Public Interest
The Big Picture
The First. The Biggest. The Best. Long considered the leader in training lawyers for public interest work, the Law School has pioneered programs that are now pro forma in the nation’s other top law schools. Today, NYU offers the most comprehensive public service infrastructure of any law school in the nation, including the Public Interest Law Center, a national model for the promotion of public service. Beginning with one-on-one sessions for 1Ls, PILC staff attorneys like Eve Stotland and Sara Rakita ’98 and director Deborah Ellis '82 are active career counselors during a student’s time at school––and after.
The Law School's commitment to producing lawyers with a real service ethos extends beyond curriculum, training opportunities and career counseling. NYU has been at the forefront of creating and funding programs to address the difficult economic reality facing prospective public interest lawyers. Since 2003, through Public Interest Summer Funding Grants, the Law School has guaranteed funding for all first- and second-year J.D. candidates who work in public interest and government positions; almost 300 students participate in the program each summer. Through the Loan Repayment Assistance Program (LRAP), NYU Law encourages students to pursue careers in public service. Graduates who choose work in public service or with nonprofit organizations following graduation will, provided their income is below a designated level, have their debt burden paid in full or part by NYU.
Public interest training is also supported by an array of public interest scholarship programs: the Root-Tilden-Kern Scholarship Program, the Filomen M. D’Agostino Scholarship Program, the Arthur Garfield Hays Civil Liberties Program, the Black, Latino, Asian Pacific American (BLAPA) Law Alumni Association Public Service Scholarship, the Reynolds Fellowship in Social Entrepreneurship, and the Bickel & Brewer Latino Institute for Human Rights Scholarship.
Stories From Washington Square
PILC's Leaders in Public Interest Series presents: “Scholarship in the Public Interest” (VIDEO)
PILC's Leaders in Public Interest Series Presents: "The Future of National Security Law" (VIDEO)
President Obama names Jon Leibowitz ’84 to lead Federal Trade Commission
Von Lohmann gives PILC lecture on public interest cyber-lawyering (VIDEO)
Public Service Auction raises funds for public interest internships
Robin Steinberg '82 named the Law Women's alumna of the year
Public Interest Legal Career Fair brings together law students and employers for 32nd year
Lin '97 and Chen '97 discuss immigrant rights at PILC event (AUDIO)
Ward '09 wins children's rights fellowship
Ludwig '92 receives Felix Fishman Award from New York Lawyers for the Public Interest
Four NYU Law students win Skadden Fellowships
Learn more about Public Interest Law at NYU:
Faculty
Curriculum
Stories
Contact Information
Public Interest Law Center
Deb Ellis
Assistant Dean
Furman Hall
245 Sullivan Street, Room 430
New York, New York 10012-1301
Telephone: (212) 998-6686
Email: Pilc.info@nyu.edu