Duke Law Alumnus David Greene '91 will be here for his alumni reunion this weekend and would be happy to meet with you about public interest careers generally and his work with the First Amendment Project in Oakland, CA in particular. We will have a coffee and tea session in the Burdman Lounge at 3:00 Friday afternoon, April 21.

The First Amendment Project is a nonprofit organization providing legal and educational resources on free speech, free press and freedom of petition issues to our core constituency of activists, journalists and artists.

For more information, see the First Amendment Project website http://www.thefirstamendment.org/about.html

From the website:

The First Amendment Project is a nonprofit advocacy organization dedicated to protecting and promoting freedom of information, expression, and petition. For nearly ten years, FAP has provided advice, educational materials, and legal representation to its core constituency of activists, journalists, and artists in service of these fundamental liberties.

David Greene, Executive Director and Staff Counsel, has significant experience litigating First Amendment issues in state and federal courts and is one of the country's leading advocates for and commentators on freedom of expression in the arts. Mr. Greene also serves on the Northern California Society for Professional Journalists Freedom of Information Committee, the steering committee of the Free Expression Network, is the project director of the Free Expression Network-West, is a lecturer at San Francisco State University, and serves on advisory boards for several arts organizations across the country.

In addition, he was a founding member of the Internet Free Expression Alliance, and has written and lectured extensively on free expression and the arts and other areas of First Amendment Law, including as a contributor to the International Encyclopedia of Censorship. David previously served as program director of the National Campaign for Freedom of Expression where he was the principal contributor and general editor of the NCFE Quarterly and the principal author of the NCFE Handbook to Understanding, Preparing for and Responding to Challenges to your Freedom of Artistic Expression. He is a 1991 graduate of Duke University School of Law.

On April 5, 2006, at 12:15 p.m., Room 4047, the Duke Law Refugee Asylum Support Project (RASP) and the Office of Public Interest and Pro Bono are sponsoring a slideshow and lecture on Refugee Children's photography. Lunch served.

Details: A multimedia exhibition of artwork by young refugees from around the world, "Lives in Transition: Expressions of Refugee Youth" features more than 70 photographs as well as writings, recordings, and quilts by refugee youth from Afghanistan, Burma, Colombia, Iraq, Somalia, the Sudan, and Togo.

"Lives in Transition" was created by Duke alumnus Shinpei Takeda. Takeda founded the AjA Project, a San Diego-based nonprofit dedicated to providing innovative media arts and photography-based educational programs for refugee youth, in partnership with National Geographic and under cosponsorship of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Takeda will present a talk on his encounters with refugee children and a slideshow of refugee children photography in connection with a larger exhibit at the Smith Center, running from April 6-May 14.

Contact: Tadhg Dooley , tadhg.dooley@law.duke.edu

Time: 11:15 a.m., Room 4040
Any law students interested in applying for a post-graduate fellowship next fall or in the future can meet with Associate Dean Carol Spruill who will explain how to begin your search for the post-graduate fellowships available, and where to find deadlines and tips for applying. She will review some of the major fellowship programs, and also will talk with you about what support you would like to have throughout the application process.

This program is a repeat of one offered recently by Dean Spruill and Tia Barnes, and is being held for those who notified us of a conflict, as well as any law student who wishes to attend.

Who should attend?
1Ls -- it is not too early to start thinking about the best record to make for your application and which organization you would want to sponsor you for your application. You might even want your 1L summer
employer to be your sponsor for a fellowship.
2Ls -- you should definitely attend if you plan to apply. It is time to start pulling your application together in earnest. They are due very early in the fall.
3Ls -- if you didn't apply last fall, it is too late for most fellowship programs this year. However, you can apply this fall for a fellowship that begins in 2007, perhaps after your clerkship ends, and some of these fellowships are available to graduates several years out
of law school.

It's time to plan an incredible spring break! The last call-out meeting for the Southern Justice Spring Break Trip is Monday, February 6, in Room 4172 at 12:10 pm. Travel to New Orleans to help hurricane victims put their lives back together; to Mississippi to push for juvenile justice and civil rights; to Appalachia to assist coal miners with black lung claims or legal aid; or to Atlanta to fight against the death penalty and other reforms of the criminal justice system. We may even have an opportunity for you as far south as Hawaii. You'll contribute to our southern community, get hands-on legal experience, and be inspired and motivated by the extraordinary people who do this work everyday. Some of our organizations have limited spots, so reserve now or come to the meeting to hear what it's all about.

