The Toll Public Interest Center The Gittis Center for Clinical Legal Studies
Clinic and TPIC
Mar 11, 2016
Clinic and TPIC
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1
The TollPublic Interest
Center
The Gittis Centerfor Clinical Legal
Studies
2 3
Table of Contents
A Great University and A Great City .............................................................................................. 3
Letter from Dean Michael A. Fitts ................................................................................................. 4
Letter from Louis Rulli and Arlene Finkelstein .............................................................................. 5
Gittis Center for Clinical Legal StudiesCivil Practice Clinic ................................................................................................................. 6
Entrepreneurship Legal Clinic ................................................................................................ 7
Mediation Clinic ..................................................................................................................... 8
Legislative Clinic .................................................................................................................... 9
Interdisciplinary Child Advocacy Clinic ................................................................................ 10
Transnational Legal Clinic ....................................................................................................11
Supreme Court Clinic ............................................................................................................ 12
Criminal Defense Clinic ........................................................................................................ 13
Lawyering in the Public Interest ........................................................................................... 14
Externship Opportunities ......................................................................................................15
Faculty .................................................................................................................................. 16
Toll Public Interest CenterIntroduction .......................................................................................................................... 17
Pro Bono Requirement ..........................................................................................................18
Pro Bono Placements ............................................................................................................ 19
Pro Bono Projects ................................................................................................................. 20
Public Service Without Borders ........................................................................................... 22
Service Across Disciplines ................................................................................................... 24
Career Collaboration ............................................................................................................ 25
Toll Public Interest Scholars Program .................................................................................. 26
Public Interest Community ................................................................................................... 27
Penn Law’s Clinical Programs and Toll Public Interest Center build on two natural assets: a leading University with nationally-ranked professional schools and a world-class city with a sophisticated legal community and challenging community needs.
Cross-disciplinary collaboration is a major University and Law School strategic priority. This thrust to integrate knowledge has paved the way for Penn’s path-breaking Entrepreneurship Legal Clinic (Law and Wharton) and our Child Advocacy Clinic (Law, Medicine, Social Policy & Practice).
Philadelphia is home to one of the nation’s most established and vibrant legal communities. Its federal and state court systems are fertile ground for litigation and mediation practice by students, while its diverse neighborhoods and their cutting-edge organizations provide rich demand for community development, and pro bono service opportunities through the Penn Law Clinics and the Toll Public Interest Center provide. Philadelphia’s riches in health care, technology and science incubation, arts and culture institutions, and progressive law reform organizations present an ideal setting for local externship study. And its Northeast corridor location makes Penn Law accessible to New York, Washington D.C., Harrisburg, and other major centers for legislative and other clinical work.
The University of Pennsylvania made the list of institutions with outstanding examples of service learning in the U.S. News and World Report’s America’s Best Colleges and Universities, 2010 Edition.
A Great University And A Great City:Ideal Settings For Learning About Lawyering
2 3
Table of Contents
A Great University and A Great City .............................................................................................. 3
Letter from Dean Michael A. Fitts ................................................................................................. 4
Letter from Louis Rulli and Arlene Finkelstein .............................................................................. 5
Gittis Center for Clinical Legal StudiesCivil Practice Clinic ................................................................................................................. 6
Entrepreneurship Legal Clinic ................................................................................................ 7
Mediation Clinic ..................................................................................................................... 8
Legislative Clinic .................................................................................................................... 9
Interdisciplinary Child Advocacy Clinic ................................................................................ 10
Transnational Legal Clinic ....................................................................................................11
Supreme Court Clinic ............................................................................................................ 12
Criminal Defense Clinic ........................................................................................................ 13
Lawyering in the Public Interest ........................................................................................... 14
Externship Opportunities ......................................................................................................15
Faculty .................................................................................................................................. 16
Toll Public Interest CenterIntroduction .......................................................................................................................... 17
Pro Bono Requirement ..........................................................................................................18
Pro Bono Placements ............................................................................................................ 19
Pro Bono Projects ................................................................................................................. 20
Public Service Without Borders ........................................................................................... 22
Service Across Disciplines ................................................................................................... 24
Career Collaboration ............................................................................................................ 25
Toll Public Interest Scholars Program .................................................................................. 26
Public Interest Community ................................................................................................... 27
Penn Law’s Clinical Programs and Toll Public Interest Center build on two natural assets: a leading University with nationally-ranked professional schools and a world-class city with a sophisticated legal community and challenging community needs.
Cross-disciplinary collaboration is a major University and Law School strategic priority. This thrust to integrate knowledge has paved the way for Penn’s path-breaking Entrepreneurship Legal Clinic (Law and Wharton) and our Child Advocacy Clinic (Law, Medicine, Social Policy & Practice).
Philadelphia is home to one of the nation’s most established and vibrant legal communities. Its federal and state court systems are fertile ground for litigation and mediation practice by students, while its diverse neighborhoods and their cutting-edge organizations provide rich demand for community development, and pro bono service opportunities through the Penn Law Clinics and the Toll Public Interest Center provide. Philadelphia’s riches in health care, technology and science incubation, arts and culture institutions, and progressive law reform organizations present an ideal setting for local externship study. And its Northeast corridor location makes Penn Law accessible to New York, Washington D.C., Harrisburg, and other major centers for legislative and other clinical work.
The University of Pennsylvania made the list of institutions with outstanding examples of service learning in the U.S. News and World Report’s America’s Best Colleges and Universities, 2010 Edition.
A Great University And A Great City:Ideal Settings For Learning About Lawyering
4 5
It is with great pride that I share with you two key parts of the Penn Law story – our Gittis Center for Clinical Legal Studies and Toll Public Interest Center – both models in their fi elds.
Just as Benjamin Franklin recognized the nobility of public service, legal educators have come to understand the importance of learning through theory and experience and the development of professional skills. For nearly four decades the University of Pennsylvania has played a leading role as an innovator in legal education through service. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, two Penn Law programs, the Prison Research Council and our Health Law Project (founded by the late Edward Sparer, a Penn Law professor and founder of several public interest law fi rms), served as important forerunners to the modern clinical movement. In 1981, Penn Law launched its pioneering Entrepreneurship Legal Clinic and, within fi ve years, added one of the country’s earliest in-house programs in mediation. In 1989, Penn Law instituted its mandatory public service requirement – only the second such program in the country – and later became the fi rst law school program to win the American Bar Association’s Pro Bono Award. In more recent years, we have created a Transnational Legal Clinic, a Legislative Lawyering Clinic, an Interdisciplinary Child Advocacy Clinic, a Supreme Court Clinic, and expanded our externship program.
As you read this brochure, you undoubtedly will be struck by the quality and breadth of these two programs and the contributions they are making in their fi elds. Their excellence is due in no small part to the vision and leadership of their directors and to the stellar teaching and mentoring of an outstanding faculty of practitioner-scholars. But the most important measure of these programs may be the launching of generations of skilled, dedicated and, in many cases, award-winning graduates. It is of them that Penn Law is most proud.
Michael A. FittsDean and Bernard G. Segal Professor of Law
“The great Aim and End of all Learning… is service to society.”
Benjamin Franklin, founder of the University of Pennsylvania
Penn Law’s Clinical Program and Toll Public Interest Center build on two natural assets: a leading University with nationally-ranked professional schools and a world-class city with a sophisticated legal community and challenging community needs. The Law School’s pioneering Gittis Center for Clinical Legal Studies enables students to represent indigent clients and small business owners in a broad range of legal matters, under the nurturing supervision of the Clinic’s expert faculty. Our Toll Public Interest Center has become nationally recognized model for collaboration through its work with Philadelphia’s vibrant public interest community as well as national and international organizations. Together, these programs offer limitless, complementary opportunities to experience service in different contexts.
Through the Clinics, students have:
• Appeared in state and federal courts to represent indigent clients in all aspects of civil litigation.
• Coordinated business transactions involving corporate structuring, real estate acquisition, multi-staged fi nancing, and licensing, so that a new local restaurant can help train future restaurateurs.
• Mediated confl icts ranging from employment discrimination claims to child custody disputes.
• Worked on federal or state legislation pending in Washington DC and Harrisburg.
Through the Toll Center, students have:
• Helped thousands of low-income individuals secure essential public benefi ts.
• Traveled to an encampment in Liberia to counsel refugees about human rights violations.
• Partnered with a prominent law fi rm on its pro bono representation of Guantánamo detainees.
• Educated hundreds of school children about the law, civics, and entrepreneurship each year.
Penn Law matches its academic and philosophical commitment to public service with fi nancial support for a variety of programs and initiatives. In addition to our Toll Public Interest Scholars Program, the Law School offers assistance with career planning, post-graduate fellowship applications, and a generous loan repayment assistance program.
It is our privilege to help you develop professional skills and advance your career goals while helping others. We invite you to experience the excitement and fulfi llment that comes from building relationships with diverse clients, interacting with professionals from other disciplines, engaging in legal advocacy and using your talent and creativity to make a real difference in the world.
Best wishes,
Louis S. RulliPractice Professor of Law, and Director of Clinical [email protected]
Partners in Service:The Gittis Center for Clinical Legal Studies & The Toll Public Interest Center
Arlene Rivera FinkelsteinAssistant Dean and Executive Director, Toll Public Interest Centerarfi [email protected]
4 5
It is with great pride that I share with you two key parts of the Penn Law story – our Gittis Center for Clinical Legal Studies and Toll Public Interest Center – both models in their fi elds.
Just as Benjamin Franklin recognized the nobility of public service, legal educators have come to understand the importance of learning through theory and experience and the development of professional skills. For nearly four decades the University of Pennsylvania has played a leading role as an innovator in legal education through service. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, two Penn Law programs, the Prison Research Council and our Health Law Project (founded by the late Edward Sparer, a Penn Law professor and founder of several public interest law fi rms), served as important forerunners to the modern clinical movement. In 1981, Penn Law launched its pioneering Entrepreneurship Legal Clinic and, within fi ve years, added one of the country’s earliest in-house programs in mediation. In 1989, Penn Law instituted its mandatory public service requirement – only the second such program in the country – and later became the fi rst law school program to win the American Bar Association’s Pro Bono Award. In more recent years, we have created a Transnational Legal Clinic, a Legislative Lawyering Clinic, an Interdisciplinary Child Advocacy Clinic, a Supreme Court Clinic, and expanded our externship program.
