrina since 2007.
St. Thomas More - law students volunteer to tutor young men at a local detention facility on many areas of law, including constitutional and criminal law.
Faculty and Administrative Pro Bono
Faculty engage in various pro-bono efforts including asylum, death penalty, family law, non-profit organization and tax assistance. Faculty serve as advisors to students participating in the various student pro bono projects. Faculty may also maintain membership in the Pro Bono Society by performing at least 20 hours of pro-bono legal service per year. This service will be considered during annual faculty performance reviews.
Awards/Recognition
Marquette recognize students who complete 50 hours of qualifying pro bono legal service with a service cord at graduation and induction into the Pro Bono Society, with special honors for those achieving 120 hours of pro bono service. Qualifying pro bono hours must be: (1) primarily legal in nature, (2) not for credit or compensation, (3) supervised by a licensed attorney, and (4) in service of the indigent, those who otherwise lack access to justice, or a nonprofit whose mission is to serve the same.
Webpage: http://law.marquette.edu/cgi-bin/site.pl?2130&pageID=148
Community Service
Marquette University has an extensive program of Community Service and has been nationally recognized for its commitment to community service and service learning. The Law School maintains a relationship with the Office of Community Service, University Ministry, the Office of Mission and Identity and the Service-Learning program at the University Level. Marquette University has recently become a sponsor of Project Ripple, a volunteer engagement project in the Milwaukee area. Marquette Law School also maintains a relationship with the Volunteer Center of Greater Milwaukee and encourages its Law students to become involved in community service projects.
Law School Public Interest Programs
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Contact Information
Daniel Idzikowski
Assistant Dean for Public Service
P.O. Box 1881
Milwaukee, WI 53201
414-288-8060
daniel.idzikowski@marquette.edu
Certificate/Curriculum Programs
At this time, MULS does not offer a certificate program in Public Interest Law, but incorporates a commitment to service of the least advantaged throughout its curriculum in accordance with its mission as a Jesuit institution of higher learning.
The commitment of the Marquette University Law School community to service of the public interest is evident in its curriculum, co-curricular undertakings, and volunteer opportunities. Among the goals of its program of legal education is that each graduate be able to embrace a professional life that advances the Jesuit mission of service to the poor, marginalized, and underrepresented in society. Support for this goal may be found in professional responsibility instruction and in a host of courses throughout the curriculum.
Public Interest Centers
The Office of Public Service was established in 2005 to coordinate MULS’s efforts to provide meaningful pro-bono and community service opportunities to faculty and students, better connect MULS with community agencies, facilitate inter-departmental coordination and advance the scholarship of the school in accordance the mission of Marquette University. The Office of Public Service is coordinated by a full time Assistant Dean for Public Service, as well as part-time program directors, administrators, and adjunct faculty.
In order to advance our efforts to provide legal and community service opportunities, the Law School added a full-time Pro Bono Coordinator in 2009, Attorney Adrienne Olson L’03. Ms. Olson’s position was made possible through a generous five-year gift from the Posner Family Foundation. Ms. Olson counsels law students, encourages their interest in pro bono legal work, and assists them with placements. She will develop new pro bono programming and connect with alumni through the nascent Milwaukee Justice Center.
Website: http://law.marquette.edu/cgi-bin/site.pl?2130&pageID=2709
Public Interest Clinics
Marquette Law School offers four live-client clinical programs: (1) Marquette Small Claims Mediation Clinic, (2) Prosecutor Clinic, (3) Public Defender Clinic; and (4) Unemployment Compensation Clinic in cooperation with Legal Action of Wisconsin.
In addition to formal for-credit opportunities, Marquette Law School has an extensive offering of Pro Bono public interest clinics, allowing students to participate in active client intake and lawyering on wide range of issues. The Marquette Volunteer Legal Clinic involves more than 100 law students and 150 lawyers each year in service to the community at four locations including the Veterans Services Office and the Milwaukee County Courthouse. In addition, specialty clinics serve particular populations. The Marquette Legal Initiative for Nonprofit Corporations, the Legal and Medical Partnership for Families at the Downtown Health Center, the Servicemembers and Veterans Legal Assistance for Wisconsin, the Milwaukee Foreclosure Mediation Program, and the Immigrant Detention Project are all examples of specialized pro-bono clinical opportunities available at Marquette Law School.
