Public Interest Job Search Information

• OCPD Public Interest and Pro Bono Guide 
• PSJD: Miami Law is a member of this unique online national network of over 2000 organizations that offer students a chance to connect to legally related public interest job postings and career-building resources. As a collaborative project among over 200 American and Canadian law schools, PSJD is a free resource for law students and alumni of subscriber schools to search among thousands of public interest job opportunities and employer profiles. PSJD is free for all Miami Law students. Simply go to www.psjd.org and click on "New Jobseeker" in the top right hand corner. The rest is easy!  For any questions or issues with PSJD, contact Sharon Booth.

Other Great Resources

• Equal Justice Works: Equal Justice Works organizes, trains, and supports public service-minded law students and is the national leader in creating summer and postgraduate public interest jobs.
• Finding and Funding International Public Service Opportunities: Contains information about international public service opportunities.
• Foreign Policy Association: The Foreign Policy Association is a non-profit organization dedicated to inspiring the American public to learn more about the world. Founded in 1918, FPA serves as a catalyst for developing awareness, understanding of, and providing informed opinions on global issues. Through its balanced, nonpartisan programs and publications, the FPA encourages citizens to participate in the foreign policy process.
• Grassroots Roundtable: Opportunities with various grassroots organizations.
• HOPE Summer Fellowship Applications available on the HOPE website.
• Idealist.org: Job listings in public service, including human rights positions throughout the world. If you enter your profile, Idealist will send you relevant listings.
• National Disaster Legal Aid: Contains resources to persons affected by disasters, legal aid lawyers providing representation, and volunteer attorneys wishing to assist others.
• National Legal Aid and Defender Association: Lists post-graduate jobs in civil legal services organizations and defender organizations. Searchable by state.
• NALP: NALP provides many resources to assist career services offices in providing services to students, alumni and employers.
• The Non-Profit Jobs Organization: Site listing opportunities with non-profit organizations.
• Opportunity Knocks: Opportunity Knocks is a national online job site, HR resource, and career development destination focused exclusively on the nonprofit community. The site supports efforts that help further nonprofit careers and promote a robust workforce that enables organizations to complete their missions.
• Philanthropy News Digest: Provides listings of current full-time openings at US based foundations, public charities, corporate programs and nonprofit organizations.
• Probono Net: Pro Bono Net is a unique organization in its use of information technology and collaboration among the various parts of the public interest legal community.
• Public Interest Job Search Boards and Databases: Prepared by Harvard Law School, this site features guides on a variety of guides focused on a particular practice area. Among the many guides are those on Private Public Interest and Plaintiff's firms, Civil Rights/Civil Liberties, Environmental law and Immigration and Refugee law.
• Western New York Law Center: Contains job postings for attorney and intern positions in various public interest organizations in New York.

Career Fair and Conference (October)

Students interested in gaining experience in the public sector have an innumerable amount of opportunities to gain experience in their field of interest during their summer break. The earlier a student begins his or her job search the better the chances are of obtaining a position in the field of one’s choice. A good place to start a search is at the Equal Justice Works Career Fair and Conference in October. For students planning on leaving Miami, it is a good idea to begin a search during the fall semester. Some metropolitan areas tend to hire all their summer interns by January. Others are always looking for an extra pair of eager hands. There are a few ways to obtain funding to work in the public sector, below are some of the more popular opportunities.

• Miami Law HOPE Fellowships – This program enables law students to take volunteer positions at public interest agencies.
• Miami Law Summer Public Interest Fellowships
• Equal Justice Works' Summer Corps program supports law students around the country who are working to expand the delivery of legal services to those who need it most. Miami Law is a member of Equal Justice Works, which allows students to apply for these grants. The earlier one applies the better the chances are for obtaining the grant, as they are evaluated on a first come, first serve basis.
• Florida Bar Legal Services Summer Fellowship Program involves the provision of high-quality legal assistance to the poor through various organizations across the state. Factors considered are: experience in working with the low-income community, academic achievement, writing skills, and previous contact and long-term commitment/interest in public service/pro bono work. 

