special programs: Public Interest Law
Golden Gate University School of Law is consistently ranked one of the best public interest law schools in the country. Last year, the National Jurist found that Golden Gate University was one of the two best in California.
The Public Interest Law program owes its reputation to several factors:
- A Comprehensive Curriculum: including many first-year offerings and extending to every area of public interest law.
- A Formidable Externship Program: ranked third in the nation in a 2010 study by Professor James Backman of Brigham Young University. Most GGU students participate in this program and obtain hands-on public interest law-related experience.
- Expert Faculty: renowned as public interest leaders. Likewise, GGU’s clinics and centers all focus on public interest issues.
- Student Organizations: creating a community deeply committed to public service.
- Curricular Specializations: offering students the chance to focus their public interest studies.
- Grants and Scholarships: providing an enormous amount of money to students.
Each year, a comparatively large percentage of Golden Gate University graduates directly enter the public and nonprofit sectors. It is thus no surprise that many of the region’s public interest leaders are graduates of GGU.
Golden Gate University selects a number of incoming students each year as Public Interest Law Scholars or Environmental Legal Scholars. These students attend monthly events, receive guidance and advice from alumni mentors, and are given regular opportunities to network with public interest lawyers. The school also provides these students with an annual scholarship.
Golden Gate University maintains a number of faculty-run public interest programs including its Center on Urban Environmental Law, its Poverty Law Program, and its Katrina and Disaster Law Program.
The Law Student Pro Bono Project connects students with short-term and long-term volunteer projects all around the Bay Area. As volunteers, students can staff client intake clinics, engage in legislative advocacy and policy work, and represent low-income families in a variety of substantive legal areas. The project time commitments are flexible to accommodate the student schedule. For those students looking to do some pro bono work over winter/spring breaks, there will be opportunities available.
If you have any questions about pro bono projects, please contact the Director for Public Interest Programs, Leeor Neta. He can be reached by email at: lneta@ggu.edu.
Students should visit www.lawstudentprobono.org to gain access to the online database of pro bono projects and to sign up for the pro bono e-newsletter.
The full-time Director for Public Interest Programs maintains a list of current pro bono opportunities. The Director also continually develops new pro bono opportunities. Students can discuss their interest areas, skills and scheduling needs with the Director who will counsel them on the appropriate placement. New opportunities are promoted through workshops, the law school's social media, at all law career services events and via a weekly newsletter. Outstanding pro bono work is recognized at the Public Interest Graduation Reception and on an ongoing basis.
To acknowledge and reward those students who dedicate a significant portion of their time to helping others through the Law Student Pro Bono Program, GGU has established a Pro Bono Honor Society.
Membership in this society will signify that a student has performed at least 10 hours of pro bono work in his/her first year and at least 25 hours of pro bono work for each of the upper-class years. Any student completing more than 100 hours of pro bono prior to graduation will receive special recognition from Dean Van Cleave.
Students inducted into the Society will be honored at the Public Interest Graduation Reception in April. Inductees will receive a certificate stating their membership, and can note membership on their resumes. Graduating inductees will receive a gift to recognize their contributions.
PILF is dedicated to advancing public interest through law by encouraging and supporting members who give back to the community. PILF assists students in finding legal employment and involvement opportunities in public interest and in government. It also provides fora to hear from faculty and practicing attorneys about their public interest experiences and to discuss issues within public interest fields. Each spring, PILF awards summer grants to current students working in public interest positions and holds an auction and raffle to raise money for these programs. For more information, please contact Director for Public Interest Programs Leeor Neta at lneta@ggu.edu.
Leeor Neta, Golden Gate University's Director for Public Interest Programs
and Terry Stewart, the Deputy District Attorney who led the battle for marriage equality in California
Eligible students who are working at qualified public interest organizations, government agencies, or private firms may participate in this program in which the employer pays a portion of the student’s wage and the federal government pays the other portion. If the employer cannot afford to pay the student law clerks, Golden Gate University will pay the employer’s share of the student’s wage.
Administered by
The Financial Aid Office
536 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA 94105
Phone: 415-442-6630
Email: lawfao@ggu.edu
As the premier public interest law school in the region, Golden Gate University ensures that all first-year students view their first-year curriculum through a social justice lens. First-year students are also permitted to select a first-year public interest elective course in the public interest, e.g., Asylum Law, Ethics in Criminal Law and Social Justice.
Golden Gate University School of Law also requires that all students must complete at least 3 credits of a clinic, externship, or public interest hands-on law-related experience.
Upon graduation, students may earn one of 12 different certificates of specialization in public interest areas. These certificates require specialized coursework, and -- in some cases -- supervised legal work in a public interest or government setting and community service. Graduating students are honored at the Annual Public Interest Graduation Reception, and receive a notation on their transcript that informs potential employers of their demonstrated commitment to public interest.
Golden Gate University is part of a consortium, including West Coast law schools and the Society of American Law Teachers, that sponsors the Annual Trina Grillo Public Interest and Social Justice Retreat. The Trina Grillo provides a unique opportunity for law students, faculty and practitioners to exchange viewpoints, explore career opportunities, and formulate creative strategies for social justice. Golden Gate University hosted the 14th Annual Trina Grillo Retreat on March 24 and 25, 2012.
Golden Gate University proves stipends to recent graduates who perform legal volunteer work for a public interest not-for-profit organization or government agency.
To help students who secure employment in low-paying public interest and government jobs, Golden Gate University offers a Loan Repayment Assistance Program (LRAP). Under LRAP, Golden Gate University makes a loan to qualifying graduates to assist them with their law school loan repayments. If a graduate remains eligible throughout the year, the loan is fully forgiven in July of the following year. There is no limit to the number of years a GGU graduate can receive LRAP support.
The application for LRAP is due each year on the first Friday in June.
For more information, contact Golden Gate University's Director for Public Interest Programs.