Public interest organizations, such as the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund, Public Defender Offices, and Legal Aid Offices, are popular employment choices for students. These positions offer unparalleled practical experience for law students, and provide the intrinsic value of working for an organization that promotes justice by representing individuals, groups, causes, or issues identified as traditionally under-represented or unrepresented in our society.
While there are often numerous positions available for law students in public interest organizations, many of these organizations cannot afford to pay summer interns. At Duke, the Law School and the Public Interest Law Foundation (PILF) annually support summer interns through endowments and grants from fundraising efforts. Students remaining in North Carolina for the summer also routinely receive grants from the state bar as a source of funding. Basic information about these types of financial support is available on the public interest and pro bono website; for additional information, see us or contact the Office of Public Interest and Pro Bono.
In addition to our internal resources, Duke Law School subscribes to several external resources for public interest employment, including websites and publications, which inform students about public interest conferences, internships, fellowships, employment opportunities and nonprofit organizations.
Students considering careers in public interest or government are encouraged to contact Director of Public Interest & J.D. Advising Tia Barnes for individual career counseling.
- Information for 1Ls
- Information for 2Ls
- Information for 3Ls
- Postgraduate Fellowships
- Public Interest Career Fairs
- On-Campus Interviews
- Law Firm/Public Interest Split Summers
- Summer Public Interest Employment
- Summer Public Interest Funding
- Student Loan Repayment Assistance (LRAP) and Bar Study Grants
Information for 1Ls
Every October, students from Duke Law School travel to the Washington, D.C. area for the Equal Justice Works Conference & Career Fair. Equal Justice Works is the largest annual public interest and government career fair in the United States, featuring more than 150 employers from around the country. First-year students attending the conference are permitted to have informational interviews with employers during the designated “Table Talk” times, which quite often lead to summer internship job offers. Second and third year students are invited for formal interviews for summer internships and post-graduation employment (check the EJW website for advance application instructions). In addition to EJW, there are many other career fairs throughout the year with public interest and government employers participating.
Beginning November 1, first year students will also find internship job postings on Symplicity (the Career Center job board), on the Public Service Law Network, “PSLawnet” (create your own username and password), and in the Government Honors & Internship Handbook (login and password available on Symplicity home page under “Announcements”). Students are also strongly encouraged to conduct an independent job search based on their preferred city or practice area. Career counselors are available to meet with you beginning November 1 to discuss how to organize your public interest or government job search.
To help you get started, the Career Center has compiled a list of public interest and government summer employers where Duke Law students have had internships since 1999. We encourage you to contact current students to learn about their public interest or government summer experience.
Information for 2Ls
Students seeking public interest or government employment for their second summer internship are encouraged to begin planning their job search strategy during their first summer. Many non-profit and government employers are now hiring early in the fall semester, which is a shift in the tradition of waiting until late fall or the spring semester to fill summer internship programs. This early hiring trend includes the Department of Justice Summer Law Internship Program, and other non-profit and government agencies that accept applications early or on a rolling basis. See the Government Honors & Internship Handbook for a list of internship opportunities and deadlines provided in the appendix. (login and password available on Symplicity home page under “Announcements”).
The Symplicity database is always up-to-date with public interest and government internship postings. In addition to the non-profit and public sector employers participating in OCI, the database contains job postings and resume solicitations from employers across the country seeking to recruit Duke Law students outside of OCI. To view these opportunities, log onto Symplicity and click on “Jobs/Resume Collect.”
Information for 3Ls
Whether you are seeking a postgraduate fellowship or a permanent position with a non-profit or government agency, there are a myriad of options available to graduating students. The following federal government agencies have Honors Programs, which provide 1-3 years of training for graduating students:
- Central Intelligence Agency
- Environmental Protection Agency
- Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
- Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
- Dept. of Housing and Urban Dev.
- Dept. of Interior
- Dept. of the Treasury-IRS
- Dept. of Justice
- Dept. of Labor
- Dept. of State
- Dept. of Transportation
- National Labor Relations Board
- Nuclear Regulatory Commission
- U.S. Postal Service
Information about these federal programs as well as state government programs is available in the Government Honors & Internship Handbook.
