PUBLIC INTEREST & PRO BONO

SERVE YOUR COMMUNITY

Whether you aspire to become a public interest lawyer, incorporate pro bono work into your practice, or serve your community in other ways, you will find the resources at Duke Law to reach your goals. The value of service is core to the profession and central to student experience.

Through the Office of Public Interest and Pro Bono at Duke Law, students lead projects in areas such as criminal law, environmental law, and civil rights, and provide much-needed legal services to clients who couldn’t otherwise afford them. Many students graduate with highly competitive fellowships and job placements in government agencies, nonprofits, and organizations serving indigent clients.

Students prepare hundreds of tax returns for low-income area residents each year through the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program.

“ Having people who knew my interests and experience and understood where I wanted to go was helpful in directing my journey and ensuring that I had opportunities. That sense of community outside the academic focus was so helpful.”

SOPHIA TAN JD/MPP ’19 earned the Certificate in Public Interest and Public Service Law. She worked with the Youth Justice Project at the Southern Coalition for Social Justice and in the Civil Justice and Children’s Law Clinics as a Duke Law student.

CERTIFICATE IN PUBLIC INTEREST AND PUBLIC SERVICE LAW

Launched in 2017, Duke Law’s Certificate in Public Interest and Public Service Law gives students who are committed to working in public service a head start on their careers.

Certificate students complete curricular requirements and are assigned faculty mentors in order to assist them in selecting academic, clinical, and experiential courses that will help them develop competencies necessary toward achieving their professional aspirations. Students in the program benefit from a community of peers, faculty, administrators, and Duke Law alumni committed to supporting them as they pursue careers in public interest and public service.

STUDENT-LED PRO BONO GROUPS

Duke Law is committed to providing students with experiential learning opportunities that not only contribute to your professional development, but also stress the value of service. These student-led groups give you the opportunity to engage with the local Durham community and beyond:

• Coalition Against Gendered Violence • Consumer Rights and Economic Justice Project • Duke Immigrant and Refugee Project • Guardian ad Litem • Health Law Society • Cancer Pro Bono Project • Innocence Project • Justice Matters • Lawyer-on-the-Line • Semester Break Legal Service Trips • Street Law • Teen Court • Veteran’s Assistance Project • Volunteer Income Tax Assistance