As you read this brochure, you undoubtedly will be struck by the quality and breadth of these two programs and the contributions they are making in their fi elds. Their excellence is due in no small part to the vision and leadership of their directors and to the stellar teaching and mentoring of an outstanding faculty of practitioner-scholars. But the most important measure of these programs may be the launching of generations of skilled, dedicated and, in many cases, award-winning graduates. It is of them that Penn Law is most proud.
Michael A. FittsDean and Bernard G. Segal Professor of Law
“The great Aim and End of all Learning… is service to society.”
Benjamin Franklin, founder of the University of Pennsylvania
Penn Law’s Clinical Program and Toll Public Interest Center build on two natural assets: a leading University with nationally-ranked professional schools and a world-class city with a sophisticated legal community and challenging community needs. The Law School’s pioneering Gittis Center for Clinical Legal Studies enables students to represent indigent clients and small business owners in a broad range of legal matters, under the nurturing supervision of the Clinic’s expert faculty. Our Toll Public Interest Center has become nationally recognized model for collaboration through its work with Philadelphia’s vibrant public interest community as well as national and international organizations. Together, these programs offer limitless, complementary opportunities to experience service in different contexts.
Through the Clinics, students have:
• Appeared in state and federal courts to represent indigent clients in all aspects of civil litigation.
• Coordinated business transactions involving corporate structuring, real estate acquisition, multi-staged fi nancing, and licensing, so that a new local restaurant can help train future restaurateurs.
• Mediated confl icts ranging from employment discrimination claims to child custody disputes.
• Worked on federal or state legislation pending in Washington DC and Harrisburg.
Through the Toll Center, students have:
• Helped thousands of low-income individuals secure essential public benefi ts.
• Traveled to an encampment in Liberia to counsel refugees about human rights violations.
• Partnered with a prominent law fi rm on its pro bono representation of Guantánamo detainees.
• Educated hundreds of school children about the law, civics, and entrepreneurship each year.
Penn Law matches its academic and philosophical commitment to public service with fi nancial support for a variety of programs and initiatives. In addition to our Toll Public Interest Scholars Program, the Law School offers assistance with career planning, post-graduate fellowship applications, and a generous loan repayment assistance program.
It is our privilege to help you develop professional skills and advance your career goals while helping others. We invite you to experience the excitement and fulfi llment that comes from building relationships with diverse clients, interacting with professionals from other disciplines, engaging in legal advocacy and using your talent and creativity to make a real difference in the world.
Best wishes,
Louis S. RulliPractice Professor of Law, and Director of Clinical [email protected]
Partners in Service:The Gittis Center for Clinical Legal Studies & The Toll Public Interest Center
Arlene Rivera FinkelsteinAssistant Dean and Executive Director, Toll Public Interest Centerarfi [email protected]
6 7
Civil Practice ClinicThe Lawyer-Advocate In Litigation Founded: 1975, Penn’s fi rst in-house clinic
In our primary litigation clinic, students are certifi ed by state and federal courts to provide legal representation to indigent clients in civil matters. Students interview and counsel clients, develop case strategies, draft pleadings, engage in discovery, negotiate with opposing parties, and provide representation in court hearings and administrative proceedings. In this intensive civil litigation course, students participate in weekly “case rounds” discussions about their cases and learn essential lawyering skills while promoting access to justice for poor and disadvantaged clients.
History and Highlights:• In a broad range of civil cases–from landlord-tenant and civil forfeiture, social security disability, unemployment
compensation, child custody and support to employment discrimination, civil rights and consumer fraud–students have achieved highly successful results for clients.
• In a case highlighted in a local bar association publication, students successfully won a hard fought battle on behalf of a blind tenant who was wrongfully evicted from her subsidized apartment and successfully enabled her safe return to her rightful home. In a recent federal employment discrimination case, students drafted pleadings, fi led motions, conducted discovery, and ultimately negotiated a favorable settlement after appearing before a federal magistrate judge in extended settlement proceedings. In case after case, students have won impressive court victories and negotiated highly favorable settlements on behalf of victims of race, age and disability discrimination in the workplace, on behalf of prisoners injured by institutional misconduct, and on behalf of homeowners defending against governmental action seeking the civil forfeiture of their homes.
Civil Practice Clinic students preparing for a Social Security disability hearing on behalf of two disabled children
Students and faculty engaged in class discussionon litigation issues
Entrepreneurship Legal ClinicThe Lawyer as Business Strategist Founded: 1981 with Wharton
With over 25 years of history, the Entrepreneurship Legal Clinic is one of the oldest transactional clinics in the nation. Students gain experience in lawyering for entrepreneurs – both for profi t and nonprofi t – while fostering economic growth in underserved communities by providing legal counsel, community education, and technical assistance. Students experience fi rst-hand the essential role performed by transactional business law practitioners and develop and refi ne their own business and legal skills through work in a broad range of areas that include start-up counseling and enterprise structuring to entity formation, contract negotiating and drafting, and the protection of intellectual property. Students also learn to navigate the maze of licensing and regulatory requirements, give advice on best business practices and strategy, and conduct free community education workshops for entrepreneurs.
History and Highlights:• Bringing entrepreneurs together to exchange common challenges and to hear directly from students, the
Entrepreneurship Legal Clinic recently hosted a three-part series of workshops entitled “Legal Boot Camp for Small Business.” With more than 50 participants attending each workshop, clinic students gave valuable community education presentations on such subjects as “Hiring, Managing and Firing Employees,” “Choosing the Right Business Entity,” and “Protecting Your Intellectual Property.” Students work closely with entrepreneurs, providing a broad range of legal help that has included counseling a sole proprietor operating a day-care center on the issues involved in growing her business and adding employees; providing assistance to an independent record label; advising an entrepreneur wanting to open a reception hall in West Philadelphia on zoning, licensing, real estate and fi nance; and representing a nonprofi t media organization in the purchase and organization of a community radio station.
• The Sayre Community Health Center in West Philadelphia came to fruition through a collaboration with Penn’s Center for Community Partnership, the Medical School, and the Nursing School working with students in the Entrepreneurship Legal Clinic. Students provided legal advice and representation regarding nonprofi t and regulatory aspects of operating the health center.
I think the clinical experience is the best thing Penn has to offer and the ELC is no exception. It is hard to simply call it a ‘class’. I think of it more as being an apprentice and learning both substantive law and softer skills in a real world setting. I think that you are missingsomething if you graduate without doing a clinic.–Entrepreneurship Legal Clinic Student
Students providing community education to entrepreneurs at an ELC workshop
Each student treated me with the utmost dignity and respect. Though my case was complicated, they did everything to help me win my claim. –Civil Practice Clinic Client
I was grateful to have your services at a desperate time in my life. I didn’t know what to do or where to turn. Thank you, for everything. –Civil Practice Clinic Client
S
I th be
ELC
6 7
Civil Practice ClinicThe Lawyer-Advocate In Litigation Founded: 1975, Penn’s fi rst in-house clinic
In our primary litigation clinic, students are certifi ed by state and federal courts to provide legal representation to indigent clients in civil matters. Students interview and counsel clients, develop case strategies, draft pleadings, engage in discovery, negotiate with opposing parties, and provide representation in court hearings and administrative proceedings. In this intensive civil litigation course, students participate in weekly “case rounds” discussions about their cases and learn essential lawyering skills while promoting access to justice for poor and disadvantaged clients.
History and Highlights:• In a broad range of civil cases–from landlord-tenant and civil forfeiture, social security disability, unemployment
compensation, child custody and support to employment discrimination, civil rights and consumer fraud–students have achieved highly successful results for clients.
• In a case highlighted in a local bar association publication, students successfully won a hard fought battle on behalf of a blind tenant who was wrongfully evicted from her subsidized apartment and successfully enabled her safe return to her rightful home. In a recent federal employment discrimination case, students drafted pleadings, fi led motions, conducted discovery, and ultimately negotiated a favorable settlement after appearing before a federal magistrate judge in extended settlement proceedings. In case after case, students have won impressive court victories and negotiated highly favorable settlements on behalf of victims of race, age and disability discrimination in the workplace, on behalf of prisoners injured by institutional misconduct, and on behalf of homeowners defending against governmental action seeking the civil forfeiture of their homes.
Civil Practice Clinic students preparing for a Social Security disability hearing on behalf of two disabled children
Students and faculty engaged in class discussionon litigation issues
Entrepreneurship Legal ClinicThe Lawyer as Business Strategist Founded: 1981 with Wharton
With over 25 years of history, the Entrepreneurship Legal Clinic is one of the oldest transactional clinics in the nation. Students gain experience in lawyering for entrepreneurs – both for profi t and nonprofi t – while fostering economic growth in underserved communities by providing legal counsel, community education, and technical assistance. Students experience fi rst-hand the essential role performed by transactional business law practitioners and develop and refi ne their own business and legal skills through work in a broad range of areas that include start-up counseling and enterprise structuring to entity formation, contract negotiating and drafting, and the protection of intellectual property. Students also learn to navigate the maze of licensing and regulatory requirements, give advice on best business practices and strategy, and conduct free community education workshops for entrepreneurs.
History and Highlights:• Bringing entrepreneurs together to exchange common challenges and to hear directly from students, the
Entrepreneurship Legal Clinic recently hosted a three-part series of workshops entitled “Legal Boot Camp for Small Business.” With more than 50 participants attending each workshop, clinic students gave valuable community education presentations on such subjects as “Hiring, Managing and Firing Employees,” “Choosing the Right Business Entity,” and “Protecting Your Intellectual Property.” Students work closely with entrepreneurs, providing a broad range of legal help that has included counseling a sole proprietor operating a day-care center on the issues involved in growing her business and adding employees; providing assistance to an independent record label; advising an entrepreneur wanting to open a reception hall in West Philadelphia on zoning, licensing, real estate and fi nance; and representing a nonprofi t media organization in the purchase and organization of a community radio station.
