Programs: Understanding our Community Better

The Career Planning and Placement Office and the Toll Public Interest Center collaborate on a variety of public service activities, panels, and workshops that are intended to increase our students' understanding and appreciation of public interest law and the issues that this field faces.

Below are several examples of Penn Law public interest events and programs:

• Pro Bono Fair - an annual event, sponsored by the Toll Public Interest Center, provides law students with the opportunity to learn about local and national legal opportunities with legal organizations.
• Public Interest Speaker Series - a series of presentations by nationally renowned public interest lawyers on a broad range of topics including death penalty practice, international human rights, civil rights litigation, and environmental law.
• Graduate Mentors in Residence - Penn Law graduates offer individualized counseling to law students on pro bono work and public interest careers.
• Annual Public Service Recognition Event - The Toll Public Interest Center and the Career Planning and Placement Office honor Penn Law students who have made outstanding contributions to public interest and public service.
• Edward V. Sparer Symposium - sponsored by the Toll Public Interest Center, Public Governance Group, the Toll Public Interest Scholars Program, the Alliance for Justice and the National Lawyers Guild. The Edward V. Sparer Symposium is one of the most prominent public symposia in the country.
• Equal Justice Foundation (EJF) Auction - an annual auction -- run by Penn Law students with the assistance of the Toll Public Interest Center and many other offices at Penn Law -- that raises money to fund summer Public Interest Fellowships.
• University Collaboration - The Toll Public Interest Center sponsors a wide range of public service events in collaboration with the broader university. For example, the Center has co-sponsored a Speakers Series with Civic House, symposia with the School of Social Policy & Practice, and service learning projects with the Graduate School of Education.
• The Public Interest Film Series provides a unique opportunity for Penn Law students to discuss contemporary films within the context of their pro bono work. (Films shown throughout spring '06 .)

Edward V. Sparer Symposium: Overview

In 1984, Penn Law organized the Sparer Symposium to commemorate the life and work of the late Edward V. Sparer who was a Professor of Law and Social Policy at the Law School. Sparer's work combined a passionate concern about the poor with intellectual rigor and a profound conviction that the problems of poverty are solvable. In 1983 he founded Mobilization for Youth Services, the first neighborhood legal services program and then the Columbia Center on Social Welfare and Policy and Law, the first national support center for legal services. Each year, the Symposium brings together legal academics and practitioners to provide insight into the dynamic relationship between scholarship and practice in the area of poverty law, merging theory and practice.

2008 EDWARD V. SPARER SYMPOSIUM

Penn Law's 27th Annual Edward V. Sparer Symposium, "Redefining Aggregate Welfare: Revitalizing a City in Pursuit of Economic Justice" will bring together public interest practitioners and social justice leaders from across the region. The Symposium will examine various issues relating to urban revitalization. Panel discussions will include Reframing Cost-Benefit Analysis: Evidence-Based Approaches to Valuing the Public Good; The High Cost of Safety: Who Pays?; and Redistributing Justice: Why Our Cities Need a Movement for Economic Human Rights. The day will culminate with a strategy session entitled "Philadelphia: A Call to Action." In small breakout groups, symposium participants will consider concrete goals related to economic justice and development in light of the themes highlighted by earlier panels and the keynote address.

2007 EDWARD V. SPARER SYMPOSIUM

The 2007 Sparer Symposium focused on "War: International Judicial Responses to Violence." Juan Mendez, United Nations Special Advisor on the Prevention of Genocide, delivered the keynote address.

The Symposium featured an informative exchange among legal academics and human rights leaders from a broad range of views, both practical and theoretical. Panel topics include domestic prosecutions of genocide and crimes against humanity; the reintegration of women and children after violent conflict; and domestic litigation of human rights violations in the 'war on terror.'
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2006 EDWARD V. SPARER SYMPOSIUM

The 2006 Sparer Symposium, "Civil Gideon: Creating a Constitutional Right to Counsel in the Civil Context," was the Kick Off Event at the American Bar Association Equal Justice Conference.

For the first time, the American Bar Association co-sponsored a law school symposium as part of its annual Equal Justice Conference. Co-sponsors included the Temple Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Law Review and the Philadelphia Bar Association Law School Outreach Committee. A reception was held at the National Constitution Center.

Description:
A growing national movement focused on implementing a constitutional right to civil counsel in what has been termed 'Civil Gideon' has emerged. This Symposium explored the many issues surrounding the right to counsel in the civil context and the areas in which improvements can be made to meet the civil legal needs of the poor. Since 1984, the University of Pennsylvania Law School has honored the late Edward V. Sparer, a pioneer in poverty law, through planning the annual Sparer Symposium.
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2005 EDWARD V. SPARER SYMPOSIUM

"Drug Policy Reform: In the Courts and in the Streets"
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