POINTS OF DISTINCTION:
PUBLIC SERVICE AND PUBLIC INTEREST LAW
FROM BLOOMINGTON TO BEIJING, A WORLD OF PRO BONO SERVICE CLINICS, EXTERNSHIPS, COMMUNITY PROGRAMS
PRO BONO PARTNERS
AMOUNT OF PRO BONO FUNDING
28 400+
STUDENT VOLUNTEERS
42,000+
PRO BONO HOURS
$1,047M
VALUE OF PRO BONO HOURS
36
$400K
INDIANA LAW STUDENTS PROVIDE PRO BONO SERVICES IN 23 US STATES AND FOREIGN COUNTRIES. (Annual data from 2017-18 academic year.)
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INNOVATIVE PROGRAMS, PASSIONATE STUDENTS The Indiana University Maurer School of Law has a longstanding record of service to the community, both in Bloomington and across the globe. Through our clinics, externships, projects, and community programs, we provide our students with outstanding opportunities to make a difference while developing their professional skills. In many ways, the Law School provides one of the most comprehensive offerings of public service programs of any law school in the country. For this reason, PreLaw magazine has given us an A rating for being “one of the best schools for doing good.” This booklet provides an overview of the tireless contributions of our students and faculty to strengthen our communities through public service. Guided by our dedicated faculty, we hope that our students’ commitment to pro bono work will lead to a lifetime of service throughout their professional lives. Austen L. Parrish Dean and James H. Rudy Professor of Law
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HANDS-ON LEARNING, REAL-LIFE IMPACT Indiana Law has a longstanding reputation for serving the community through its clinics, community programs, pro bono projects, and externships and internships. Students’ participation in our clinics in 2018 illustrates their record of service:
6,950
221
63
VOLUNTEER HOURS
CLIENTS SERVED
STUDENTS INVOLVED
34
52
21
PATENTS OR TRADEMARKS APPLIED FOR OR ISSUED
POINTS OF DISTINCTION:
PUBLIC SERVICE AND PUBLIC INTEREST LAW
CASES AND MEDIATIONS
NONPROFITS INCORPORATED
ON THE COVER Founded in 1990, the Protective Order Project is a studentdirected project designed to help victims of domestic abuse obtain civil protective orders from the court, with the goal of preventing further abuse, both by restraining the abuser and by empowering the victim. POP uses the skills of law students, the advice and assistance of private volunteer attorneys, and the resources of Middle Way House to serve victims of domestic violence in Monroe County. About 50 Law School students participate in POP this year, and much of its support comes from student-led events, including the annual Women’s Law Caucus fundraiser for Middle Way House. POP counsels approximately 75 clients each year.
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LIVE-ACTION CLINICS
Conservation Law Clinic Disability and Community Law Clinic Elmore Entrepreneurship Law Clinic Intellectual Property Law Clinic Nonprofit Legal Clinic Viola J. Taliaferro Family and Mediation Clinic
COMMUNITY PROGRAMS
Bloomington Adopt-a-Road (staff initiative) Expungement Help Desk Federal Habeas Project IP Hoosier Connect and Patent Connect Outreach for Legal Literacy Rural Justice Initiative Student Fundraisers
PRO BONO PROJECTS
Immigration Law Project Inmate Legal Assistance Project LGBT Project Protective Order Project Tenant Assistance Project Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program Will Preparation Project
EXTERNSHIPS AND INTERNSHIPS
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Criminal Law and Bradley Fellows Independent Clinical Project Indiana Legal Services Project Intellectual Property Externship Judicial Field Placements New York Summer Externship Public Interest Externship Student Legal Services Externship Washington, DC Public Interst Externship
STUDENT VOICES SKADDEN FELLOW JESSICA BEHEYDT
“I helped create the Bloomington Expungement Help Desk project, which was a fantastic way to learn about project management and the commitment it takes to see a project through to its completion.”
JULIAN BOND SCHOLAR SARAH BROWN
“I cannot imagine a better place for me to have spent my first-year summer. I came back to school more confident than ever about entering the legal field.”
PUBLIC INTEREST LAW FOUND.
BRITTNI CROFTS WESSMER, PRESIDENT “PILF has given me and so many other students the opportunity to pursue public interest work and, in our own small ways, make the world a better place.”
FAEGRE BAKER DANIELS ACCESS-TO-JUSTICE FELLOW MARY PAT STEMNOCK
“Maurer’s pro bono program is unique in that it’s entirely driven by our passionate and talented students. I love recognizing my classmates for the inspiring pro bono work they do in Bloomington and across the country.”
FACULTY VOICES NORMAN J. HEDGES CLINICAL ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, DIRECTOR, IP CLINIC “Our IP clinic operates more like a law firm than a classroom activity. As such, our students get technical and case-management expertise while they’re still in school, and they help real entrepreneurs protect their investments.”
JENNIFER PRUSAK CLINICAL ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, DIRECTOR, NONPROFIT LAW CLINIC “This clinic aspires to become a resource for Indiana’s nonprofit organizations by offering a community service to selected clients, while at the same time educating students. Working with our students to develop solutions for this unique segment of the legal market has been a rewarding experience for me, and, I hope for them, too.”