• The Sayre Community Health Center in West Philadelphia came to fruition through a collaboration with Penn’s Center for Community Partnership, the Medical School, and the Nursing School working with students in the Entrepreneurship Legal Clinic. Students provided legal advice and representation regarding nonprofi t and regulatory aspects of operating the health center.
I think the clinical experience is the best thing Penn has to offer and the ELC is no exception. It is hard to simply call it a ‘class’. I think of it more as being an apprentice and learning both substantive law and softer skills in a real world setting. I think that you are missingsomething if you graduate without doing a clinic.–Entrepreneurship Legal Clinic Student
Students providing community education to entrepreneurs at an ELC workshop
Each student treated me with the utmost dignity and respect. Though my case was complicated, they did everything to help me win my claim. –Civil Practice Clinic Client
I was grateful to have your services at a desperate time in my life. I didn’t know what to do or where to turn. Thank you, for everything. –Civil Practice Clinic Client
S
I th be
ELC
8 9
Mediation ClinicThe Lawyer As Neutral Founded: 1986
The Mediation Clinic teaches confl ict resolution and creative problem-solving. After studying negotiation and mediation theory and observing mediators in practice, students are trained in a wide range of mediation skills. Under faculty supervision, students then serve as front-line mediators for civil litigation in Pennsylvania trial courts; employment discrimination claims; and child custody, neighborhood violence, and campus discipline cases. Seminar topics range from restorative justice to judicial settlements to online dispute resolution.
History and Highlights:• Clinic students were instrumental in creating procedural guidelines for mediation systems in Philadelphia Family
Court and in student discipline matters at Penn.
• A theory and practice text featured Clinic cases with DVDs.
• Students brokered the settlements of complicated employment discrimination claims against regional employers based on age, gender and disability.
• Clinic alumni have created court-based mediation programs and teach mediation courses in the U.S. and abroad.
• Students successfully forged an agreement, in Mandarin, in a dispute over unpaid roofi ng bills, facilitating the reconciliation of a 60-year-old mother and her 40-year-old daughter she was trying to evict.
Being in the clinic is the best preparation for being a lawyer... the personal element of the work, the fact that we are working with real people on important issues has made this experience invaluable both in terms of my professional and personal growth. –Mediation Clinic Student
Legislative Clinic:The Lawyer as Policy-Maker Founded: 1997
The Legislative Clinic is one of only a handful of law school clinical programs in the nation devoted exclusively to legislative lawyering and the formation of public policy. The clinic combines federal and state legislative fi eldwork in Congress and the Pennsylvania legislature with classroom study of legislative process, statutory drafting, legislative advocacy, and lobbying disclosure and reform. Lawyers are increasingly called upon to pursue legislative and regulatory solutions for their clients, and in the clinic students learn about legislative solutions while engaged in actual legislative and public policy work on issues of state and national importance.
History and Highlights:• Students help legislators prepare for committee hearings and meetings with lobbyists, conduct legislative
research, analyze legislative proposals, and translate constituent concerns into potential legislative solutions. In past semesters, students have performed legislative work in placements that have included Congressional and Pennsylvania committees on the judiciary, ways and means, taxation, homeland security, among others, and have worked directly in the offi ces of individual senators and representatives. Students may also elect to help national and state non-profi ts organizations pursuing a legislative agenda in pursuit of their mission.
• Students work directly on compelling public policy issues that recently have included judicial nominations, tax policy, trade agreements, immigration reform, military tribunals, capital defense procedures, health law, the environment, and child adoption procedures. Students in the clinic have helped draft legislation that was enacted into Pennsylvania law and have testifi ed on behalf of non-profi t organizations in legislative committee hearings.
My participation in the Clinic was the culmination of my experiences here at Penn Law and con rmed that I had achieved what I had hoped in coming here.I discovered that not only had I learned how to research, develop and implement legal strategies effectively, but I could take those skills directly from the classroom setting and put them to practical use in a way that was bene cial to my community.
This is why I became a lawyer.
–Legislative Clinic Student
Nicole Isaac, former student in the Legislative Clinic and currentlyDeputy Director of Legislative Affairs to Vice President Biden
pr
the pers
Mediation Clinic student serving as a mediator in anemployment discrimination dispute at the EEOC
Mthe culmina
8 9
Mediation ClinicThe Lawyer As Neutral Founded: 1986
The Mediation Clinic teaches confl ict resolution and creative problem-solving. After studying negotiation and mediation theory and observing mediators in practice, students are trained in a wide range of mediation skills. Under faculty supervision, students then serve as front-line mediators for civil litigation in Pennsylvania trial courts; employment discrimination claims; and child custody, neighborhood violence, and campus discipline cases. Seminar topics range from restorative justice to judicial settlements to online dispute resolution.
History and Highlights:• Clinic students were instrumental in creating procedural guidelines for mediation systems in Philadelphia Family
Court and in student discipline matters at Penn.
• A theory and practice text featured Clinic cases with DVDs.
• Students brokered the settlements of complicated employment discrimination claims against regional employers based on age, gender and disability.
• Clinic alumni have created court-based mediation programs and teach mediation courses in the U.S. and abroad.
• Students successfully forged an agreement, in Mandarin, in a dispute over unpaid roofi ng bills, facilitating the reconciliation of a 60-year-old mother and her 40-year-old daughter she was trying to evict.
Being in the clinic is the best preparation for being a lawyer... the personal element of the work, the fact that we are working with real people on important issues has made this experience invaluable both in terms of my professional and personal growth. –Mediation Clinic Student
Legislative Clinic:The Lawyer as Policy-Maker Founded: 1997
The Legislative Clinic is one of only a handful of law school clinical programs in the nation devoted exclusively to legislative lawyering and the formation of public policy. The clinic combines federal and state legislative fi eldwork in Congress and the Pennsylvania legislature with classroom study of legislative process, statutory drafting, legislative advocacy, and lobbying disclosure and reform. Lawyers are increasingly called upon to pursue legislative and regulatory solutions for their clients, and in the clinic students learn about legislative solutions while engaged in actual legislative and public policy work on issues of state and national importance.
History and Highlights:• Students help legislators prepare for committee hearings and meetings with lobbyists, conduct legislative
research, analyze legislative proposals, and translate constituent concerns into potential legislative solutions. In past semesters, students have performed legislative work in placements that have included Congressional and Pennsylvania committees on the judiciary, ways and means, taxation, homeland security, among others, and have worked directly in the offi ces of individual senators and representatives. Students may also elect to help national and state non-profi ts organizations pursuing a legislative agenda in pursuit of their mission.
• Students work directly on compelling public policy issues that recently have included judicial nominations, tax policy, trade agreements, immigration reform, military tribunals, capital defense procedures, health law, the environment, and child adoption procedures. Students in the clinic have helped draft legislation that was enacted into Pennsylvania law and have testifi ed on behalf of non-profi t organizations in legislative committee hearings.
My participation in the Clinic was the culmination of my experiences here at Penn Law and con rmed that I had achieved what I had hoped in coming here.I discovered that not only had I learned how to research, develop and implement legal strategies effectively, but I could take those skills directly from the classroom setting and put them to practical use in a way that was bene cial to my community.
This is why I became a lawyer.
–Legislative Clinic Student
Nicole Isaac, former student in the Legislative Clinic and currentlyDeputy Director of Legislative Affairs to Vice President Biden
pr
the pers
Mediation Clinic student serving as a mediator in anemployment discrimination dispute at the EEOC
Mthe culmina
10 11
This innovative, interdisciplinary clinic combines law, medical, and social work students to study the legal system’s response to the problem of children who are at risk due to neglect or abuse. Students represent children in legal proceedings held in Philadelphia’s Family Court as court-appointed advocates on their behalf. They represent their clients in court hearings, participate in developing a plan to serve the child’s best interest, and in assuring that the plan is carried out through a variety of interactions with parents, the Department of Human Services (DHS), and service providers. Working with students from the medical school and graduate students in social policy, clinic students compare each profession’s perspectives on the objective and strategy of each case, while noting the ethical responsibilities of each discipline and learning interdisciplinary problem-solving.
History and Highlights: • Students work with The Field Center for Children’s Policy, Practice and Research by participating in case rounds
and engaging in research projects with Center principals and students from other disciplines.• The Interdisciplinary Child Advocacy Clinic was featured on network news as students successfully battled in
administrative agency proceedings to obtain medical insurance coverage so that a low-income mother could purchase a chair lift needed to provide in-home care to her quadriplegic child.
• This Clinic’s work is the subject of regular advocates roundtables, attended by leading lawyers specializing in this work from the area. Program graduates have gone on to fellowships and positions of leadership in this emerging fi eld.
Taking this course allowed me to have a very meaningful experience; one that was far more meaningful than sitting in a class… It allowed me to establish connections with people and do my best to represent my clients. It allowed me to confront personal fears and reservations about my own adequacy as an advocate. –Child Advocacy Clinic Student
Interdisciplinary Child Advocacy ClinicThe Lawyer Working Across Professions Founded: 1983
Works in collaboration with Penn’s Schools of Medicine and of Social Policy and Practice, and with Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
A law student, pediatrician and social work student meet with a client.
Transnational ClinicMaking an Impact World-Wide Founded: 2006
The Transnational Legal Clinic provides students an opportunity to explore the role of the lawyer in settings that cut across cultures, borders, languages and legal systems. Students engage in direct legal representation of individual and organizational clients on immigration and other cases before a variety of international and domestic venues. Students also have the opportunity to engage in broader advocacy efforts around human rights. The fi eldwork is designed to ex-pose students to a full range of advocacy tools, such as litigation, legislative and other policy initiatives, investigation and report-writing, community organizing and potentially transactional work as well. Students work in teams of two or more under faculty supervision, engage in all aspects of client representation, and are expected to engage in critical refl ection on choices made in the course of their lawyering on behalf of their clients.