Non-profit organizations seeking to hire entry-level attorneys typically post announcements on the Public Service Law Network. However, there are several other resources for non-profit opportunities in general, including Opportunity Knocks and Nonprofit Career Network. Additional resources such as this are available on our Library and Internet Resources page.
Postgraduate Fellowships
Postgraduate fellowships are wonderful professional development opportunities for graduating students. Postgraduate fellowships are typically available in the following formats:
Foundation-Sponsored Fellowships
Some post-graduate fellowships are sponsored by foundations such as Equal Justice Works, the Skadden Fellowship Foundation, or the Soros Justice Advocacy Fellowship Foundation. Applicants choose the non-profit organization that they wish to work with, and develop a project proposal to be submitted to the foundation for funding consideration.
Employer-Sponsored Fellowships
Post-graduate fellowships can also be sponsored employers by, who obtain funding for the fellowship in advance. Employer-sponsored fellowships are 1-2 year positions within the organization, typically with a predetermined job description.
Government Fellowships
Graduating students also have the option of government fellowships:
Presidential Management Fellows Program
The Presidential Management Fellows Program is a competitive two-year program that offers graduates the opportunity to work for the federal agency of their choice and convert to a permanent employee upon completion of the program without competing in the general applicant pool. Interested students must be nominated by Duke Law School. Additional information about the PMF Program will be available early in the Fall Semester.
White House Fellows Program
The White House Fellows program is America's most prestigious program for leadership and public service. White House Fellows typically spend a year working as full-time, paid special assistants to senior White House Staff, the Vice President, Cabinet Secretaries and other top-ranking government officials. Fellows also participate in an education program consisting of roundtable discussions with renowned leaders from the private and public sectors, and trips to study U.S. policy in action both domestically and internationally.
Government fellowships are awarded on a strictly non-partisan basis.
Tia Barnes and Associate Dean Carol Spruill are available to help students prepare fellowship applications. Our offices host programs throughout the year for all students interested in postgraduate fellowships. Additionally, we maintain a listserv for new fellowship announcements and general discussion about fellowship applications. To join this listserv, please send an email to Tia Barnes.
Fellowship announcements are also regularly posted by employers on Symplicity. To access these announcements, click on “Jobs/Resume Collect” and select “Fellowship” from the Position Type drop-down box.
Legal Employment Career Fairs
IMPACT Career Fair for Law Students and Attorneys with Disabilities – sponsored by Georgetown University Law Center and the University of Arizona Rogers College of Law. It is typically held during August in Arlington, VA.
Lavender Law Conference – sponsored by The National Lesbian and Gay Law Association and National Lesbian and Gay Law Foundation. Typically held in early September in Chicago, IL.
National Black Law Students Association National Job Fair – sponsored by NBLSA. Dates and location to be announced.
Equal Justice Works Conference & Career Fair – sponsored by Equal Justice Works. October 6-7, 2007 in Washington, DC.
Florida Public Defender Association Job Fair – sponsored by the Florida Public Defender Association. Dates and location to be announced.
On-Campus Interviews
The following is a representative example of the non-profit and government employers that often conduct on-campus interviews at Duke Law:
- Central Intelligence Agency
- Comptroller of the Currency
- Federal Reserve Board
- Legal Aid of North Carolina
- IRS Office of the Chief Counsel
- Miami-Dade County Attorney’s Office
- New York City Law Department
- Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia
- UNC School of Government
- US Army JAG
- US Army Corps of Engineers
- US Department of Labor
- US Government Accountability Office
- US House of Representatives Office of Legislative Counsel
- US Nuclear Regulatory Commission
- US Securities & Exchange Commission
Law Firm/Public Interest Split Summers
Several law firms have programs that enable students to work one half of their summer with the law firm and the other half with a public interest organization, with the law firm paying the students’ salaries for the entire summer. The Yale Law School Career Development Office maintains a list of Firms Sponsoring Split Public Interest Summers, and makes the list available to the general public.