Externships/Internships
MULS sponsors a number of supervised field placements with government agencies and public interest organizations that offer legal services, including:
AIDS Resource Center, Catholic Charities Immigration Project, Cento Legal, Legal Action of Wisconsin, Legal Aid Society of Milwaukee, MULS Restorative Justice Initiative, Midwest Environmental Advocates, the Wisconsin Equal Rights Division and various other state and federal government agencies. Placement in these externships entitles students to credit upon successful completion of designated number of hours and positive supervisory reports.
Classes with a Public Service Component
While Marquette has not currently developed a “track” for public interest law, all of its courses will include components addressing impact upon and service to disadvantaged populations.
Some classes such as Community and Economic Development Law and Nonprofit Law also have a service-learning component.
Under the direction of former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Janine Geske, Distinguished Professor of Law, the Restorative Justice Initiative serves as a resource for victims, communities, and restorative justice organizations; as a restorative justice clinical experience for law students; and as a program promoting scholarship, research, and dialogue on restorative justice. This initiative is committed to supporting victims and communities in the healing process by providing information and training resources, and by facilitating communication. The Law School offers classes in restorative justice and peacemaking and hosts an annual restorative justice conference at the university. Visit www.law.marquette.edu/jw/rji
In addition, Adjunct Professors of Law Deanna Singh and Notesong Thompson direct the Street Law program at Marquette, supervising law students who teach a legal education course culminating in a mock trial at four MPS high schools.
Public Interest Journals
Established in 1999 Marquette University Law School Elder's Advisor is a quarterly, national journal devoted to law and policy issues of later life, retirement, disability and financial planning. Elder's Advisor is produced biannually by student staff members and is a publication of Marquette University Law School. Marquette Law students have the opportunity to work closely with experts in the field to bring to publication a readable compendium of current issues, complex policy problems, and counseling for elder clients and constituents.
The Marquette Law School Office of Public Service maintains a substantial presence on the law school website under its Public Service tab: http://law.marquette.edu/jw/publicservice Found within the pages of this website is information on: mission, service, public interest careers, community outreach, the Pro Bono Society, the Restorative Justice Initiative, and many special public interest programs sponsored by Marquette Law School.
Public Interest Career Assistance
The Career Planning Center has an extensive collection of materials to support students interested in public service, including guides for public interest fellowships.
Each year, a Public Interest Career Fair is held in the spring semester to encourage students to explore careers in public service, particularly in the Milwaukee and Chicago areas. This fair is hosted jointly by the University of Wisconsin Law School and Marquette University Law School offices of Career Planning.
This Career Fair offers more than 20 local public interest organizations an efficient vehicle to meet and interview graduating students for permanent employment opportunities and current students for summer positions. With respect to recruitment for summer positions, the parameters of the Program are broad. We strive to provide students with quality work experiences that will allow them to hone their lawyering skills in a public interest context.
There is no requirement that the summer internships be paid; however, employers are encouraged to offer stipends whenever possible. Each law school independently offers stipends to a limited number of first- and second-year students who volunteer with public interest organizations. These stipends, however, are insufficient to provide for all living expenses over the course of the summer and are not available to every interested student.
In addition to the Public Interest Career Fair, Marquette Law School subsidizes student participation in the Equal Justice Works national Public Interest Conference and Career Fair in the fall and the Midwest Public Interest Law Career Conference in the spring.
Students interest in public interest fellowships and careers are also given personalized assistance in the application process. Marquette law students and graduates have been successful in securing Presidential Management fellowships, Equal Justice Works Fellowships and a Peggy Browning Fellowship.
Loan Repayment Assistance Programs (LRAP)
The Howard and Phyllis Eisenberg Fund is an endowed fund held by Marquette University that provides income each year for the purpose of law school loan repayment assistance. Dean Eisenberg himself established the Loan Repayment Assistance Program in the spring of 2001. After his death, the program was renamed to serve as a lasting memorial and was enhanced through memorial contributions and other donations.
For information, visit www.law.marquette.edu/jw/lrap
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Post-Graduate Fellowships/Awards
Law School Funded:
Graduate Student Funded:
Other Funding Sources:
Term Time Fellowships/Scholarships
Law School Funded:
Graduate Student Funded:
Other Funding Sources:
Summer Fellowships
Law School Funded:
Each year, the Public Interest Law Society holds a dinner and auction which raised funds for the Public Interest Law Society Summer Fellowship program which is matched by the Dean of the Law School. Each year nearly $60,000 is provided to support a dozen summer fellows who work in diverse placements such as the South African Violence and Reconciliation Office, the Eritrean Boundary and Claims Commission, the International Court for Justice at the Hague, Catholic Charities Immigration Services, the Legal Aid Society of Milwaukee, ACLU of Wisconsin, the Christian Freedom Foundation, and various state prosecutor and public defender offices. Selected student-fellows receive a $4,200 stipend and are expected to work at their placement for a minimum of 350 hours during the summer.