History and Highlights:• Students in the Transnational Clinic appeared before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights for
a thematic hearing on due process violations in U.S. detention and deportation policies. They testifi ed as representatives of a coalition of law school clinical programs focused on international human rights law and on behalf of non-governmental organizations engaged in immigrant advocacy.
• Recently, students and faculty, working with the Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights and Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Commission, travelled to Ghana to take statements from Liberian refugees. Students in the clinic continued their work by taking statements from the Diaspora living in Philadelphia and surrounding areas.
• The Clinic has been involved in human rights projects with the Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, and the U.S. Human Rights Network. Students worked with multiple non-governmental organizations across the country on a report to the U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. The international human rights docket continues to grow and take on new challenging projects.
I enjoyed a glimpse into pro bono work; I now truly understand the value of such work and will take that with me as I venture into the world of big rms. And I will insist on maintaining some sort of pro bono practice. –Transnational Clinic Student
Transnational Legal Clinic students testifying at theInter-American Commission on Human Rights
Child Advocacy Clinic student featured on Philadelphia network-news following successful advocacy for her client
T an
I wor
f h
10 11
This innovative, interdisciplinary clinic combines law, medical, and social work students to study the legal system’s response to the problem of children who are at risk due to neglect or abuse. Students represent children in legal proceedings held in Philadelphia’s Family Court as court-appointed advocates on their behalf. They represent their clients in court hearings, participate in developing a plan to serve the child’s best interest, and in assuring that the plan is carried out through a variety of interactions with parents, the Department of Human Services (DHS), and service providers. Working with students from the medical school and graduate students in social policy, clinic students compare each profession’s perspectives on the objective and strategy of each case, while noting the ethical responsibilities of each discipline and learning interdisciplinary problem-solving.
History and Highlights: • Students work with The Field Center for Children’s Policy, Practice and Research by participating in case rounds
and engaging in research projects with Center principals and students from other disciplines.• The Interdisciplinary Child Advocacy Clinic was featured on network news as students successfully battled in
administrative agency proceedings to obtain medical insurance coverage so that a low-income mother could purchase a chair lift needed to provide in-home care to her quadriplegic child.
• This Clinic’s work is the subject of regular advocates roundtables, attended by leading lawyers specializing in this work from the area. Program graduates have gone on to fellowships and positions of leadership in this emerging fi eld.
Taking this course allowed me to have a very meaningful experience; one that was far more meaningful than sitting in a class… It allowed me to establish connections with people and do my best to represent my clients. It allowed me to confront personal fears and reservations about my own adequacy as an advocate. –Child Advocacy Clinic Student
Interdisciplinary Child Advocacy ClinicThe Lawyer Working Across Professions Founded: 1983
Works in collaboration with Penn’s Schools of Medicine and of Social Policy and Practice, and with Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
A law student, pediatrician and social work student meet with a client.
Transnational ClinicMaking an Impact World-Wide Founded: 2006
The Transnational Legal Clinic provides students an opportunity to explore the role of the lawyer in settings that cut across cultures, borders, languages and legal systems. Students engage in direct legal representation of individual and organizational clients on immigration and other cases before a variety of international and domestic venues. Students also have the opportunity to engage in broader advocacy efforts around human rights. The fi eldwork is designed to ex-pose students to a full range of advocacy tools, such as litigation, legislative and other policy initiatives, investigation and report-writing, community organizing and potentially transactional work as well. Students work in teams of two or more under faculty supervision, engage in all aspects of client representation, and are expected to engage in critical refl ection on choices made in the course of their lawyering on behalf of their clients.
History and Highlights:• Students in the Transnational Clinic appeared before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights for
a thematic hearing on due process violations in U.S. detention and deportation policies. They testifi ed as representatives of a coalition of law school clinical programs focused on international human rights law and on behalf of non-governmental organizations engaged in immigrant advocacy.
• Recently, students and faculty, working with the Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights and Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Commission, travelled to Ghana to take statements from Liberian refugees. Students in the clinic continued their work by taking statements from the Diaspora living in Philadelphia and surrounding areas.
• The Clinic has been involved in human rights projects with the Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, and the U.S. Human Rights Network. Students worked with multiple non-governmental organizations across the country on a report to the U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. The international human rights docket continues to grow and take on new challenging projects.
I enjoyed a glimpse into pro bono work; I now truly understand the value of such work and will take that with me as I venture into the world of big rms. And I will insist on maintaining some sort of pro bono practice. –Transnational Clinic Student
Transnational Legal Clinic students testifying at theInter-American Commission on Human Rights
Child Advocacy Clinic student featured on Philadelphia network-news following successful advocacy for her client
T an
I wor
f h
12 13
Criminal Defense ClinicLawyering for the Accused Founded: mid-1960s, in partnership with the Defender Association of Philadelphia
The Criminal Defense Clinic, conducted in partnership with the Defender Association of Philadelphia, combines hands on trial experience with an educational component tailored to developing essential criminal defense skills. Students observe arraignments, preliminary hearings, and trials, and engage in mock classroom exercises to prepare them for actual court appearances. Students then serve as defense counsel in actual misdemeanor and felony cases in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas and the Philadelphia Municipal Court under close supervision of a senior trial attorney employed by the Defender Association. In all of this intensive work, students have access to the mental health, investigatory and other specialized resources of the Defender Association of Philadelphia, one of the nation’s premier providers of criminal defense services for the indigent. Through their work in this clinic, students develop courtroom competency skills while studying experientially the criminal justice system and the role of the lawyer in defending individuals accused of a crime.
Students represent indigent clients in criminal proceedings at the Philadelphia Criminal Justice Center
Supreme Court ClinicAdvocating at the highest level Founded: 2009
The Supreme Court Clinic is the nation’s fi rst to closely integrate practical experience on Supreme Court matters with a semester-long academic seminar on the workings of the Court.
Clinic students work on real Supreme Court cases, including conducting research, writing briefs and participating in moot court rehearsals that are held prior to oral arguments at One First Street. The students work in partnership with the Washington DC, law offi ces of Paul Hastings.
In the seminar, students study the Supreme Court primarily from the point of view of the advocacy before the Court and the ways in which advocates’ strategies may (or may not) infl uence the Court at each stage of a case – the petition for certiorari and brief in opposition; merits briefs by petitioner and respondent; and oral argument. The seminar includes consideration of one or more cases currently before the Court, with a trip to the Court to hear an oral argument if feasible.
Students in Penn’s Supreme Court Clinic, with Professor Stephanos Bibas and attorney Stephen Kinnaird,see their work in action in a case before the nation’s highest court.
12 13
Criminal Defense ClinicLawyering for the Accused Founded: mid-1960s, in partnership with the Defender Association of Philadelphia
The Criminal Defense Clinic, conducted in partnership with the Defender Association of Philadelphia, combines hands on trial experience with an educational component tailored to developing essential criminal defense skills. Students observe arraignments, preliminary hearings, and trials, and engage in mock classroom exercises to prepare them for actual court appearances. Students then serve as defense counsel in actual misdemeanor and felony cases in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas and the Philadelphia Municipal Court under close supervision of a senior trial attorney employed by the Defender Association. In all of this intensive work, students have access to the mental health, investigatory and other specialized resources of the Defender Association of Philadelphia, one of the nation’s premier providers of criminal defense services for the indigent. Through their work in this clinic, students develop courtroom competency skills while studying experientially the criminal justice system and the role of the lawyer in defending individuals accused of a crime.
Students represent indigent clients in criminal proceedings at the Philadelphia Criminal Justice Center
Supreme Court ClinicAdvocating at the highest level Founded: 2009
The Supreme Court Clinic is the nation’s fi rst to closely integrate practical experience on Supreme Court matters with a semester-long academic seminar on the workings of the Court.
Clinic students work on real Supreme Court cases, including conducting research, writing briefs and participating in moot court rehearsals that are held prior to oral arguments at One First Street. The students work in partnership with the Washington DC, law offi ces of Paul Hastings.
In the seminar, students study the Supreme Court primarily from the point of view of the advocacy before the Court and the ways in which advocates’ strategies may (or may not) infl uence the Court at each stage of a case – the petition for certiorari and brief in opposition; merits briefs by petitioner and respondent; and oral argument. The seminar includes consideration of one or more cases currently before the Court, with a trip to the Court to hear an oral argument if feasible.
Students in Penn’s Supreme Court Clinic, with Professor Stephanos Bibas and attorney Stephen Kinnaird,see their work in action in a case before the nation’s highest court.
14 15
This interactive and unique course is specifi cally directed toward students considering careers in public interest, including Toll Public Interest Scholars and students who intend to be pro bono leaders of the private bar. The course builds upon the diverse practice experiences that students obtain while in law school by examining common lawyering themes that confront all public interest lawyers and transcend any individual substantive area of practice. Students are placed in the roles of advocates, managers, directors and trustees of non-profi t, legal advocacy organizations where they are called upon to formulate and critique policies that address a broad range of systemic issues, such as scarcity of resources, competitive service-delivery models, and third-party intrusions into the attorney-client relationship.
Through contemporary readings, court observations, guest speakers, fi lm, and simulated exercises based upon actual problems experienced by public interest organizations, students gain a deeper understanding of the challenges inherent in public interest practice, and obtain valuable insights into organizational governance and management issues involved in promoting access to justice for poor and oppressed communities.
Lawyering in the Public InterestExploring the Unique Challenges of Public Service
Anatomy of a Public Interest Lawsuit presentation to students of Lawyering in the Public Interest
Externship OpportunitiesLawyering in a World Class City
Philadelphia offers students unparalleled opportunities as one of the nation’s leading legal centers. For students interested in experience-based study of public interest law practice in settings that cannot be replicated on campus, Penn Law offers a program of select Philadelphia-area externships in public and governmental settings. Externships are supervised in tandem by carefully selected site supervisors and clinical faculty through bi-weekly, in-house tutorials.
