Haofei Liu L’25 participated in a unique split-summer program focused on pro bono work in both law firm and nonprofit settings.
Andrew Bookbinder L’24
United by an ethos of service, Penn Carey Law’s public interest community cuts across sectors and legal specialties to effect positive change.
Three LLM graduates are among those in the Class of 2022 who have secured public interest fellowships.
The Environmental Law Project (ELP) is dedicated to environmental law and policy, fighting climate change, and advancing environmental justice
Jessica Feierman L’00, Deuel Ross L’09, and Kristen Dama L’07 were recently honored at the Toll Public Interest Center’s Alumni Impact Awards dinner.
Law School faculty regularly coordinate Continuing Judicial Education programming to help Pennsylvania judges stay abreast of cutting-edge legal issues.
Elizabeth Shackney L’24, MUSA’24 co-authors a report on improving equity in the federal oversight of employers who hire migrant workers on H-2A visas.
Following clerkship positions in the Eleventh and Third Circuits, Cass will clerk for the Supreme Court Justice during the 2024-2025 term.
University of Pennsylvania Carey Law students have an amalgam of academic and experiential opportunities to prepare them for careers fighting for immigration and refugee justice.
The awards recognize alumni who have demonstrated a passionate commitment to public service throughout their career.
Pavlus worked as a legal intern at the United Nations Development Program before enrolling at the Law School.
In the voting rights sphere, the Law School offers several public interest law and pro bono opportunities as well as thematic, timely courses and a voting rights fellowship.
This year’s Public Interest Week events will explore the complex roles that lawyers play as society’s economic inequities continue to deepen.
The award is given annually by Philadelphia VIP, the City’s leading pro bono organization.
Downey’s article was developed during a federal habeas corpus course at the Law School and will appear in the Berkeley Journal of Criminal Law.
Lynch explores the provision that prohibits those who have violated their oath to uphold our Constitution from holding any federal or state office.
After college, Lauren worked as a paralegal at Community Legal Services in Philadelphia, which inspired her to attend law school.
Mira Baylson L’08 built a strong foundation of pro bono service during her time at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, where she worked on prisoner education and reproductive rights student pro bono projects.
Through the Toll Public Interest Center, Law School students work with Troutman Pepper’s Pepper Center for Public Service on pro bono immigration cases.
Prof. Roosevelt shares the historical background of Section 3 of the 14th Amendment as well as his analysis of the House Democrats’ use of the provision in an impeachment article against President Trump.
Student-led groups within the Toll Public Interest Center are collaborating with local legal aid advocates to provide relief to those who have been hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.
University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School students are volunteering their time and skills to ensure the integrity of the 2020 presidential election.
The 2020 National Celebration of Pro Bono, led by the ABA Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service, takes places from October 25 – 31, 2020. Join the conversation and celebration with the Toll Public Interest Center.
Robert and Jane Toll Foundation makes $50 million gift to expand Toll Public Interest Scholars and Fellows Program launching hundreds of students into public interest legal careers
The Law School’s Civil Practice Clinic affords students the opportunity to represent clients in cases involving issues that affect their basic needs and daily lives.
A historic number of University of Pennsylvania Carey Law school JD and LLM grads to launch public interest careers to serve communities in need.
Demonstrating the powerful partnership that can occur between private and public sector lawyers, a class action lawsuit has been brought against the City of Philadelphia on behalf of all medically vulnerable incarcerated people in the Philadelphia county prisons. Representation for the plaintiffs include Law School alumni and faculty.
The bill, which is currently working its way through City Council and may soon come up for a vote, would protect tenants by preventing landlords from terminating tenants’ leases without just cause.
Penn Law continues to build upon programs that create pathways to careers in public interest and government.
Penn Law continues to invest in innovative experiential and skills-based training
Penn Law students from the Environmental Law Project (ELP) argue that the proposed repeal is not supported by scientific evidence, and that the agency’s change in course is not supported by a valid justification.
On February 22, as a part of Penn Law’s ninth annual Public Interest Week, the Law School hosted “A Life Unraveled: How Criminal Records Destabilize the Lives of Low-Income Individuals.” The program simulated the struggles facing individuals with criminal backgrounds such as custody issues, access to housing, and financial stability.
On February 20, as a part of Penn Law’s Ninth Annual Public Interest Week, the Law School held an panel discussion titled “Voting Rights in Philadelphia: The 2016 Election from a Community Perspective.”
Penn Law Dean Ted Ruger affirms that “as a world-leading research and teaching institution, we must engage actively with students, attorneys, and policymakers from around the globe in order to prepare our students to be lawyers and leaders in an increasingly connected society and economy.”
On January 27, President Trump’s signed an executive order blocking refugees and temporarily suspending immigration from seven predominately Muslim countries. A number of members of the Penn Law community have responded to news about the order, and this page contains information on upcoming events, comments from Penn Law faculty, students, and alumni, as well as information about the order’s effects on refugees and immigrants, the legal challenges being brought against it, the response of the judiciary, and the role of lawyers in the order’s wake.
Pro bono service is one of the hallmarks of a Penn Law legal education. In this video feature, three students discuss their individual pro bono experiences and how those experiences influenced their thinking about the law.
Sparer Symposium keynote speaker Brenda Wright discussed the ever-increasing roll of money in politics and how this money creates political inequality.
At “Don’t Throw Away the Key: Perspectives on Juvenile Life Without Parole Sentences,” panelists told stories from their own backgrounds and explained their advocacy for the complete abolishment of juvenile sentencing without parole.
The Public Service Program is, today, one of the Law School’s glories, and Howard Lesnick was the inspiration and force behind its creation.
