Public Interest and Clinical Work
Students can readily prepare for careers serving the public interest, volunteer in myriad ways, and get practical experience that will enrich their education, their legal practice, and their lives.
Clinical Programs
The Law School’s clinical programs have long met the educational needs of our students and the legal needs of our community. In 2008, the Mandel Legal Aid Clinic celebrated its 50th anniversary of serving the people of Chicago. Second and third-year students working in the clinic learn litigation, legislative advocacy, and transactional skills by representing clients while under the close supervision of clinical teachers. Students can work in a wide variety of areas, including
- appellate advocacy;
- civil rights and police accountability;
- criminal and juvenile justice;
- employment discrimination;
- environmental law;
- housing;
- mental health;
- social service;
- exoneration of people wrongfully convicted;
- federal criminal law; and
- advocacy for immigrant children.
For those more interested in the business side of law, the Institute for Justice Clinic on Entrepreneurship is devoted principally to expanding economic liberties by providing a range of legal services for start-up businesses in economically disadvantaged communities.
Students actively represent clients in all these projects—it’s not just busy work. The State of Illinois and the Seventh Circuit both allow students, under the supervision of licensed attorneys, to serve as counsel for clients. This means that our students serve as the trial lawyers—they conduct the direct and cross examinations, make the opening and closing arguments, and draft the motions. They also argue the cases on appeal. They do the leg work and the research, they draft the contracts and negotiate the settlements. They practice law. For this they earn course credit, gain real-world experience, and serve the community.
Career Counseling and Support
The Law School's Office of Career Services (OCS) provides extensive support to students interested in pursuing a career in public service. Our career counselors are experts in navigating fellowship applications and government programs and know how to help you find public service employment. We have a network of alumni in public service, including graduates of prestigious programs like the Skadden and Echoing Green fellowships. Our alumni practice worldwide and have even started their own renowned public service organizations. Please visit the OCS website to learn more about our experienced career counselors and the support and resources available to students seeking public interest careers.
Student Organizations and Volunteer Opportunities
The clinics are far from the only way to serve the public interest and engage with issues that matter to you. You can join student organizations like the Chicago Law Foundation, which raises money to give grants to students working in summer public interest jobs, or Neighbors, which works with school children on literacy and civics issues. You can participate in the Spring Break of Service, which last year sent twenty-nine students to do legal aid work in Biloxi and Jackson, Mississippi. You can even start your own organization to do what is meaningful to you.
Chicago’s Loan Repayment Assistance Program
The University of Chicago Law School believes that work in the public interest is a valuable and fulfilling career option. Accordingly, the Law School is committed to making such options available for its graduates. One obstacle to graduates considering such positions is the large educational debt burden many undertake to pay for their undergraduate and graduate education.
The University of Chicago Law School has redesigned its Loan Repayment Assistance Program (LRAP), making it the most generous program of its kind. The three most important changes to the program are that it now offers the opportunity for any graduate staying in public interest for ten years to go to law school for free, that all graduates who serve as judicial clerks will be eligible for the program, and that a generous $80,000 salary cap will make the program more inclusive than ever.
Details about the program are available here, together with explanations of some of the newest parts of the program.
Summer Loan Program
The University of Chicago Law School guarantees financial support for every student who engages in qualifying summer public interest work for eight or more weeks during the summer following the first year of law school. Program Details. Students undertaking qualifying public interest work that first summer are eligible for a $5,000 stipend available at summer’s start.
Qualifying Position
An eligible public interest position is one in which the student is: (a) learning about the practice of law and in a position where at least one year of law school is normally required; (b) working for the public interest; (c) working for a non-profit organization or government office; and (d) working on a full-time basis for at least eight weeks of the 1L summer. Please note individuals working in judicial externships/internships, at law firms, or in positions at a university (including Law School research assistants and clinical positions) are not eligible to participate. Final determinations of eligibility will be made by the Financial Aid Committee of the University of Chicago Law School.
For more information, please visit the Summer Fellowships page.