In past semesters, Penn’s diverse externship opportunities have included:
• Community Legal Services• Death Penalty Litigation • Delaware River Keeper• Environmental Protection Agency• Equality Advocates• Federal Appellate Litigation
Penn’s green campus is a short walk away from Center City Philadelphia
• PA Human Relations Commission• Philadelphia District Attorney’s Offi ce• Philadelphia Legal Assistance• U.S. Attorney’s Offi ce• Women’s Law Project
14 15
This interactive and unique course is specifi cally directed toward students considering careers in public interest, including Toll Public Interest Scholars and students who intend to be pro bono leaders of the private bar. The course builds upon the diverse practice experiences that students obtain while in law school by examining common lawyering themes that confront all public interest lawyers and transcend any individual substantive area of practice. Students are placed in the roles of advocates, managers, directors and trustees of non-profi t, legal advocacy organizations where they are called upon to formulate and critique policies that address a broad range of systemic issues, such as scarcity of resources, competitive service-delivery models, and third-party intrusions into the attorney-client relationship.
Through contemporary readings, court observations, guest speakers, fi lm, and simulated exercises based upon actual problems experienced by public interest organizations, students gain a deeper understanding of the challenges inherent in public interest practice, and obtain valuable insights into organizational governance and management issues involved in promoting access to justice for poor and oppressed communities.
Lawyering in the Public InterestExploring the Unique Challenges of Public Service
Anatomy of a Public Interest Lawsuit presentation to students of Lawyering in the Public Interest
Externship OpportunitiesLawyering in a World Class City
Philadelphia offers students unparalleled opportunities as one of the nation’s leading legal centers. For students interested in experience-based study of public interest law practice in settings that cannot be replicated on campus, Penn Law offers a program of select Philadelphia-area externships in public and governmental settings. Externships are supervised in tandem by carefully selected site supervisors and clinical faculty through bi-weekly, in-house tutorials.
In past semesters, Penn’s diverse externship opportunities have included:
• Community Legal Services• Death Penalty Litigation • Delaware River Keeper• Environmental Protection Agency• Equality Advocates• Federal Appellate Litigation
Penn’s green campus is a short walk away from Center City Philadelphia
• PA Human Relations Commission• Philadelphia District Attorney’s Offi ce• Philadelphia Legal Assistance• U.S. Attorney’s Offi ce• Women’s Law Project
16 17
Toll Public Interest CenterAt the Forefront of the Pro Bono Movement Founded: 1989
Our award-winning Toll Public Interest Center is the hub of public interest activity at Penn Law. The Center’s staff provides information and counseling to all students, while coordinating a wide range of pro bono and public service initiatives that encompass scholarship, service, and multi-faceted programming.
• Pro Bono Requirement: The centerpiece of the Law School’s commitment to service is a graduation requirement of 70 hours of pro bono legal service. From this platform, students cultivate a professional for altruism while gaining hands-on experience and valuable training.
• Pro Bono Placements: Students perform pro bono legal service for hundreds of non-profi t organizations, legal services agencies, and law fi rms in Philadelphia, across the nation, and around the world.
• Pro Bono Projects: The wide array of student groups at Penn Law centered around social justice issues enables students to satisfy their pro bono requirement while experiencing leadership opportunities, the collegiality of working with their peers, and the rewards of serving others in legal matters that connect with the causes students feel most passionate about.
• Toll Public Interest Scholars Program: Each year, several admitted students who enter Penn Law with the highest academic credentials and a demonstrated dedication to public service may be awarded a generous scholarship in exchange for their commitment to work in the public sector.
• Public Interest Events: The Law School’s jam-packed public interest calendar includes prominent speaker events, pro bono training sessions, a fi lm series, and service projects that the Center sponsors.
Toll Center Milestones: • Initiated Honorary Fellow Award to a lawyer exemplifying a commitment to pro bono service (1965).
• Established the Public Service Program, making Penn Law one of the very fi rst law schools in the country to identify the importance and need for a mandatory pro bono requirement (1989).
• Became the fi rst law school to receive the American Bar Association Pro Bono Publico Award in recognition of the public service program (2000); one of only two law schools ever to receive this award that typically goes to law fi rms.
• Received $10 million gift from alumnus Robert Toll L’66 and Jane, his wife, to facilitate expansion of the public interest scholars program and loan repayment assistance program (2006).
• Created Public Interest Week, featuring the Sparer Symposium, an Honorary Fellow in Residence, lectures in public interest law, and other Law School activities (2009).
• Launched several post-graduate fellowships to help recent Penn Law graduates begin their public interest careers (2009).
Gittis Clinic Faculty
Louis S. RulliPractice Professor of Law and Director of Clinical Programs
Civil Practice ClinicLawyering in the Public Interest
Legislative Clinic
Praveen KosuriPractice Associate Professor
of Law
Entrepreneurship Legal Clinic
Douglas N. FrenkelMorris Shuster Practice
Professor of LawMediation Clinic
Stephanos BibasProfessor of Law and
CriminologySupreme Court Clinic
Alan M. LernerPractice Professor of Law
Interdisciplinary ChildAdvocacy Clinic
Melanie M. McMenaminClinical Supervisor and
LecturerEntrepreneurship Legal Clinic
Sarah PaolettiClinical Supervisor and
LecturerTransnational Clinic
Yolanda VazquezClinical Supervisor
and LecturerCivil Practice Clinic
Todd BergerLecturer in Law
Criminal Defense Clinic
Adjuncts and LecturersMichele Goldfarb
Lecturer in LawMediation Clinic
Sharon EcksteinLecturer in LawMediation Clinic
Marcia GlickmanLecturer in LawMediation Clinic
Catherine CarrAdjunct Professor of Law
Lawyering in the Public Interest
Lisa HurlbuttLecturer in Law
Transnational Legal Clinic
Stephen B. KinnairdLecturer in Law
Supreme Court Clinic
16 17
Toll Public Interest CenterAt the Forefront of the Pro Bono Movement Founded: 1989
Our award-winning Toll Public Interest Center is the hub of public interest activity at Penn Law. The Center’s staff provides information and counseling to all students, while coordinating a wide range of pro bono and public service initiatives that encompass scholarship, service, and multi-faceted programming.
• Pro Bono Requirement: The centerpiece of the Law School’s commitment to service is a graduation requirement of 70 hours of pro bono legal service. From this platform, students cultivate a professional for altruism while gaining hands-on experience and valuable training.
• Pro Bono Placements: Students perform pro bono legal service for hundreds of non-profi t organizations, legal services agencies, and law fi rms in Philadelphia, across the nation, and around the world.
• Pro Bono Projects: The wide array of student groups at Penn Law centered around social justice issues enables students to satisfy their pro bono requirement while experiencing leadership opportunities, the collegiality of working with their peers, and the rewards of serving others in legal matters that connect with the causes students feel most passionate about.
• Toll Public Interest Scholars Program: Each year, several admitted students who enter Penn Law with the highest academic credentials and a demonstrated dedication to public service may be awarded a generous scholarship in exchange for their commitment to work in the public sector.
• Public Interest Events: The Law School’s jam-packed public interest calendar includes prominent speaker events, pro bono training sessions, a fi lm series, and service projects that the Center sponsors.
Toll Center Milestones: • Initiated Honorary Fellow Award to a lawyer exemplifying a commitment to pro bono service (1965).
• Established the Public Service Program, making Penn Law one of the very fi rst law schools in the country to identify the importance and need for a mandatory pro bono requirement (1989).
• Became the fi rst law school to receive the American Bar Association Pro Bono Publico Award in recognition of the public service program (2000); one of only two law schools ever to receive this award that typically goes to law fi rms.
• Received $10 million gift from alumnus Robert Toll L’66 and Jane, his wife, to facilitate expansion of the public interest scholars program and loan repayment assistance program (2006).
• Created Public Interest Week, featuring the Sparer Symposium, an Honorary Fellow in Residence, lectures in public interest law, and other Law School activities (2009).
• Launched several post-graduate fellowships to help recent Penn Law graduates begin their public interest careers (2009).
Gittis Clinic Faculty
Louis S. RulliPractice Professor of Law and Director of Clinical Programs
Civil Practice ClinicLawyering in the Public Interest
Legislative Clinic
Praveen KosuriPractice Associate Professor
of Law
Entrepreneurship Legal Clinic
Douglas N. FrenkelMorris Shuster Practice
Professor of LawMediation Clinic
Stephanos BibasProfessor of Law and
CriminologySupreme Court Clinic
Alan M. LernerPractice Professor of Law
Interdisciplinary ChildAdvocacy Clinic
Melanie M. McMenaminClinical Supervisor and
LecturerEntrepreneurship Legal Clinic
Sarah PaolettiClinical Supervisor and
LecturerTransnational Clinic
Yolanda VazquezClinical Supervisor
and LecturerCivil Practice Clinic
Todd BergerLecturer in Law
Criminal Defense Clinic
Adjuncts and LecturersMichele Goldfarb
Lecturer in LawMediation Clinic
Sharon EcksteinLecturer in LawMediation Clinic
Marcia GlickmanLecturer in LawMediation Clinic
Catherine CarrAdjunct Professor of Law
Lawyering in the Public Interest
Lisa HurlbuttLecturer in Law
Transnational Legal Clinic
Stephen B. KinnairdLecturer in Law
Supreme Court Clinic
18 19
Through pro bono projects and internships, I gained the poverty law experience critical to launch a successful public interest career. As a supervising attorney at Community Legal Services, I see the meaningful impact Penn Law students have on our clients’ lives every day.
–Sarah Katz L’03
The Requirement: As a condition of graduation, all Penn Law students must perform at least 70 hours of pro bono legal work, at least half of which must be completed by the end of the 2L year. More than one-third of our students routinely exceed this requirement – many performing hundreds of pro bono hours.
The Philosophy: The Penn Law pro bono requirement aims to instill in students an appreciation for the lawyer’s obligation to serve the greater good. In addition, the Center encourages all students to embrace the tremendousopportunities pro bono service offers to develop skills, gain hands-on experience, explore new areas of law, and bring theoretical concepts to life – all while offering the rich rewards of serving the most vulnerable citizens and under-represented social causes. The Center works with all law students to fi nd the most meaningful way to incorporate service into their legal education and, ultimately, into their professional lives.
The Impact: Since its inception two decades ago, the Center has promoted dedication to public service to over 4,000 Penn Law students, thereby providing over 300,000 hours of legal assistance to governmental agencies, public interest and non-profi t organizations, and law fi rms in Philadelphia, nationwide, and around the world.