• echoing green (Deadline: early December)
  echoing green provides seed money and technical support to individuals who develop a plan or project, which will impact specific community needs. The organization strives to fund innovative risk takers in the early stage of their careers, when most funders are unwilling to provide assistance.
• Equal Justice Works Fully Funded Fellowship (Deadline: mid-September)
  The applicant proposes a project involving legal advocacy on behalf of individuals, groups or issues that are not adequately represented by some aspect of the legal system. Fellowships last for 2 years and approximately 25 fellows are selected annually.
• The Fried Frank Civil Rights Fellowship (Deadline: early November)
  The law firm of Fried, Frank et. al. co-sponsors two fellowships annually, one with the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) and one with the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. Fellows spend two years as a Fried Frank associate and then two years at LDF or MALDEF.
• New Voices (Deadline: January)
  The New Voices Fellowship program is a capacity-building and leadership development grant that assists non-profit organizations and individuals entering the field of human rights and international cooperation.
• Skadden Fellowships (Deadline: early October)
  Sponsored by the law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, this program provides funding for civil legal services to the poor, elderly, disabled, and those deprived of their civil or human rights. Students propose projects to provide services within established organizations. 
• The Wellstone Fellowship (Deadline: February)
  The Wellstone Fellow will be engaged in Families USA's outreach to, and mobilization of, communities of color. The fellowship is designed to give an individual both a national and a local perspective on social justice work. The Fellow will work in the Families USA office in Washington DC and will learn about Medicare, Medicaid, efforts to achieve universal coverage and other health policy issues.
• Women's Law and Public Policy Fellowship (Deadline: Early November)
  Since 1983, the Women's Law and Public Policy Fellowship Program (WLPPFP) has enabled law graduates with a special interest in women's rights to work in the nation's capital with a variety of organizations involved in legal and policy issues affecting women. Those selected for participation are placed with different organizations such as women's rights groups, civil rights groups, Congressional offices, governmental agencies, and Georgetown University Law Center clinics working on women's issues. Since 1993 the Fellowship Program has also administered a program for women's rights attorneys from Africa (Leadership and Advocacy for Women in Africa Program, or "LAWA"). The LAWA Fellows participate in all program activities, and both U.S. and LAWA Fellows benefit greatly from this diversity and interaction.

Public interest work is any work being done on behalf of the public and public interest opportunities exist in a variety of legal settings. Some of these settings are:

• Nonprofit Organizations: This category includes issue-oriented and client-oriented organizations. The issue-oriented organizations, i.e. the ACLU, conduct impact litigation by taking cases with the intention of creating legal policy and precedents that will affect large numbers of people on a particular issue. Client-oriented organizations, Legal Aid Society, provide direct legal services to poor or under-represented groups.
• Government and Public Defenders: This category includes thousands of municipal, state and federal offices nationwide. There are government offices that deal with just about every issue imaginable. A public defender provides free criminal defense for defendants who cannot afford legal representation. There are public defenders offices on both the state and federal level.
• Executive/Administrative: This encompasses attorneys working for the United States Government, whether it is through the Department of Justice, or any other administrative agency, including the SEC, FBI, IRS, etc.
• Legislative: This would include attorneys working with the legislature, helping to draft legislation and/or render legal advice regarding proposed legislation.
• Law Firms and Corporate Counsel: Some law firms either emphasize or exclusively practice public interest legal work. Additionally, many law firms and corporate counsel are committed to pro bono work.

Public interest work can be in any number of practice areas including: Administrative law, AIDS/HIV, Alternative Dispute Resolution, Animal Rights, Appellate, Arts, Bankruptcy, Children/Youth, Civil Rights/Civil Liberties, Community Economic Development, Constitutional, Consumer Law, Criminal Law, Death Penalty, Prisoners' Rights, Disability, Education, Elder Law, Employment Law, Environmental/ Energy, Family Law, Gay/Lesbian Rights, Health/Medical, Homeless/Housing Law, Immigration, International Human Rights, Legislative, Litigation, Migrant Workers, Municipal Law, Native Americans, Public Benefits, Tax, Women.