Public Service

THE CORNELL LAW SCHOOL PUBLIC SERVICE CHALLENGE

The notion that all lawyers should aspire to render some legal services without fee or expectation of fee for the good of the public (pro bono publico) is deeply ingrained in the legal profession. The Public Interest Law Union and the office of the Assistant Dean for Public Service can help you start building your commitment to pro bono service during law school.  The purpose of the Public Service Challenge is to provide school-wide recognition of Cornell Law Students who devote time to public service activities.  Students who participate in the Public Service Challenge will receive a Certificate from Dean Stewart Schwab upon each level of completion.

How It Works
Students who want their hours to count towards the Public Service Challenge must maintain a log of their hours.  The log is available on the Public Interest Law Union website and outside Dean Karen Comstock’s office.  At the end of each semester, the log must be turned in to the Public Service Chair, Kate Lee (kcl55@cornell.edu). 

Students who participate will receive a certificate from Dean Schwab upon each level of completion.  The levels of completion are as follows:
Level 1:  1Ls, 2Ls, 3Ls, LLMs and transfer students - 25 hours over one year (late December-late August)  1Ls can start working their hours starting in mid-December, not before.
Level 2:  2Ls who have completed the 1L Challenge  - 25 hours during their 2L year (late August-late August)
Level 3:  3Ls - 75 hours over their law school education

Work That Will Be Recognized
Both legal and non-legal work will count towards the Public Service Challenge.  A summer spent doing public interest work can count for five hours your 1L summer, ten hours your 2L summer.  Time spent doing work for clinics will not count towards the Public Service Challenge.  The kinds of public service work that would be recognized, which CLS students have done in the past, include:

Law Students working in areas damaged by hurricanes

• The Student Hurricane Network. Four students during winter break and eighteen students during spring break traveled to hurricane-ravaged New Orleans. Some did legal work - assisting the Juvenile Justice Court with an ambitious project to close nearly 10,000 expired cases. Others chose physical labor – cleaning tons of debris out of destroyed homes in the lower 9th ward.
• The Law Students in Action Project. LSAP collaborates with local legal service providers and Cornell Law School to create a broad array of projects designed to expand the delivery of legal services to low-income and underserved communities. For example, students from the Public Interest Law Union became part of the Volunteer Research Assistance Team and compiled a comprehensive list of adoption and child support laws from various states. The Spanish Translation and Interpretation Assistance Team helps public interest attorneys communicate with their Spanish-Speaking clients.
• Into the Streets – Cornell’s annual day of service
• Cabaret Chairs – manage 1Ls doing volunteer work for their PIF Grants
• Cornell Prison Education Project – teaching law to prisoners
• VITA – helping the indigent prepare their tax returns
• Trick-or-Treat for Canned Goods, Cornell Elves – collecting canned goods on Halloween, sponsoring children during the holiday season
• Various activities done in conjunction with student organizations – organizing the Quality of Life Drive for WLC; writing a brief for the Advocates for Human Rights, etc.