The Placements: The Toll Public Interest Center maintains an ample roster of pro bono opportunities at nearly 400 public interest legal organizations, law fi rms, and governmental agencies in Philadelphia and nationwide. The roster is shaped by student and faculty interests, as well as by members of the public interest legal community that rely on our students to help meet client needs. Opportunities are as limitless as our students’ imagination and initiative, because Toll Center staff attorneys work closely with students to match their interests with existing or new pro bono opportunities.
Pro Bono RequirementPromoting the Spirit of Service
3
T
Students work in every area of legal interest imaginable, including: • Children and Youth • Civil Rights • Constitutional • Criminal • Education• Election
• Environmental • Gay/Lesbian Issues • Health • Housing• Immigration • International
• Labor & Employment • Prisoners’ Rights • Small Business • Tax • Technology • Women
Here are a few examples of hundreds of places where students have volunteered:
• Attorney General • District Attorney’s Offi ces• Environmental Protection Agency• Metropolitan Transit Authority• Public Defender Offi ces
(State/Federal)• U.S. Department of Defense• U.S. Department of Commerce• U.S. Department of Education• U.S. Department of Justice• U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission
Government Agencies Legal Services & Advocacy Organizations
• Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll
• Dechert LLP• Kapoor Law Firm• Pepper Hamilton LLP• Reed Smith• Saul Ewing LLP• Sullivan & Cromwell LLP
• AIDS Legal Network of Capetown, South Africa
• Claims Restoration Tribunal, Zurich
• Foundation for International Medical Relief of Children
• HIAS and Council Migration Service
Collaboration with Law Firmson Pro Bono Cases
International Non-Profi t & Immigrant Rights Orgs
Pro Bono PlacementsOpportunities to Match Individual Interests
• ACLU• AIDS Law Project of
Pennsylvania• Alaska Legal Services Corp.• Campaign for Working Families• Community Legal Services • Education Law Center• Friends of Farmworkers• Hospital of the University of
Pennsylvania• Humane Society of the United
States
• Innocence Project• National Juvenile Defender
Association• New York Legal Aid Society• Pacifi c Legal Foundation • Pennsylvania Health Law Project• SeniorLAW Center• Women Against Abuse Legal
Center
• Legal Assistance Center of Namibia
• Nationalities Service Center• Supreme Court of Israel• World Health Organization,
Geneva
18 19
Through pro bono projects and internships, I gained the poverty law experience critical to launch a successful public interest career. As a supervising attorney at Community Legal Services, I see the meaningful impact Penn Law students have on our clients’ lives every day.
–Sarah Katz L’03
The Requirement: As a condition of graduation, all Penn Law students must perform at least 70 hours of pro bono legal work, at least half of which must be completed by the end of the 2L year. More than one-third of our students routinely exceed this requirement – many performing hundreds of pro bono hours.
The Philosophy: The Penn Law pro bono requirement aims to instill in students an appreciation for the lawyer’s obligation to serve the greater good. In addition, the Center encourages all students to embrace the tremendousopportunities pro bono service offers to develop skills, gain hands-on experience, explore new areas of law, and bring theoretical concepts to life – all while offering the rich rewards of serving the most vulnerable citizens and under-represented social causes. The Center works with all law students to fi nd the most meaningful way to incorporate service into their legal education and, ultimately, into their professional lives.
The Impact: Since its inception two decades ago, the Center has promoted dedication to public service to over 4,000 Penn Law students, thereby providing over 300,000 hours of legal assistance to governmental agencies, public interest and non-profi t organizations, and law fi rms in Philadelphia, nationwide, and around the world.
The Placements: The Toll Public Interest Center maintains an ample roster of pro bono opportunities at nearly 400 public interest legal organizations, law fi rms, and governmental agencies in Philadelphia and nationwide. The roster is shaped by student and faculty interests, as well as by members of the public interest legal community that rely on our students to help meet client needs. Opportunities are as limitless as our students’ imagination and initiative, because Toll Center staff attorneys work closely with students to match their interests with existing or new pro bono opportunities.
Pro Bono RequirementPromoting the Spirit of Service
3
T
Students work in every area of legal interest imaginable, including: • Children and Youth • Civil Rights • Constitutional • Criminal • Education• Election
• Environmental • Gay/Lesbian Issues • Health • Housing• Immigration • International
• Labor & Employment • Prisoners’ Rights • Small Business • Tax • Technology • Women
Here are a few examples of hundreds of places where students have volunteered:
• Attorney General • District Attorney’s Offi ces• Environmental Protection Agency• Metropolitan Transit Authority• Public Defender Offi ces
(State/Federal)• U.S. Department of Defense• U.S. Department of Commerce• U.S. Department of Education• U.S. Department of Justice• U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission
Government Agencies Legal Services & Advocacy Organizations
• Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll
• Dechert LLP• Kapoor Law Firm• Pepper Hamilton LLP• Reed Smith• Saul Ewing LLP• Sullivan & Cromwell LLP
• AIDS Legal Network of Capetown, South Africa
• Claims Restoration Tribunal, Zurich
• Foundation for International Medical Relief of Children
• HIAS and Council Migration Service
Collaboration with Law Firmson Pro Bono Cases
International Non-Profi t & Immigrant Rights Orgs
Pro Bono PlacementsOpportunities to Match Individual Interests
• ACLU• AIDS Law Project of
Pennsylvania• Alaska Legal Services Corp.• Campaign for Working Families• Community Legal Services • Education Law Center• Friends of Farmworkers• Hospital of the University of
Pennsylvania• Humane Society of the United
States
• Innocence Project• National Juvenile Defender
Association• New York Legal Aid Society• Pacifi c Legal Foundation • Pennsylvania Health Law Project• SeniorLAW Center• Women Against Abuse Legal
Center
• Legal Assistance Center of Namibia
• Nationalities Service Center• Supreme Court of Israel• World Health Organization,
Geneva
20 21
Penn Law students continue to embrace the Law School’s long tradition of leadership in public service through Pro Bono Projects. Under attorney supervision, students develop and staff legal projects, all of which were developed to supplement services for unmet legal needs in Philadelphia and beyond. With a staff attorney dedicated to overseeing all Pro Bono Projects, the Center offers training, resources, and oversight to student project leaders and volunteers as they make critical contributions to the local, national, and international public interest legal community. In addition, the Center helps students develop new projects when they identify an unmet need in the community.
Pro Bono ProjectsLeadership in Action
• Legal Education Partnership• Marshall Brennan Constitutional Literacy Project• Prisoners’ Legal Education Project• Street Law Project• Urban Ventures Project
• Custody and Support Assistance• Employee Advocacy• Guild Food Stamp Clinic• Penn Advocates for the Homeless• Penn Housing Rights Project
Poverty Law Education Law
• The Immigrant Rights Project• Penn Law International Human Rights Advocates
• Animal Law Project• Environmental Law Project• Reproductive Rights Project• Students Against Gender Exploitation Project (SAGE)
International Law Specialty Law
The highlight of my time at Penn Law has been my involvement in public interest work. While my courses have taught me ‘black letter law,’ pro bono work has taught me how to be a lawyer. I’ve learned to interview clients, manage cases, navigate government bureaucracy, lead a team, and manage a volunteer workforce. Most importantly, it has kept me in touch with why I came to law school in the rst place…
–Eric Foley L’09, Public Interest Scholar(helped low income families obtain food stamps,assisted refugees with asylum applications,and worked on Guantánamo detainee cases.)
Th
has
Representative Projects:
• Educate hundreds of city students in critical legal concepts and in principles of constitutional law.
• Provide valuable legal research as part of a pro bono legal team representing Guantánamo detainees charged with capital offenses.
• Protect voters from disenfranchisement in Pennsylvania and nationwide by engaging in litigation to improve access to the polls and partnering with CNN to publicize voting irregularities in the 2008 election.
• Examine and analyze clemency videos for death row inmates as part of a visual legal advocacy project.
• Research Peruvian labor laws to help set up a medical clinic in an impoverished area.
• Develop legal curricula for emerging law schools overseas.
• Collaborate with law fi rm pro bono counsel in helping area residents fi ght unlawful eviction.
• Represent low-income individuals seeking unemployment compensation, welfare or Social Security benefi ts, and custody or child support.
Street Law Project students at a local high schoolStudent leaders meet about the Prisoners’ Legal Education Project
20 21
Penn Law students continue to embrace the Law School’s long tradition of leadership in public service through Pro Bono Projects. Under attorney supervision, students develop and staff legal projects, all of which were developed to supplement services for unmet legal needs in Philadelphia and beyond. With a staff attorney dedicated to overseeing all Pro Bono Projects, the Center offers training, resources, and oversight to student project leaders and volunteers as they make critical contributions to the local, national, and international public interest legal community. In addition, the Center helps students develop new projects when they identify an unmet need in the community.
Pro Bono ProjectsLeadership in Action
• Legal Education Partnership• Marshall Brennan Constitutional Literacy Project• Prisoners’ Legal Education Project• Street Law Project• Urban Ventures Project
• Custody and Support Assistance• Employee Advocacy• Guild Food Stamp Clinic• Penn Advocates for the Homeless• Penn Housing Rights Project
Poverty Law Education Law
• The Immigrant Rights Project• Penn Law International Human Rights Advocates
• Animal Law Project• Environmental Law Project• Reproductive Rights Project• Students Against Gender Exploitation Project (SAGE)
International Law Specialty Law
The highlight of my time at Penn Law has been my involvement in public interest work. While my courses have taught me ‘black letter law,’ pro bono work has taught me how to be a lawyer. I’ve learned to interview clients, manage cases, navigate government bureaucracy, lead a team, and manage a volunteer workforce. Most importantly, it has kept me in touch with why I came to law school in the rst place…
–Eric Foley L’09, Public Interest Scholar(helped low income families obtain food stamps,assisted refugees with asylum applications,and worked on Guantánamo detainee cases.)
Th
has
Representative Projects:
• Educate hundreds of city students in critical legal concepts and in principles of constitutional law.