Finding Public Interest Summer Employment
Serving the Public: A Job Search Guide Volume I – USA by Harvard Law School: Each year, Harvard Law School publishes a handbook and directory for law students and lawyers seeking public service work, which includes the government sector as well as traditional public interest jobs. This publication also provides information on funding for public interest summer internships, post-graduate fellowships, federal honors programs, entrepreneurial grants, and judicial clerkships. The current edition of Serving the Public is currently available in the Career Center library.
In addition to the printed resources that they publish, Harvard Law School's Office of Public Interest Advising website is a clearinghouse of information on job resources for the public interest-minded law student.
Employment Opportunities in North Carolina
IOLTA: Every year, five students from each law school in North Carolina are awarded funding for a public interest summer internship. The funding is drawn from the Interest on Lawyers Trust Accounts program (IOLTA), a non-profit organization created by the North Carolina Bar. Students can obtain a list of public interest employers approved for the 2006 IOLTA program from Tia Barnes in the Career Center or from the Office of Public Interest and Pro Bono. More information about the IOLTA grants and the selection process for Duke Law students is available from the Office Public Interest & Pro Bono.
North Carolina Department of Justice Internship Program: The internship program at the NC Department of Justice is designed to introduce law students to public service. Internship opportunities are available in all divisions of the Department of Justice. In addition to assisting the state's attorneys, interns also participate in a variety of activities to give them perspective on the work of the DOJ. This includes attending oral arguments in the appellate courts and visiting the State Bureau of Investigation crime laboratory.
North Carolina State Government Internship Program: Summer internships for legal residents of North Carolina are offered in virtually all areas of state government through the North Carolina Youth Advocacy and Involvement Office. Seventy-five paid internships are available for 10 weeks each summer for undergraduates, graduate and profesional students. Law related opportunities are available with the following entities: the NC Indian Land Trust Project, the NC Ridge Law GIS Project, the NC Court of Appeals, the NC Supreme Court, the NC Department of Labor, and the NC Department of the State Treasurer.
Stanback Conservation Internship Program (Environmental): The Stanback Internship Program is a partnership between the Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences at Duke University and targeted conservation organizations. Every year, Duke Law students with an interest in environmental law participate in the Stanback program.
Funding Summer Public Interest Employment
The Public Interest Law Foundation (“PILF”): PILF is a student-run organization dedicated to helping students finance their summer public interest legal internships. PILF carries out its mission by sponsoring various fundraising events throughout the year, distributing the proceeds as fellowships to both first- and second-year law students.
Burdman/Steckley-Weitzel/Carroll-Simon Endowed Fellowships: Duke Law School is the recipient of three endowments to support fellowships for public interest summer employment. Fellowships are available each year for students seeking public interest summer employment. More information about the endowed fellowships and the selection process is available from the Office of Public Interest & Pro Bono.
Funding opportunities are also available from these outside organizations:
Equal Justice Works Summer Corps: Summer Corps provides 250 law students with the opportunity to earn a $1,000 education award voucher for spending their 2006 summer in a qualifying internship at a non-profit, public interest organization.
Public Interest Law Initiative: The Public Interest Law Initiative (PILI) sponsors a Summer Internship Program for first and second year law students. Each summer, PILI funds dozens of internships at public interest law agencies in the Chicago metropolitan area. The program is open to law students from across the country. The stipend for the 10-week program is $4,500.
Student Loan Repayment Assistance (LRAP)
The Duke Law Schoool LRAP program is available to graduating students who obtain public interest or government employment. The LRAP program is administered by the Office of Financial Aid.
State LRAP
Currently, twenty states offer loan repayment assistance programs for attorneys entering public interest or government employment: Arizona, District of Columbia, Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Texas, and Washington. For more information about these programs, please visit the ABA Loan Repayment & Forgiveness web page.
Federal Government LRAP
The Office of Personnel Management provides information about loan repayment assistance for federal government employees. The following federal government agencies also offer loan repayment assistance:
Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board
Department of Defense
Department of Health and Human Services
Department of Justice
Department of Labor*
Department of State
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
Government Accountability Office*
Nuclear Regulatory Commission*
Securities and Exchange Commission*
* These employers participate in On-Campus Interviewing.
Employer LRAP
Many legal services organizations across the country provide loan repayment assistance programs for their employees. A list of such organizations is available from the Legal Services Corporation.