Public Service

NYU Law has a culture of public service. We offer the most comprehensive public service infrastructure of any law school in the nation. 

The Public Interest Law Center (PILC), founded in 1992, coordinates and promotes NYU Law’s public interest and government service activities—including Public Interest Summer Funding Grants  for all 1Ls and 2Ls doing public interest work—and also offers individual career counseling. PILC’s Public Interest Legal Career Fair is the largest career fair of its kind in the nation. 

The Root-Tilden-Kern Scholarship Program, NYU’s oldest public interest scholarship, was established more than 60 years ago and awards full tuition to 20 scholars selected for their academic merit, leadership potential, and commitment to working in public service. 

The Latinx Rights Scholarship offers full-tuition support to students who intend to pursue careers serving Latinx communities. 

The Furman Public Policy Scholarship Program provides specialized training and advising to selected students pursuing careers in public policy, offering full-tuition support and experience-based opportunities. 

The Arthur Garfield Hays Civil Liberties Program, established in 1958, offers 3L fellowships that facilitate internships with civil liberties and other human rights organizations. 

Our recently enhanced Loan Repayment Assistance Program (LRAP Plus), which helps ease the burden of debt repayment obligations for qualified graduates, is one of the most generous in the nation. 

Public Interest News in Brief

  • Judge Hilary Charlesworth
    During a four-day conference, NYU Law’s Center for Human Rights and Global Justice convened a multinational gathering of lawyers, policy leaders, activists, academics, and artists to exchange ideas…
  • Mariana Lopez in South Carolina
    South Carolina wants to build a road through a historic Black neighborhood over residents’ objections. NYU Law’s Civil Rights and Racial Justice Clinic is teaming up with community members to put the…
  • Paul G. Chevigny, the Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Professor of Law Emeritus, died on December 11, Dean Troy McKenzie has announced.  Paul ChevignyA graduate of Yale University and Harvard Law School…
  • Maya Hiebert ’24 and Malik Jarvis ’24 have been selected as 2024 Skadden Fellows. Established by the law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom in 1988, the prestigious two-year fellowship…