• Provide valuable legal research as part of a pro bono legal team representing Guantánamo detainees charged with capital offenses.
• Protect voters from disenfranchisement in Pennsylvania and nationwide by engaging in litigation to improve access to the polls and partnering with CNN to publicize voting irregularities in the 2008 election.
• Examine and analyze clemency videos for death row inmates as part of a visual legal advocacy project.
• Research Peruvian labor laws to help set up a medical clinic in an impoverished area.
• Develop legal curricula for emerging law schools overseas.
• Collaborate with law fi rm pro bono counsel in helping area residents fi ght unlawful eviction.
• Represent low-income individuals seeking unemployment compensation, welfare or Social Security benefi ts, and custody or child support.
Street Law Project students at a local high schoolStudent leaders meet about the Prisoners’ Legal Education Project
22 23
Public Service Without BordersLearning and Serving Around the World
Students at Penn Law engage in public service across the globe. The Toll Public Interest Center works closely with the Offi ces of International Programs and Career Planning & Professionalism, as well as faculty and student groups, to ensure that students can pursue their interests in social justice worldwide. Students have many opportunities to serve year-round by taking on international pro bono assignments, participating in internationally focused student pro bono projects, traveling over spring break on an international service project, or spending an entire summer abroad in a public interest internship. One of our new post-graduate fellowships can also support recent graduates engaging in public interest work anywhere in the world.
Pro Bono PlacementsOur Center helps students identify the pro bono opportunities that can be most fruitful to them professionally and personally. For many students, this may involve work with organizations abroad or with domestic organizations that work on international matters. Remotely, students can engage in research and writing projects, document review and drafting, and a variety of other tasks. Some organizations for whom our students work include:
• Ashoka• Center for Global Communication Studies• Foundation for International Medical Relief of Children• Rule of Law Institute (ROLI)
Pro Bono ProjectsOf the more than 16 student pro bono projects overseen by the Toll Public Interest Center, at least two routinely focus on international matters:
• International Human Rights Advocates• Penn Law Immigrant Rights Project
In addition, many other student pro bono projects accept assignments from organizations that work abroad, including Students Against Gender-Based Exploitation and the Environmental Law Project.
Through their work with these projects, students can maintain working relationships with a variety of governmental and non-governmental organizations around the world.
International Human Rights Summer InternshipsThrough this competitive summer fellowship program, we fund a number of students to devote their summers to International Human Rights work. Recently, students have interned in the following organizations, thanks to these fellowships and a few other funding sources:
ABA Rule of Law Initiative (Tajikistan and Morocco)Advocacy Forum (Nepal)African Assembly for the Defense of Human Rights (Senegal)AIDS Legal Network of Capetown, South AfricaCentre for Migrant Rights (Mexico)Claims Restoration Tribunal (Zurich)Eurogroup for Animals (Belgium)High Court of the Republic of Botswana (Botswana)International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (Tanzania)
International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (The Hague)International Federation of Human Rights (Ecuador)Legal Aid of Cambodia (Cambodia)Legal Assistance Centre (Namibia)Nationalities Service CenterSupreme Court of IsraelTimap for Justice (Sierra Leone)Victims of Human Rights Violations (Venezuela)World Health Organization (Geneva)
Spring Break Service ProjectsEach year, our Center works with a variety of student groups to help them plan Spring Break trips that are both educational and service-driven. Since pro bono work is generally incorporated into the trips, the Toll Public Interest Center works with students to make sure they are well-supervised and trained for their tasks. Recent student trips include:
The Black Law Students Association (BLSA) visited South Africa, touring their Courts and taking time to teach school children about the law (2009)
The Black Law Students Association visited a Liberian refugee camp in Accra, Ghana (2008)
The International Human Rights Advocates traveled to Mexico to study the fl ight of migrant workers over the Mexican border into the U.S. (2008)
The International Human Rights Advocates went to El Salvador to participate in public education and community development projects (2007)
22 23
Public Service Without BordersLearning and Serving Around the World
Students at Penn Law engage in public service across the globe. The Toll Public Interest Center works closely with the Offi ces of International Programs and Career Planning & Professionalism, as well as faculty and student groups, to ensure that students can pursue their interests in social justice worldwide. Students have many opportunities to serve year-round by taking on international pro bono assignments, participating in internationally focused student pro bono projects, traveling over spring break on an international service project, or spending an entire summer abroad in a public interest internship. One of our new post-graduate fellowships can also support recent graduates engaging in public interest work anywhere in the world.
Pro Bono PlacementsOur Center helps students identify the pro bono opportunities that can be most fruitful to them professionally and personally. For many students, this may involve work with organizations abroad or with domestic organizations that work on international matters. Remotely, students can engage in research and writing projects, document review and drafting, and a variety of other tasks. Some organizations for whom our students work include:
• Ashoka• Center for Global Communication Studies• Foundation for International Medical Relief of Children• Rule of Law Institute (ROLI)
Pro Bono ProjectsOf the more than 16 student pro bono projects overseen by the Toll Public Interest Center, at least two routinely focus on international matters:
• International Human Rights Advocates• Penn Law Immigrant Rights Project
In addition, many other student pro bono projects accept assignments from organizations that work abroad, including Students Against Gender-Based Exploitation and the Environmental Law Project.
Through their work with these projects, students can maintain working relationships with a variety of governmental and non-governmental organizations around the world.
International Human Rights Summer InternshipsThrough this competitive summer fellowship program, we fund a number of students to devote their summers to International Human Rights work. Recently, students have interned in the following organizations, thanks to these fellowships and a few other funding sources:
ABA Rule of Law Initiative (Tajikistan and Morocco)Advocacy Forum (Nepal)African Assembly for the Defense of Human Rights (Senegal)AIDS Legal Network of Capetown, South AfricaCentre for Migrant Rights (Mexico)Claims Restoration Tribunal (Zurich)Eurogroup for Animals (Belgium)High Court of the Republic of Botswana (Botswana)International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (Tanzania)
International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (The Hague)International Federation of Human Rights (Ecuador)Legal Aid of Cambodia (Cambodia)Legal Assistance Centre (Namibia)Nationalities Service CenterSupreme Court of IsraelTimap for Justice (Sierra Leone)Victims of Human Rights Violations (Venezuela)World Health Organization (Geneva)
Spring Break Service ProjectsEach year, our Center works with a variety of student groups to help them plan Spring Break trips that are both educational and service-driven. Since pro bono work is generally incorporated into the trips, the Toll Public Interest Center works with students to make sure they are well-supervised and trained for their tasks. Recent student trips include:
The Black Law Students Association (BLSA) visited South Africa, touring their Courts and taking time to teach school children about the law (2009)
The Black Law Students Association visited a Liberian refugee camp in Accra, Ghana (2008)
The International Human Rights Advocates traveled to Mexico to study the fl ight of migrant workers over the Mexican border into the U.S. (2008)
The International Human Rights Advocates went to El Salvador to participate in public education and community development projects (2007)
24 25
Pro Bono Service Across DisciplinesEnhancing Your Cross-Disciplinary Education
Pro bono work can enhance every student’s legal education. But for students adding studies in another discipline to their legal education, pro bono can offer an outstanding forum for seeing cross-disciplinary problem-solving in practice.
Students can enhance almost any course of study with a pro bono placement, or through a student pro bono project. Below is a sample of past pro bono opportunities across disciplines. The Center’s staff are always willing work with students to develop new placements and projects as well.
Bioethics Law:• Penn Biotech Group• UPenn Health System Care for Bioethics
Business/Tax:• Community Economic Development Programs• Foundation for International Relief of Children• Internal Revenue Service• Volunteer Income Tax Program
Education:• Education Law Center• Foundation for Individual Rights in Education• PA Dept of Education: Offi ce of General Counsel
Health Law:• AIDS Law Project• Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia• Community Legal Services• Hospital at University of Pennsylvania• Pennsylvania Health Law Project
Intellectual Property/Entertainment:• Center for Technology Transfer• Intellectual Property Owners Association
Education Foundation• Philadelphia Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts
Public Policy & Advocacy:• ACLU• Equality Advocates• Rule of Law Institute
A Penn Law student conducting an interview
Public Interest Career CollaborationMaximizing the Present to Prepare for the Future
For students seeking careers in the public sector, dedication, persistence, and hard work are essential. The Career Planning and Professionalism Offi ce (CP&P) supports students navigating the public interest job search. The Toll Public Interest Center collaborates with CP&P in these efforts by working with students to help build a strong public interest portfolio throughout their entire law school experience.
The Center’s staff encourages students to plan strategically in order to maximize every opportunity to gain hands-on public interest experience throughout Law School so that they can be the strongest candidates for post-graduate public interest careers. The Center also collaborates with CP&P and faculty to help students navigate successfully through the post-graduate fellowship application process. Together, we provide individualized attention and support to our students so that they may be well-equipped to pursue their goals.
Our students, past and present, are essential partners in the career collaboration. The Center oversees the student-initiated and student-run Public Interest Mentoring Initiative (PIMI) pairing public interest minded 1Ls with 2Ls and 3Ls with whom they can share information and experiences. In addition, our public interest alumni remain active members of our public interest community–frequently participating in panel discussions or brown bag lunches, and often just an email away for students who are interested in the work that they do.
Recently, Penn Law graduates have secured fellowships and/or staff attorney positions at a number of public interest and government organizations. Here are just a few:
• ACLU – Civil Rights & Racial Justice Karpatkin Fellowship; William J. Brennan First Amendment Fellowship• Center for Law and Social Policy• Defender Association of Philadelphia• Department of Justice, Honors Program• District Attorney’s Offi ce - Philadelphia, Brooklyn• Legal Services – Delaware, New York, Philadelphia, Rhode Island • National Women’s Law Center – Health Law Fellowship• Southern Center for Human Rights
24 25
Pro Bono Service Across DisciplinesEnhancing Your Cross-Disciplinary Education
Pro bono work can enhance every student’s legal education. But for students adding studies in another discipline to their legal education, pro bono can offer an outstanding forum for seeing cross-disciplinary problem-solving in practice.
