Public Service and Public Interest Law
- Public Service Mission
- Public Interest Task Force
- Career Opportunities
- Student Community
- Financial Support
- Academics
- Externship Program
- Loan Repayment Assistant Program
- Lend-a-Law Student
- Public Interest Student Association
- Equal Justice Works
Public Service Mission
Colorado Law is a public institution with a public spirit. As a community dedicated to teaching and learning about law, we have a deep appreciation of the responsibilities that go hand-in-hand with the privileges of being part of the legal profession. To that end, one of the three central tenets of the Law School's Mission Statement is a commitment to public service:
We believe that our faculty and students all have obligations to the Law School, the University, the profession, and the local and global communities for the privilege of being part of an honored endeavor. Moreover, a commitment to service is an ingredient of a full and satisfying life. Accordingly, we will contribute our time and talents in pursuit of our mission in ways that match our individual interests and abilities. As a public institution with a tradition of public service, we will strive to instill in our students an awareness of a lawyer's civic responsibilities and opportunities to serve and lead.
Public Interest Task Force. Established to ensure that this central mission of the Law School receives the attention and institutional support necessary to its success, the Public Interest Task Force is a group of faculty, students, and administrators working to increase community participation in pro bono and public interest projects and to promote public interest coursework, extracurricular programs, and job opportunities.
Career Opportunities. Colorado Law School is dedicated to providing support for our students and alumni interested in public service careers. The Office of Career Development supports public interest in numerous ways, specifically by:
- Having a full-time Associate Director, Karen Trojanowski, J.D., who focuses primarily on helping students and alumni find legal opportunities in the public sector, which includes government and public interest. She also administrates the Law School's Externship Program.
- Participating in the CU/DU Government & Public Interest Career Symposium. This event provides an excellent forum for representatives of government agencies, public interest organizations, and the judiciary to meet students and recent graduates from both the University of Colorado Law School and the University of Denver Sturm College of Law, and to target those people who want to start their careers in public interest and government service.
- Developing and annually updating the Colorado Public Interest Directory, which contains a listing of public interest organizations in Colorado that typically hire interns, externs, and volunteers. This is maintained on our password protected online system for students and alumni only.
- Maintaining active membership with Equal Justice Works, the premier national public interest law organization that organizes, trains, and supports public service-minded law students and is the national leader in creating summer and postgraduate public interest jobs.
- Inviting our law students and alumni to participate in the annual Equal Justice Works Career Fair held in Washington, D.C., in October. Typically, more than 150 organizations and 1,200 law students/alumni from around the country attend this event.
- Providing a listing of useful public interest websites and resources that are helpful to our students and alumni in finding legal opportunities. This listing is on our password protected online system for students and alumni only.
- Subscribing to PSLawNet, which is a network of more than 170 law schools and more than 11,000 law-related public interest organizations in the U.S. and around the world. Through its online database, PSLawNet provides a comprehensive clearinghouse of public interest organizations and opportunities for lawyers and law students.
- Serving as a member of the Loan Repayment Assistant Program (LRAP) Committee.
Student Community. We are constantly seeking new opportunities for students to participate in pro bono and public service projects through programs such as:
- Lend-a-Law Student, a placement program that matches students interested in doing pro bono work with legal services organizations, law firms, and other pro bono providers.
- The Public Interest Student Association, which organizes public service opportunities for students, brings speakers to campus, and helps develop and support student interest in engaging in public service.
Financial Support. The Law School recognizes that law school debt burden can make the choice to pursue a career in public service a difficult one. We are working to provide financial support to give our graduates more flexibility in career selection by providing scholarships and fellowships, administered by the Financial Aid Office and by supporting the Loan Repayment Assistance Program, which provides partial loan forgiveness to graduates in public service careers.
Academics. For students interested in coursework or independent research in public interest, Colorado Law School offers a wide array of choices.
- Our Public Interest Curriculum includes a broad range of courses as well as a strong clinical program including the Juvenile and Family Law Clinic, Natural Resources Litigation Clinic, Legal Aid & Defender Clinic, Entrepreneurial Law Clinic, Appellate Advocacy Clinic, and Federal Practice Clinic.
- Our Public Interest Faculty are always available to work with students interested in pursuing independent research projects in public interest topics and to provide advice and support on career choices and other matters of concern.
