Linking Law Students to Pro Bono Opportunities
Providing pro bono legal services to those who cannot afford them
allows law students to have a positive impact on other peoples’
lives as well as develop practical lawyering skills that they may
not otherwise learn in their substantive law school courses. Such
skills, in turn, help law students to be more competitive candidates for
long-term positions with private law firms, government agencies, and
public interest organizations. Below please find more
information on some of the many volunteer opportunities that PD-11
offers to engage law student involvement in the cause and practice
of indigent defense work.
Defender Alternative Break Program: To Serve is To Learn.
PD-11 encourages law students, regardless of their class year or
experience level, to volunteering at the office in between semesters
or during spring break through the Defender Alternative Break
Program (DAB). For one week, each participating law student is
paired with and shadows an assistant public defender in the Felony
Division or the Appellate Division. Attorney-student
placements are based on the attorney's workload and the student's
stated interests and goals. Through DAB, law students not only
add to their legal toolbox of skills, but they also gain a better
understanding of the day-to-day responsibilities of a public service
lawyer and the harsh realities of the criminal justice system.
Since the program's inception in 2008, PD-11 has welcomed law
student volunteers visiting from Columbia Law School, Emory
University School of Law, Notre Dame Law School, St. Johns
University School of Law, and the University of Miami School of Law.
In March 2012, we look forward to welcoming a group of four law
student volunteers visiting from Rutgers Law School-Camden.
HOPE Fellowships at PD-11: Innovative Partnerships with the
University of Miami to Educate the Next Generation of Lawyers.
Since 1998, the Helping Others Through Pro Bono Efforts
(UM-HOPE) Public Interest Resource Center (www.law.miami.edu/hope)
at the University of Miami School of Law (Miami Law) has promoted
pro bono advocacy and community service as an integral part of being
a lawyer. Last year, UM-HOPE awarded full-time summer
fellowships to two Miami Law students, Christopher Franich and
Nicholas McCallum. As HOPE Fellows, they
provided over 720 hours of much-needed litigation support to relatively new assistant
public defenders, most of whom are recent law school graduates, in
misdemeanor cases. Additionally, in the fall of 2010, Chris
and Nick organized and held an
on-campus panel event entitled "Gideon in the 21st Century:
Laboring to Uphold the Sixth Amendment through Litigation, Research,
and Pro Bono Representation." Speakers from the public sector,
the private sector, and Miami Law to shared contemporary
perspectives on the constitutional right to counsel within the
public defense context and discussed using systemic litigation and
pro bono engagement as tools to breathe life into the principle of
equal justice under the law.
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