Graduate Student Funded:
Other Funding Sources:
Extracurricular and Co-Curricular Programs
The Law School’s continuing “On the Issues” series focuses on timely, topical issues of both local and national significance. In seeking to advance the public discussion about the future of public education in Milwaukee, the Law School recently announced the appointment of Attorney Michael J. Spector as Boden Visiting Professor of Law, with a particular portfolio to lead the Law School in seeking to advance public-policy discussion concerning the future of the Milwaukee Public Schools.
Marquette Law School also sponsors several public interest conferences each year. The Marquette Law School Public Service Conference brings together a diverse array of students, attorneys, professionals, policy-makers, and members of the public to discuss issues of importance to the public interest community. The Public Service Conference is held each spring semester, on the Friday of the last week in February. These Public Service conferences have focused on: Equal Access to Justice in Wisconsin, Leaping the Gaps for Children with Special Needs, the Future of Community Justice in Wisconsin, and Water and People. Each year the collective discussion results in special projects which advance the justice system and serve vulnerable populations.
Each year in the fall, the Restorative Justice Initiative sponsors a major national or international conference on restorative justice issues. The Fifth Annual Restorative Justice conference, “Successes and Challenges: Milwaukee Safe Streets Project” featured a keynote address by David M. Kennedy, Director of the Center for Crime Prevention and Control at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City exploring the progress of Milwaukee’s Safe Streets initiative over the past year.
Marquette Elder’s Advisor Symposium similarly brings together students, lawyers and policy-makers on issues of interest to the elderly population.
As a result of the groundwork laid this past year by Marquette Law School in collaboration with the Urban Economic Development Association and the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett formed the Milwaukee Foreclosure Prevention Initiative (MFPI). Daniel Idzikowski, Assistant Dean for Public Service, chaired the MFPI Stabilization Committee. With assistance from Associate Professor of Law Matt Parlow and 60 community partners, the Stabilization Committee considered measures to secure, rehabilitate or repurpose, and market thousands of residential properties that have already been sold at Sheriff’s sale. The Committee’s final report containing its findings and recommendations was presented to the Mayor and posted online at: www.mkedcd.org/MilwaukeeStrong/MFPIstabilization.pdf
Marquette Law School was awarded funding by the City of Milwaukee and the Wisconsin Department of Justice to launch the Milwaukee Foreclosure Mediation Program (MFMP). MFMP is a court-based foreclosure mediation program that aims to bring lenders and homeowners together, enable the parties to negotiate, preserve home equity for borrowers and cash flow for lenders, and prevent blight in the local community. Marquette Law School is administering the mediation program through a chief mediator, program coordinator, volunteer attorneys, and law students. Additional information can be found at http://law.marquette.edu/foreclosure/
Finally, the Law School convened and staffed the Milwaukee County Guardianship Task Force, which has remapped the process for children with severe developmental or emotional disabilities to be considered for guardianship at the age of majority. All Milwaukee County school districts have contributed to this effort by incorporating a new screening process within a child’s transitional Individualized Education Plan. A cadre of volunteer attorneys, social workers, and community agencies are volunteering their time to facilitate this important legal process for low-income families.
Student Public Interest Groups
Public Interest Law Society
Marquette Law Schools most popular and active student organization is the Public Interest Law Society. The purpose of PILS is to act as a resource for Marquette University Law School students interested in public interest law, and to stimulate interest in this area of law. This purpose is carried out by sponsoring programs, seminars, and social activities that deal with current topics in public interest law and by acquainting members with professionals in the community. The PILS is also dedicated to providing community service and enhancing public opinion of the profession. Each year PILS sponsors a Thanksgiving dinner and the PILS “Do Gooders” auction to raise money for the PILS Summer Fellowship program. In addition, PILS sponsors speakers on important public interest issues and appoints a liaison to the State Bar of Wisconsin Public Interest Law Section Board of Directors.
Other student led initiatives, such as the Thomas More Society’s efforts to provide legal education to juveniles at the Detention Center School, the Association of Women Lawyers donation of almost 2000 pounds of law textbooks to law schools in Africa, or the now established National Lawyers Guild alternative spring break trip to New Orleans have garnered their own awards.
Other student organizations which are involved with community service include:
Association for Women in the Law
The Black Law Students Association
Children and Family Law Society
Christian Legal Society
The Health Law Society
The Student Bar Association
