Directory
Berkeley School of Law
University of California, Berkeley, School of Law
Law School Pro Bono Programs
Contact Information
Deborah S. Schlosberg, Esq.
Director, Pro Bono Program
Category or Type of Program
Formal Voluntary Pro Bono Program Characterized by Administrative Support for Student Group Projects
Description of Programs
Berkeley Law’s Pro Bono Program offers students the opportunity to engage in meaningful client service as early as their first semester of law school. Students can apply to participate in our Student-Initiated Legal Services Projects (SLPS), Berkeley Law Alternative Service Trips (BLAST), Call for Necessary Engagement in Community & Timely Response (CNECT) or pursue independent pro bono projects with community organizations. Regardless of the path you choose, you will gain practical skills while bringing life-changing legal services to underserved communities. The Pro Bono Pledge allows students to be recognized for their contributions both at Berkeley Law’s Commencement and at Public Interest and Pro Bono Graduation. J.D. students can also earn hours toward summer public interest stipends (commonly referred to as “Edley Grants”).
Location of Programs
Standalone program.
Staffing/Management Oversight
The pro bono staff has duties in addition to pro bono programming.
Funding
The Law School provides office space and funding for pro bono group projects. The program also receives outside funding.
Faculty and Administrative Pro Bono
Yes.
Awards/Recognition
Pro Bono Champion Award: Each year, the Pro Bono Champion award is given to the graduating student who best exemplifies a commitment to and the values of pro bono work. Factors that will be considered include but are not limited to hours spent on pro bono work during the academic year, leadership, and support for the Berkeley Law Pro Bono Program (e.g. through SLPS, BLAST, or other efforts).
Alternative Winter or Spring Break Projects
Berkeley Law Alternative Service Trips (BLAST) is one way students at Berkeley Law can engage in pro bono legal services. BLAST allows students to take a short, but deep dive serving clients over school breaks outside of the Bay Area. Students work alongside established grassroots legal services agencies, gaining insight into the ways these organizations adapt their work to the unique challenges and needs of their respective communities. BLAST is a service-learning experience that helps equip students with the tools to understand the complex needs of communities similar to and different from their own, helping foster an active generation of thoughtful community lawyers. In years past, BLAST has traveled to rural Kentucky, the Central Valley of California, Mississippi, South Texas, Tijuana, and Los Angeles. BLAST, like SLPS, is student-initiated and operates in conjunction with the Berkeley Law Pro Bono Program.
Law School Public Interest Programs
Contact Information
This is done collectively by several departments. Pro Bono Program, Field Placement Program, Clinical Program, Public Interest Career Counselors, and the Thelton E. Henderson Center for Social Justice.
Certificate/Curriculum Programs
https://www.law.berkeley.edu/research/thelton-e-henderson-center-for-social-justice/public-interest-and-social-justice-certificate/
Public Interest Centers
The Henderson Center connects students, professors, lawyers, activists, and thinkers across and beyond campus to make relevant, vibrant conversations about law, power, equity, subordination, and privilege part of intellectual and social life at Berkeley Law. We focus on building our students’ capacity to be effective social justice advocates for the long-haul, and we are proud to be the home of this school’s active, diverse, and ever-growing social justice community. Each week, we enrich the law school by hosting a guest practitioner, alumni, or circle of experts to converse with students and faculty about social justice issues, policies, and skills. We create symposia, workshops, teach-ins, and mentorship opportunities for social justice students, and collaborate with an array of student organizations, from First Generation Professionals to Coalition for Diversity to the California Law Review. We also support students’ summer employment financially through the Thelton E. Henderson Racial Justice Fellowship, and administer two certificates that recognize students’ who complete focused curriculums through the Race and Law Certificate and the Public Interest and Social Justice Certificate. We are named after the Honorable Thelton E. Henderson (Class of ’62) and were established in response to California’s Proposition 209(opens in a new tab). For nearly 20 years, we’ve helped train thousands of lawyers to serve the least visible and least powerful with passion and expertise. We welcome anyone to our table who believes that advancing social justice is an integral part of the legal profession.
PI Career Support Center
The Career Develop Office has three full-time public interest career counselors and a coordinator.
Loan Repayment Assistance Programs (LRAP)
One of Berkeley Law’s defining characteristics is its public mission and commitment to supporting our students and graduates pursuing public service careers. Our Loan Repayment Assistance Program (LRAP) is crucial in this regard. Since 1997, Berkeley Law’s LRAP has provided funding to graduates working in public interest careers to help them cover student loan payments and ease the burden of loan repayment. Any J.D. graduate working in law-related, public interest employment can utilize LRAP funding for up to 10 years, cumulatively, so long as they enter the program for the first time within 3.5 years of graduation. Participants earning $80,000 or less can receive 100% LRAP support with no out-of-pocket contributions toward their loans, and graduates earning over $80,000 and up to $120,000 can receive partial support for their loan payments. Pairing LRAP with the federal government’s Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program, graduates in certain public interest jobs can apply to have their loan balance entirely forgiven, tax free, after 10 years of qualifying employment and income-driven monthly payments.
Fellowships
https://www.law.berkeley.edu/careers/for-students/public-interest/finance/berkeley-law-bridge-and-public-interest-fellowships/
06/26/2024