On November 14, Mark O’Brien spoke on the value of technology to at-risk communities. O’ Brien was keynote speaker for the University of Pennsylvania Law School’s 34th Annual Edward V. Sparer Symposium, titled “Law 2.0: Progress and Challenges for Justice in the Digital Age.”
Penn Law and the University of Pennsylvania will be hosting a series of events highlighting the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Marking a major milestone in legal education and emblematic of the service ethic at the core of the University of Pennsylvania Law School, this academic year Penn Law will be celebrating the 25th anniversary of its public interest program, featuring a year-long series of lectures, workshops, conferences focusing on the power and impacts of public service lawyering.
University of Pennsylvania Law School Dean Michael A. Fitts has been honored with the Law School’s 2014 Beacon Award, which recognizes faculty members’ contributions to pro bono and public interest service.
Liz Booth discusses her work with Community Legal Services of Philadelphia, working to expand awareness of local protections for tenants who have experienced domestic violence and sexual violence.
Jesse Krohn L’11, a staff attorney at Philadelphia Legal Assistance, discusses her work in the family law unit providing direct representation to indigent teen parents on matters of child support and custody, protection from abuse, and access to public benefits.
On Friday, February 21, Penn Law hosted its 33rd annual Edward Sparer Symposium titled “Gender and Social Inequalities: Why Women’s Rights Still Matter.” Presenters discussed a range of topics, including domestic violence, sexism, women in immigration, and trafficking women.
On February 19th, the Civil Rights Law Project hosted a panel entitled “Getting it Right: Restructuring Campus Policies on Sexual Violence.” The panel was a part of Penn Law’s Public Interest Week, showcasing the power of public interest law to effect social change.
Joline Price L’12 is ensuring that the chaotic rollout of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) doesn’t harm low-income Pennsylvanians.
CASAC student advocates gain hands-on experience working one-on-one with clients to help prepare legal documents, provide advice for court appearances, and navigate the Philadelphia court system.
More than two dozen second- and third-year students participating in Penn Law’s Externship Program are working this semester in government agencies and nonprofit organizations from New York, to Philadelphia, to Washington, D.C.
In a video feature, Sarah Alba L’11 highlights Penn Law’s clinics and pro bono opportunities, as well as her postgraduate work at Manhattan Legal Services.
Applications are being received for the 2014-15 ACE Rule of Law & Human Rights Fellowship.
At a time when debates over technology policy are as significant as they are complex, the University of Pennsylvania Law School and School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS) are launching an innovative joint degree program whose goal is to graduate lawyers and engineers able to address issues at the intersection of law and technology.
Jane Marie Russell L’14 is one in a series of firsthand accounts by Law School students about how their summer employment opportunities are preparing them for their legal careers. Russell is working at Holland & Knight LLP in Miami, Florida, where she grew up and plans to practice in litigation after graduation.
Nate Vogel L’11 discusses his work as Legislative Counsel at New York Civil Liberties Union and explores how his experiences at Penn Law led him to advocate for civil liberties.
Marsha Chien L’10 is a Skadden Fellow at the Legal Aid Society-Employment Law Center (LAS-ELC) in the National Origin, Immigration and Language Rights program.
The University of Pennsylvania Law School has received a $15 million gift to establish the Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice, a national research and policy hub created to catalyze long-term structural improvements to the US criminal justice system.
Professors Sarah Paoletti and Tobias Barrington Wolff received the Law School’s 2013 Beacon Award for their contributions to pro bono and public interest service, at a ceremony that also recognized more than 100 student leaders and over 50 community partners.
The Environmental Law Project (ELP) engages Penn Law students through student-run pro bono research projects to actively address unmet needs of environmental preservation and justice locally, regionally, and nationally through support for legislative advocacy, community lawyering, and policy research.
Penn Law has formally announced the revamping of its already generous loan repayment program to ensure that its graduates pursuing careers in public interest and public service can have significant student loan burdens eliminated.
Third-year Penn Law student Kathleen Norland L’13 has been awarded the inaugural 2013-14 ACE Rule of Law & Human Rights Fellowship.
A symposium on immigration advocacy and reform featuring a keynote presentation by Jose Antonio Vargas, a former Washington Post journalist who revealed his undocumented status in a widely discussed essay in The New York Times Magazine in 2011, will be the capstone event of Penn Law’s fifth annual Public Interest Week programming, March 11-15.
Students involved in Penn Law’s Transnational Legal Clinic testify on behalf of legal immigrants in the U.S. who suffer widespread abuses under the temporary guest worker program.
Six University of Pennsylvania Law School graduates honored for their career achievements, pro bono work, service to the legal profession and the Law School on October 24, 2012.
In a time of significant change for the legal academy and the profession, Penn Law has completed a record-breaking capital campaign, enabling the Law School to proactively transform its academic program to prepare students for success in a rapidly evolving legal landscape, supporting the expansion of world-class faculty, programs, and financial support - while maintaining a small class size.
University of Pennsylvania Law School Professor Louis S. Rulli has been honored with the Law School’s 2012 Beacon Award, which recognizes a faculty member’s contribution to pro bono and public interest service.
As part of its commitment to supporting public interest legal careers, the University of Pennsylvania Law School’s Toll Public Interest Center (TPIC) has named 2012 Postgraduate Fellowship Award recipients.
On March 16 a diverse group of policy experts, scholars, activists, and community leaders addressed the pressing issues of aiding at-risk youth in the transition to adulthood as part of the 31st annual Edward V. Sparer Symposium.
Honorary Fellow-in-Residence Marcia Greenberger C’67, L’70 shined a spotlight on women’s rights during her keynote address at Public Interest Week.