Created in 1992, New York University School of Law's Public Interest Law Center (PILC) is a national model for the promotion of public service. As the “private university in the public service,” NYU’s goal is for all graduates to incorporate public service into their careers. PILC not only coordinates and promotes the Law School’s public interest activities, but counsels students individually on their careers, beginning with one-on-one career strategy sessions with all interested 1Ls.
NYU’s dedication to public service manifests itself in the funding, education, and support it provides, resulting in the most comprehensive public service infrastructure of any law school in the nation. The culture of public service is pervasive: about half of the first year class spend the summer working in public interest internships and hundreds of students perform public service through student-run pro bono organizations.
The PILC Summer Funding Program provides grants to all first- and second-year students who wish to work in summer public service internships. In partnership with the student-run Public Service Auction, we raised over $150,000 to support these grants. Please visit the Public Service Auction website to learn more.
The Loan Repayment Assistance Program (LRAP) provides financial support to our graduates pursuing public service careers. The Root-Tilden-Kern Scholarship Program provides full tuition each year to 20 students who are dedicating their careers to public service. Each February, the Public Interest Legal Career Fair, the nation's largest public interest job fair, brings 200 employers and almost 2,000 students to NYU for interviews and information tables.
Educationally, NYU offers myriad clinics, courses, colloquia and symposia to train students in the complex tasks of public service lawyering. PILC supplements the academic curriculum with an extensive educational program of lectures and career workshops. For example, the Leaders in Public Interest Series brings leading public interest attorneys (most of them NYU alumni) to NYU to educate students about the cutting edge issues they work on and to share career advice. Through the PILC Student Advisor Program, third-year students share their expertise and advice with first-year students by hosting a series of lunches.
You can obtain more information about PILC and the public service opportunities at NYU School of Law by using the links above.
Public Interest Law Center
245 Sullivan Street, Room 430
New York, NY 10012-1074
Telephone: (212) 998-6686
Fax: (212) 995-4529
Email: pilc.info@nyu.edu
Counseling Appointments: To make an appointment to meet with a PILC Counselor, please call our office at (212) 998-6686 during business hours.
Drop-In Hours: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday 3:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. during the academic year.
