An article in the February issue of National Jurist magazine has singled out four law school programs — Boston University School of Law, Brooklyn Law School, Cornell University Law School, and the University of Maryland School of Law — for their “A+ public interest support.”
The programs are all briefly profiled in the article, and also are said to have certain unifying aspects: financial and emotional support from administration, faculty and staff; an office or administrator “solely devoted” to public interest law; a “large and vast array” of projects; some sort of social network for students exploring public interest law; and “orientation programs, welcome receptions and recognition awards.”
“If you present opportunities, students are very interested in public service. It’s a case of, ‘If you build it, they will come,’” said Maura Kelly, BU School of Law’s assistant dean for career development and public service, to the Jurist.
In selecting the four law schools, the magazine used data from the non-profit organization, Equal Justice Works, while also indicating the extent to which broad-based support for public interest law is on the rise among law schools. For example, the number of loan repayment assistance programs has nearly doubled since 2002, and the percent of employed law graduates who take public interest positions has risen from 3 percent in 2000 to 5.4 percent in 2008.