To ask about a spot or make a commitment to one ahead of Monday's meeting, contact co-directors amy.curry@law.duke.edu or mike.murphy@law.duke.edu

Below is a description of each of the organizations to which you can contribute:

New Orleans:
Aid in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina with the Student Hurricane Network, a national organization of law students, which will place you in one of their many legal placements throughout the city. These placements run the gamut from the local ACLU and Legal Aid to affordable housing organizations and public defenders. http://www.studenthurricanenetwork.org/category/general/

Prestonsburg, Kentucky (Appalachia):
Open your eyes to the poverty issues facing this region of the country. Two organizations, one general legal aid and the other targeting coal miners claims specifically, are headed by John Rosenberg, keynote speaker at this year's Public Interest Retreat, who has provided the legal world with a lifetime of achievements. Duke Law students have had great experiences at this placement in past years.
Appalachian Citizens Law Center http://www.appalachianlawcenter.org/
AppalRed http://ardfky.org

Jackson, Mississippi:
Defend civil rights and juvenile justice with the Mississippi Center for Justice, a revolutionary social justice organization that deals with a variety of legal issues affecting the state. Hurricane relief work is also likely in this office of great attorneys who have inspired Duke Law students on past spring break trips.
http://www.mscenterforjustice.org/

Atlanta, Georgia:
Learn from the legendary Stephen Bright at the Southern Center for Human Rights while working on criminal justice and death penalty issues. Duke Law has been unable to secure this placement in past years due to the popularity of this location for spring breakers from Columbia Law, but we've been given two slots this year. Only one spot left!
http://www.schr.org/

Hawaii:
The Legal Aid office has given one slot to Joel Cohen and a second slot may be available. If interested in this one, please contact joel.cohen@law.duke.edu. Sorry. No Law School funds are available for travel expenses to this location!

As far as logistics, we have a small budget to help with some of your expenses, and it will be allocated as best as possible to cover some transportation and housing. In every city, we strive to set up home stays for you with alumni and students. We want to keep your out-of-pocket expenses as low as possible. In addition, many organizations plan outings and events for their spring break interns.

Summer Fellowships Available Only for Duke Law Students (note new Fulghum Fellowship)and Advice on the Job Search for Sponsoring Organizations and Employers with Paying Positions

Dear 1Ls and 2Ls,

As you finish up with exams and head into the holidays, you may be thinking about your summer plans, so I decided to write you now with exciting new details of summer funding. These fellowships are only for Duke Law students and will allow you to consider many employers who do not have the resources to pay you. Also, I will make my most thorough attempt yet to give you advice by email about the summer employment process.

Please read this before accepting a job that does not offer a salary, so you will know if you will be eligible for a fellowship. Also, please be encouraged about the many fellowship opportunities available, as well as paying jobs. Our office, and Tia Barnes in Career Services, will be happy to meet with you as you proceed through your job search.

Details below. Here are the headlines:

*Local alumni couple Tom and Caitlin Fulghum have just given Duke Law $3000 for a new fellowship through which a Duke Law student can work at Legal Aid of North Carolina (Raleigh office) in summer 2006.

*We already have $5,326 plus at least $2,500 pledged for the International Development fellowship (from the Class of 2004, principally Sarah Dadush and Sohini Chatterjee.

*IOLTA is back up to five fellowships for summer 2006. They are for $3000 each at selected NC organizations.

*This year we will have five Burdman, Steckley-Weitzel, Carroll-Simon Fellowships and the amount is raised to $3,800 each.

*We won't know until mid to late-January if the Howrey Law Firm will renew its Duke Law fellowship this year.

*Numerous Stanback Fellowships are available for environmental work at selected organizations. Placement info now on-line.

*You are continuing to raise money through PILF that promises to be another record-breaking year. All of you who receive these other fellowships will save money for PILF to distribute to others, and for those of you who meet PILF's requirement of 20 hours of fund raising efforts, you might receive a PILF "Thank You Grant" (assuming sufficient funds are raised) to supplement your other fellowship.

*We will have a program on Jan. 13, 12:10 p.m., Room 4045, to distribute the application forms for Burdman, Steckley-Weitzel, Carroll-Simon, IOLTA and International Development Fellowships, and will have reps there explaining other fellowship programs. These applications will be due the Friday after spring break, March 24, 2006 at noon.

*Many key resources for finding jobs, including paying jobs, are listed below.


