Public Interest Law Programs and Activities
Consistent with its mission to educate a different kind of lawyer, Notre Dame Law School supports and encourages students wishing to explore public interest law as either a career path or an integral part of a private law firm career.
Many Law School courses cover public interest law topics. Students may engage in direct representation of low-income clients through the Legal Aid Clinic, which has a broad docket of civil cases. Students may also represent clients through Legal Externships, including a Public Defender Externship and an Asylum Externship. The GALILEE program offers first year students a unique opportunity to explore urban poverty issues through an immersion program over Christmas break. Students may engage in volunteer legal work through the Pro Bono at NDLS program. In addition to the formal coursework, student organizations regularly engage in public interest activities.
The Center for Civil and Human Rights (the oldest human rights center associated with an American law school) provides opportunities for law students to engage in international human rights research and advocacy. The Center’s vast LL.M. alumni network assists law students in finding internships at top human rights institutions around the world, including the United Nations, the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, and Human Rights Watch.
The Career Services Office provides informational programs about public interest careers, including speakers, panel discussions, and a public interest job fair. The Career Services Office also helps students attend regional and national public interest job fairs. The Law School has numerous programs that provide funding for summer public interest jobs. In recent years those programs have funded over one hundred public interest internships per summer.
The Law School also has a substantial Loan Repayment Assistance Program to help graduates with significant debt loads undertake full time public interest jobs.
Other Features about Public Interest