Students can enhance almost any course of study with a pro bono placement, or through a student pro bono project. Below is a sample of past pro bono opportunities across disciplines. The Center’s staff are always willing work with students to develop new placements and projects as well.
Bioethics Law:• Penn Biotech Group• UPenn Health System Care for Bioethics
Business/Tax:• Community Economic Development Programs• Foundation for International Relief of Children• Internal Revenue Service• Volunteer Income Tax Program
Education:• Education Law Center• Foundation for Individual Rights in Education• PA Dept of Education: Offi ce of General Counsel
Health Law:• AIDS Law Project• Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia• Community Legal Services• Hospital at University of Pennsylvania• Pennsylvania Health Law Project
Intellectual Property/Entertainment:• Center for Technology Transfer• Intellectual Property Owners Association
Education Foundation• Philadelphia Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts
Public Policy & Advocacy:• ACLU• Equality Advocates• Rule of Law Institute
A Penn Law student conducting an interview
Public Interest Career CollaborationMaximizing the Present to Prepare for the Future
For students seeking careers in the public sector, dedication, persistence, and hard work are essential. The Career Planning and Professionalism Offi ce (CP&P) supports students navigating the public interest job search. The Toll Public Interest Center collaborates with CP&P in these efforts by working with students to help build a strong public interest portfolio throughout their entire law school experience.
The Center’s staff encourages students to plan strategically in order to maximize every opportunity to gain hands-on public interest experience throughout Law School so that they can be the strongest candidates for post-graduate public interest careers. The Center also collaborates with CP&P and faculty to help students navigate successfully through the post-graduate fellowship application process. Together, we provide individualized attention and support to our students so that they may be well-equipped to pursue their goals.
Our students, past and present, are essential partners in the career collaboration. The Center oversees the student-initiated and student-run Public Interest Mentoring Initiative (PIMI) pairing public interest minded 1Ls with 2Ls and 3Ls with whom they can share information and experiences. In addition, our public interest alumni remain active members of our public interest community–frequently participating in panel discussions or brown bag lunches, and often just an email away for students who are interested in the work that they do.
Recently, Penn Law graduates have secured fellowships and/or staff attorney positions at a number of public interest and government organizations. Here are just a few:
• ACLU – Civil Rights & Racial Justice Karpatkin Fellowship; William J. Brennan First Amendment Fellowship• Center for Law and Social Policy• Defender Association of Philadelphia• Department of Justice, Honors Program• District Attorney’s Offi ce - Philadelphia, Brooklyn• Legal Services – Delaware, New York, Philadelphia, Rhode Island • National Women’s Law Center – Health Law Fellowship• Southern Center for Human Rights
26 27
Toll Public Interest Scholars ProgramSupporting Outstanding Scholarship and Service
A Vibrant Public Interest CommunityIntegrating Service into Student Life
The Toll Public Interest Center collaborates with student groups, faculty, and with other Penn Law Departments to create many opportunities for students to explore issues relating to social justice, to learn about the challenges and rewards of public interest lawyering, and to gain insight into the realities of affording a career in the public sector. Our public interest calendar is fi lled with numerous events ranging from brown bag lunches to high profi le symposia, many initiated by students. There are also many occasions to engage in community service, and opportunities to celebrate public interest at the Law School.
Key annual events include the following:
• Service Projects in Orientation and throughout the school year
• Fall Semester Public Interest Week – focusing on public interest careers and pro bono opportunities
• Spring Semester Public Interest Week – featuring an Honorary Fellow in Residence and the Sparer Public Interest Symposium
• Equal Justice Foundation Auction – raising money to fund student summer public interest work
• Public Interest Recognition Event – celebrating students who exceed the pro bono requirement
Recent notable public interest events include:
• Focus on the International Community: Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry of Pakistan presented a lecture on The Rule of Law and the Independence of the Judiciary.
• Focus on Diversity: Lambda Law and the Federalist Society hosted an informative and spirited discussion between two of the country’s most prominent litigators regarding same-sex marriage in the wake of Proposition 8 and the election of Barack Obama.
• Focus on Career: Equal Justice Works’ Heather Jarvis, national expert on educational debt and the fi nancial barriers facing graduates, discussed the College Cost Reduction and Access Act and advised students in resources available for affording public interest careers
• Focus on Social Justice and the Law: The student chapter of the National Lawyers Guild organized sessions with local practitioners to discuss how fi rst year law courses, such as property and contracts, affect low income people in real world situations.
While the Toll Public Interest Center works with every student at Penn Law to do pro bono work, and with all public interest students to empower them in their chosen career path, the Center also administers the highly competitive Toll Public Interest Scholars Program.
Selection Process: Once admitted to Penn Law School, all admitted students are evaluated for eligibility for the public interest scholarship. Eligible students are then invited to apply. Only students with both the highest academic achievement and a demonstrated commitment to public interest work will be considered for this scholarship.
Funding: Toll Public Interest Scholars receive a generous scholarship that includes full tuition for the fi rst year, and 2/3 tuition for the second and third years at Penn Law. In addition, summer stipends are provided for public interest summer internships.
Program: In addition to a formal orientation and many informal opportunities to interact with faculty, staff, and alumni, scholars also receive intensive mentoring and counseling regarding their education and career. They also have opportunities to participate in specialized courses and independent study projects related to their ultimate goals. Toll Public Interest Scholars are expected to be active and contributing members of the Law School’s vibrant public interest community, and many of them inevitably become leaders of student public interest initiatives.
Each year, under the direction of the Toll Public Interest Center, and with the guidance of faculty advisors, the scholars plan the Edward V. Sparer Symposium, a prominent and unique forum that contributes to poverty law scholarship. Each year, the scholars engage in the complex and educational process of planning this symposium from start to fi nish regarding the issues that matter most to them. Past symposia focused on Urban Crime (2009), Economic Justice (2008), International Human Rights (2007), and Civil Gideon (2006).
Commitment: When Toll Public Interest Scholars accept their scholarship, they agree to devote at least three of their fi rst fi ve years of law practice to public interest law. Public interest is defi ned broadly to include traditional legal services and law-related work with government or non-profi t organizations.
26 27
Toll Public Interest Scholars ProgramSupporting Outstanding Scholarship and Service
A Vibrant Public Interest CommunityIntegrating Service into Student Life
The Toll Public Interest Center collaborates with student groups, faculty, and with other Penn Law Departments to create many opportunities for students to explore issues relating to social justice, to learn about the challenges and rewards of public interest lawyering, and to gain insight into the realities of affording a career in the public sector. Our public interest calendar is fi lled with numerous events ranging from brown bag lunches to high profi le symposia, many initiated by students. There are also many occasions to engage in community service, and opportunities to celebrate public interest at the Law School.
Key annual events include the following:
• Service Projects in Orientation and throughout the school year
• Fall Semester Public Interest Week – focusing on public interest careers and pro bono opportunities
• Spring Semester Public Interest Week – featuring an Honorary Fellow in Residence and the Sparer Public Interest Symposium
• Equal Justice Foundation Auction – raising money to fund student summer public interest work
• Public Interest Recognition Event – celebrating students who exceed the pro bono requirement
Recent notable public interest events include:
• Focus on the International Community: Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry of Pakistan presented a lecture on The Rule of Law and the Independence of the Judiciary.
• Focus on Diversity: Lambda Law and the Federalist Society hosted an informative and spirited discussion between two of the country’s most prominent litigators regarding same-sex marriage in the wake of Proposition 8 and the election of Barack Obama.
• Focus on Career: Equal Justice Works’ Heather Jarvis, national expert on educational debt and the fi nancial barriers facing graduates, discussed the College Cost Reduction and Access Act and advised students in resources available for affording public interest careers
• Focus on Social Justice and the Law: The student chapter of the National Lawyers Guild organized sessions with local practitioners to discuss how fi rst year law courses, such as property and contracts, affect low income people in real world situations.
While the Toll Public Interest Center works with every student at Penn Law to do pro bono work, and with all public interest students to empower them in their chosen career path, the Center also administers the highly competitive Toll Public Interest Scholars Program.
Selection Process: Once admitted to Penn Law School, all admitted students are evaluated for eligibility for the public interest scholarship. Eligible students are then invited to apply. Only students with both the highest academic achievement and a demonstrated commitment to public interest work will be considered for this scholarship.
Funding: Toll Public Interest Scholars receive a generous scholarship that includes full tuition for the fi rst year, and 2/3 tuition for the second and third years at Penn Law. In addition, summer stipends are provided for public interest summer internships.
Program: In addition to a formal orientation and many informal opportunities to interact with faculty, staff, and alumni, scholars also receive intensive mentoring and counseling regarding their education and career. They also have opportunities to participate in specialized courses and independent study projects related to their ultimate goals. Toll Public Interest Scholars are expected to be active and contributing members of the Law School’s vibrant public interest community, and many of them inevitably become leaders of student public interest initiatives.
Each year, under the direction of the Toll Public Interest Center, and with the guidance of faculty advisors, the scholars plan the Edward V. Sparer Symposium, a prominent and unique forum that contributes to poverty law scholarship. Each year, the scholars engage in the complex and educational process of planning this symposium from start to fi nish regarding the issues that matter most to them. Past symposia focused on Urban Crime (2009), Economic Justice (2008), International Human Rights (2007), and Civil Gideon (2006).
Commitment: When Toll Public Interest Scholars accept their scholarship, they agree to devote at least three of their fi rst fi ve years of law practice to public interest law. Public interest is defi ned broadly to include traditional legal services and law-related work with government or non-profi t organizations.
28
Gittis Centerfor Clinical Legal Studies
Louis RulliDirector and Practice Professor of Law
Tel: 215-898-8427 Fax: 215-573-6783
Email: [email protected]
www.law.upenn.edu/clinic
Toll Public Interest Center
Arlene Rivera FinkelsteinAssistant Dean & Executive Director
Tel: 215-898-0459 Fax: 215-573-5806
Email: arfi [email protected]
www.law.upenn.edu/pic
3400 Chestnut Street | Philadelphia, PA 19104-6204
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