SETH LAHN SENIOR LECTURER “Our students’ passion for pro bono work grows every year. Whether assisting inmates at the federal penitentiary in Terre Haute or working on protective orders for victims of domestic abuse, their commitment to the cause of justice is truly insiring.”
HEDGES
PRUSAK
LAHN
STUDENT SUPPORT. . . Every year Indiana Law provides more than $400,000 in direct funding to support students’ public service work. Here are some examples:
FELLOWSHIPS
Access to Justice Bradley Fellows Indiana Legal Services JD Affiliates Post-Graduate Fellowships Stewart Fellows
DIRECT FUNDING
Public Interest Law Foundation Singing for Summer Salaries Public Service Externship Summer Funding Rural Justice Initiative Julian Bond Law Scholars Partnership Funding Veterans Funding Funding for Attendance at Public Service Conferences
$10-15,000 $40-50,000 $40-50,000
SCHOLARSHIPS
Immigration Law Project Inmate Legal Assistance Project LGBT Project Protective Order Project Tenant Assistance Project Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program Will Preparation Project
STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS, LAW JOURNALS, AND COURSES
Dozens of student organizations provide students ways to interact with the community, and our law journals often have articles or symposia focused on public interest law and public service. By selecting an Area of Focus in Civil Rights and Equality, Constitutional Design, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law and Procedure, Environmental Law, Family Law, International and Comparative Law, or Labor and Employment Law, students can also enhance their public-interest career opportunities through classroom study and as research and writing projects with faculty.
. . .AND RECOGNITION The Law School recognizes students, alumni, and friends for their contributions to the community each year.
PRO BONO AWARDS Students and community members with significant pro bono contributions are saluted each year. Students who have volunteered at least 60 hours during their law school years receive a notation in the commencement program booklet.
DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD The Distinguished Service Award was established in 1997 to recognize graduates of the Indiana University Maurer School of Law who have distinguished themselves in service to their communities and the school in ways far exceeding traditional business, professional, and civic duties. Through their hard work, passion, and accomplishments, these alumni define Indiana Law’s ideals for community service and serve as accomplished role models for our Law School and the greater community.
LEN FROMM PUBLIC INTEREST AWARD This award honors the memory of the school’s longtime dean of students and alumni affairs, whose commitment to the Law School and the wellbeing of the community is legendary. It is presented each year to students and faculty who have done the most to carry on Dean Fromm’s legacy of service.
THE 2018 DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD WINNERS: JANE HENEGAR, JEANNE M. PICHT, STEPHEN E. REYNOLDS, TIMOTHY J. RIFFLE (NOT PICTURED: THOMAS Y. MAN)
SERVICE LEARNING PROJECT: THE NATION’S LARGEST Under the direction of Professor Victor Quintanilla, Indiana Law launched a service-learning program in the fall of 2017 as part of the school’s requisite first-year course in Civil Procedure. All 187 1L students participated, making the project the largest of its kind at any law school in the country. Students in the project divided into 28 teams, working with community partners to come up with solutions to problems facing underserved members of local communities. The students pursued solutions that encompassed technology, the distribution of easy-to-understand legal documents, and the development of a new restorative program centered on Title IX reforms at the Indiana University campus. After teams presented their proposals at the end of the fall semester, five were chosen for review by a distinguished panel of scholars at the Accessing Justice Symposium, hosted by the Law School in February 2018 and including members of the Indiana Coalition for Court Access. In its second year, the program was incorporated into the school’s landmark Legal Profession course led by Quintanilla and Prof. Shana Wallace and including 11 student teams, seven team coaches (upper-level students) and seven upper-level practice group advisors. The service learning project has provided Indiana Law students with an early introduction to public service while improving the delivery of legal services to the citizens of Monroe and Lawrence counties, including seniors, veterans, immigrants, persons with mental illness, and the homeless.
QUINTANILLA
WALLACE
PRO BONO PARTNERS The financial support of our partners makes it possible for Indiana Law students to gain valuable experience while providing access to justice for the community. We are grateful for their participation.
LOCAL VOLUNTEER PARTNERS Community Justice and Mediation Center District 10 Pro Bono Project Student Legal Services
NATIONAL VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES ABA Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service Brennan Center for Justice Legal Services Corporation Public Interest Law Foundation Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law
EXTERNSHIP PARTNERS (SELECTED) Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative Cook County (Ill.) State’s Attorney’s Office Fifth District Solicitor’s Office (Columbia, SC) Indiana Attorney General IU Health Legal Aid Society of New York Lumina Foundation Marion County Prosecutor Marion County Public Defender Agency Michigan Department of Environmental Equality Monroe County Prosecutor National Immigration Center National Women’s Law Center New York City Bar Association Office of the Corporation Counsel, City of Indianapolis Offices of the Federal Public Defender, Alaska, California, Ohio Office of the US Attorney, Southern District of Indiana Hon. Jose M. Rodriguez and Navarro | McKown US Commission on Civil Rights US Department of Justice US District Courts, Illinois and Indiana US Navy JAG Corps Senator Todd Young
MAURER
SCHOOL OF LAW BLOOMINGTON
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