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 Rachel Peckerman ’04 and Sara Rakita ’98 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 SquareFour students from NYU Law named Skadden Fellows for 2013
Bryan Stevenson is the winner of the Smithsonian American Ingenuity Award in social justice
Furman Center report examines whether federally assisted households have access to high-performing schools
Sherrilyn Ifill ’87 to be new head of NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund
Randal Milch ’85 receives Equal Justice Works’ Scales of Justice Award
Straus Fellow Bruce Cain lectures on corruption confusion in American politics (VIDEO)
In the Press
"Photo Essay: NYLJ Honors Lawyers Who Lead by Example"
New York Law Journal
Featured:
Alina Das '05, Valerie Bogart '82, Alla Kazakina (LL.M. ’00), David Sorgen ’92
"30 Under 30: Law & Policy"
Forbes
Featured:
Lauren Burke '09, Andrew Kloster '10, Alexandra Schwartz '10
"Task Force Urges Increasing Annual Pro Bono to 50 Hours"
New York Law Journal
Expert:
Jonathan Lippman '68
"Housing Choice Vouchers Don't Lead to Better Education"
Huffington Post
Featured:
Furman Center for Real Estate & Urban Policy
"Sunday Dialogue: How We Punish Crime"
New York Times
Author:
Inimai Chettiar, Brennan Center for Justice
"CUNY Professor Honored for Promoting Diversity"
New York Law Journal
Featured:
Jenny Rivera '85
Learn more about Public Interest Law at NYU:
Faculty
Curriculum
Videos
Contact Information
Public Interest Law Center
Furman Hall
245 Sullivan Street, Room 430
New York, New York 10012-1301
Telephone: (212) 998-6686
Email: Pilc.info@nyu.edu