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ADDITIONAL LINKS
Public Service
Instilling the values of public service is at the very core of our mission at UC Irvine School of Law. We provide extensive opportunities for students to do public service work while in law school. Our students are taught that so many in society are unable to access the legal services they so desperately need. Our programs provide students the opportunity and training to better meet that need, and to use law to improve society.
Our curriculum is designed to incorporate real-world experience by requiring in-house legal clinic experience of every student, providing other elective clinics and externships, and strongly encouraging pro bono work. Also, in their first year, as part of their Lawyering Skills course, students conduct intake interviews with clients at local legal service organizations and government agencies. Students develop ties with local public interest organizations and the skills to work in such groups once they graduate.
Finally, UCI Law offers generous Public Service Fellowships to students who have demonstrated a commitment to public interest work, as well as a Loan Repayment Assistance Program (LRAP), summer stipends and post-bar fellowships to help support students who intend to pursue a career of service in the public interest.
Read on for more details about the public service training and support provided at UCI Law.
Prior to graduation, each student will complete at least one semester of clinical education, virtually always in one of the Law School's core in-house clinics. Each student works with an actual client or clients, under close supervision, in an environment designed to encourage reflection by students on their experiences and on the values and responsibilities of the legal profession.
In addition to the Core Clinics, which fulfill the clinical requirement, UCI Law offers several Elective Clinics that students can take in their second and third year. More about UCI Law's Clinics >
Students are strongly encouraged to participate in the program, in which they provide legal services to underserved communities while supervised by an attorney or faculty member. The program provides opportunities for students to practice and expand the skills learned in the classroom while experiencing the challenges and rewards of practicing law and assisting real clients. Students may volunteer at various organizations during the academic year and school breaks.
We recommend that students complete at least 20 hours of pro bono work in their first year and 50 hours in each of the two subsequent years. More than 90% of students participate in a pro bono project at some point in their law school career. UCI Law students found time to volunteer more than 6,700 hours from May 2011 through April 2012, participating in one or more of the 92 pro bono projects available. Nearly all (98%) of our first graduating class, the Class of 2012, did pro bono work, totaling more than 5,600 hours during their three years. More about UCI Law's Pro Bono Program >
Fellowships
UC Irvine School of Law offers full-tuition Public Service Fellowships to students interested in a career in service of the public interest. The three-year fellowships are funded by private donations. Each year, a number of these awards are offered to admitted students who demonstrate a strong interest in public service work.
Other funding includes:
- Public Interest Law Fund and Al Meyerhoff Public Interest Fellowships support students during summer jobs with public interest organizations.
- Bridge funding helps support graduates between law school and the start of their public service jobs.
- The Loan Repayment Assistance Program helps law graduates who pursue public service careers repay student loans.
"UCI Law is deeply committed to fostering public service work by our students through fellowships for students interested in public service careers, funding for students doing public interest work during summers and after law school, and loan forgiveness,” said Dean Erwin Chemerinsky.
One of the Externship Program's primary goals is to increase students’ understanding of the fundamental values of the legal profession, including a commitment to promoting access to justice. Our students have externed with a number of state and federal judges, from Orange County Superior Court judges to judges on the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Students have worked in the offices of prosecutors, public defenders, and other government agencies at the city, county, state and federal levels, and at public interest organizations such as the ACLU of Southern California, Children’s Law Center of Los Angeles, Legal Aid Society of Orange County and National Resources Defense Council, to name just a few.
UCI Law students may also participate in the full-semester UCDC program, a collaboration among UC law schools that allows second- and third-year law students to extern in Washington D.C. offices on Capitol Hill, the Department of Justice, the White House and many other agencies and non-profits. More about UCI Law's Externships program >
Public Interest Partnerships
Among the employers that have supported our school or interviewed on campus are
cutting-edge public interest law groups located throughout Southern California, including Asian Pacific American Legal Center, California Rural Legal Assistance, California Women's Law Center, Legal Aid Society of Orange County, LAMBDA Legal Defense and Education Fund, Public Law Center, and Western Center on Law and Poverty. See the full list of UCI Law's Public Interest Partners >
Public Service: A daily part of life at UCI Law
- A weekly speaker series regularly features preeminent attorneys, and sometimes clients, involved in all areas of public interest law.
- The Al Meyerhoff Lecture in Public Interest Law brings renowned public interest attorneys such as Connie Rice, Charles Ogletree, Jr. and Bryan Stevenson to campus
- Public interest counseling is integrated into our Career Development Office. Our Career Development staff includes attorneys who practiced public interest law before joining UCI Law.
- A number of student groups focus on public interest issues, including one that raises money for summer stipends and promotes public interest legal service among UCI Law graduates.
- The Pre-Law Outreach Program (POP) and Saturday Academy of Law target students from disadvantaged backgrounds who wish to attend law school. POP, which is focused on undergraduate students, emphasizes to participants the importance of returning to their communities to do legal work, either full-time or through pro bono assistance, once they are practicing attorneys.