Now for the details

New Fulghum Legal Aid Fellowship
We are pleased to announce this new $3,000 fellowship for the summer of 2006 which will place one Duke Law student in Legal Aid of North Carolina (Raleigh office). Tom and Caitlin Fulghum '98 are a local alumni couple who have a private public interest law firm (employment discrimination, immigration and criminal defense). At Duke Law they started the ACLU chapter and were involved in many other public interest activities. As lawyers, they supervise Duke Law pro bono volunteers and are a placement for the poverty law course field component. They are devoting funds won in a recent case to a fellowship with Legal Aid of North Carolina - Raleigh to thank them for their assistance with that case. The Senior Managing Attorney of LANC-Raleigh will be selecting the recipient. The process will be announced later.

Second Year of the International Development Fellowship
One or two fellowships ranging between $2,500 and $5,000 are available for a student (or students) to spend all or a part of the summer interning at a non-governmental organization, or pursuing an independent research project in a developing country, working on issues such as women’s rights, foreign direct investment, land and water rights, or international trade. The fellowship is intended to strengthen the international development focus at Duke Law School, and is funded by gifts provided by members of the Class of 2004. The principal donors and organizers are Sarah Dadush and Sohini Chatterjee. The amount given each recipient is not set, but applicants are asked to submit a budget. The number of weeks is not prescribed. At present $5,326 is in hand and at least $2,500 is pledged for 2006 in order to fund 2 or more placements.

IOLTA
The NC State Bar's IOLTA program provides fellowships to each of the NC law schools. Last year, interest rates were down and IOLTA cut back to 3 fellowships per school, but this year, we are back to five fellowships of $3,000 each. IOLTA gives us a list of about 50 eligible organizations. The list is available in the Office of Public Interest & Pro Bono and Career Services. At the meeting on Jan. 20, I will meet with people interested in this fellowship to advise you on which placements have been successful in previous years. Please note that some organizations popular with students are not on this list: District Attorney offices are no longer on the list. The Attorney General's office is not on it. Clerkships are not on it. However, many excellent non-profits are on it, including legal policy groups and legal aid, and public defenders and some government agencies are on it. If you plan to work in NC, please consider the organizations on this list. We would like to fill all these positions!

Burdman, Steckley-Weitzel, Carroll-Simon
These are three endowments of over $100,000 each which fund Duke Law fellowships each year. The number and amount of funding per fellowship varies each year based on the interest generated. This year, we will have five fellowships of $3,800 each. The donors are former Associate Dean for External Relations Linda Steckley and her husband, Pete Weitzel; alumnus Richard Burdman ‘56; and alumni couple, Candace Carroll ‘74 and Len Simon ‘73. Recipients must work a minimum of 10 weeks at a non-profit, NGO or government job. There are no restrictions on geography. Judicial clerkships are not eligible.

Howrey Fellowship
We do not yet know whether the Houston-based law firm of Howrey Simon Arnold & White will give us a fellowship again this year as they have the last two years. We should know in January. Last year they gave us one $5000 fellowship. They specified that it had to go to a 1L, and that it should be someone who plans to go into a public sector career. They selected four organizations that were eligible -- two in Houston and two in NC. The NC organizations eligible last year were our own Children's Education Law Clinic and a domestic violence project within Legal Aid.

Stanback Fellowships
Stanback Fellowships, donated by Fred Stanback, are offered by the Nicholas School to Duke Law students - even to those who do not have an environmental background. There are well over 100 placements and usually more than 10 of them are law-related. This year's organizations and process has just been posted at: http://www.env.duke.edu/career/stanback2006/index.html. For more info, contact Glenda Lee, Stanback Program Coordinator, Career Services at the Nicholas School, 613.8079, gslee@duke.edu

PILF
PILF is an organization of Duke Law students who have been increasingly successful every year for about 10 years in raising money for Duke Law students to receive money for summer public interest fellowships. The main fund raising event is the PILF Gala and Auction (held this year at the Nasher Art Museum on Feb. 25, 2006). Duke Law School contributes $10,000 to the funds raised by students. The eligibility rules are set by students and questions should be directed to PILF officers (Co-chairs this year are Teresa Sakash and Zach McNish). The PILF Fellowships tend to be the most flexible. They go to non-profits and government agencies anywhere in the world. They can be for a full or partial summer. Money is divided by a formula to everyone eligible. If sufficient funds are raised, PILF usually gives a "thank you grant" to those who completed the 20 hours of fund raising assistance but who received another fellowship. Clerkships are not funded. PILF will announce an application process and deadline. The decisions on the grants is usually held late in the semester. If you have not yet joined PILF and you want a summer public interest job, please contact PILF at once!

