W&L Law Commits $330,000 Annually to Public Interest Students and Alumni

W&L Law has announced the creation of a program to guarantee financial support for current students and graduates interested or serving in public interest and government careers. The Path to Public Interest Program (PPIP) will supply over $330,000 in funds annually toward employment in public service positions.

Public interest internships for current law students are typically unpaid, and recent graduates working in public interest positions do so at salaries below that of their counterparts in the private sector. For rising 2L students in particular, supporting their summer employment is critical for them to gain experience and develop skills that lead to future opportunities in both the public and private sector.

Components of PPIP include:

• $1.3 million endowment for public interest scholarships

• Up to $5,000 per student each summer to support students working in qualifying government and public interest positions

• Transportation and lodging reimbursement for public interest job interviews

• $1,250 monthly, short-term stipends for recent graduates working in temporary public interest and government positions while awaiting their bar results

• $100,000 pool available annually for loan repayment for alumni during the first ten years following graduation.

Last summer, 70 law students received a portion of over $160,000 to support summer public interest work. Alumni taking advantage of the loan repayment program have received on average $5,000 per year to help with student loans.

Want to support the PPIP Program?

Contact Elizabeth Branner at brannere@wlu.edu

Focus On Public Interest

Summer Placement

Legal Aid of West Virginia

About the Experience

As my property professor often said, “beware of Kings of tiny kingdoms.” Working for Legal Aid, I finally gained an understanding of what she meant. For many of my clients, all of whom were below the poverty threshold, representation was their only salvation. Without it, they undoubtedly would have been dismissed without a thought. Representation matters. This legal degree I have chosen to pursue matters.

Summer Placement

New Jersey Office of the Public Defender

About the Experience

I gained one of the most important things from this experience – I realized that I am interested in doing litigation. That was a serious concern for me as I was not sure throughout my first year of law school whether I wanted to do litigation or transactional law. Going into law school, I believed I wanted to do transactional business law. This experience has made me realize that I want to do litigation related to white-collar defense.