Who is responsible for each fellowship program?
* The Office of Public Interest & Pro Bono administers the Burdman, Steckley-Weitzel, Carroll-Simon, IOLTA and International Development fellowships (working with Career Services, International Affairs and a selection committee of faculty and administrators). We work with Howrey and now Fulghum to coordinate their process of selecting recipients. We coordinate with Glenda Lee, the Stanback Fellowship Coordinator at the Nicholas School.
* PILF is run by you! Students make up the eligibility rules and divide the funds received according to a formula. Questions about PILF should be directed to PILF officers. However, please remember the inter-connectedness of PILF and other fellowships:
** You should apply for other fellowships so that more PILF money is available for others, and you will likely be awarded extra money in a "PILF Thank-You Grant."
** Those of us selecting people for other grants will consider it a big plus in your application that you are a member of PILF and participating in raising fellowship money for everyone.


Additional employment information

Equal Justice Works
Last year this national organization provide 250 "loan assistance payments" of $1000 each to law students around the country. Though it is first-come first-serve they also pay attention to regional distribution. Last year, 6 Duke Law students supplemented other fellowship money with these $1000 fellowships. As soon as we receive the information, we will announce on the listserv the date on which you can apply for these.

Clerkships
The Duke Law fellowships do not cover clerkships. Those who want to do clerkships will need to decide if they want to work without pay, or find a clerkship program that provides its own pay.
In North Carolina, legal residents of the state can get paid internships with the NC Court of Appeals through the NC State Government Intern Program. Deadline is January 19, 2006 - go to http://www.doa.state.nc.us/yaio/intern.htm

Attorneys General
In North Carolina, there is a formal application process for AG positions. They are unpaid, but eligible for our Burdman/Steckley-Weitzel/Carroll-Simon or PILF (but not IOLTA). You can read about this at www.ncdoj.com/legalservices/lg_clerkships.jsp for NC (still has last year's info -- deadline was in March)
For other states, see a site sponsored by Columbia Law School www.stateag.org.

Purple Tub Full of Job Announcements and Other Resources
In the Office of Public Interest and Pro Bono, we have a huge pile of job announcements -- some offering pay and some not. There are too many for us to send you listserv announcements of each one, but we have placed all recent announcements in a purple tub.. We will notify you of a few, but urge you to come in and browse through the pile.
Also, the Offices of Public Interest and Pro Bono and Career Services have books, handouts and advice available for you.

Examples of paying programs:
* Legal Services of New Jersey http://www.lsnj.org/ http://www.peggybrowningfund.org/positions.html
* Peggy Browning Fund (places students in labor law positions) http://www.peggybrowningfund.org/positions.html
* Public Interest Law Initiative (places students with organizations in the Chicago area, stipends around $4,500) http://www.pili-law.org/internships/studint.htm
* And a long list of places that pay law students for summer public interest employment is at PSLawNet Summer Funding: http://www.pslawnet.org/cms/index.php?pid=50

Other key resources:

PSLawNet http://www.pslawnet.org/
(Password protected and available to Duke Law students through a subscription paid by the Law School.)
In addition to the paid summer funding site, it also has:
* the most comprehensive database of law-related public interest organizations worldwide
* a link to Yale's list of split-summer positions (law firms that pay their summer clerks for part of the summer in their office and sponsor at least 4 weeks with a public interest organization)
* a Fellowship Corner featuring hundreds of post-graduate fellowships
* a link to a guide for finding international placements (provided by Arizona, Georgia, and William & Mary)
* a link to Columbia's guide to finding private public interest firms and plaintiff firms
* and many other features

Arizona's Government Honors and Internship Handbook
(Password protected and available to Duke Law students through a subscription paid by the Law School.)
http://www.law.arizona.edu/career/honorshandbook.cfm

Harvard's Serving the Public: A Job Search Guide, Vol I. - USA and Vol II - International
Copies of this are available in Career Services and the Office of Public Interest and Pro Bono. It is a great overview of the job search process, has good sample cover letters and resumes, and has a listing of good organizations.

Harvard's Specialty Guides http://www.law.harvard.edu/students/opia/details.php?id=pub-specialty

Happy Job Hunting and Happy Holidays!
Carol Spruill

Thusrday, Nov. 3, 2005 is Duke Law Public Interest Summer Employment Recognition Day during which Duke Law honors the 79 Duke Law students (identified so far) who worked last summer in the non-profit and government sectors. The Alumni & Development Office is sponsoring a breakfast (invitation only), and at lunch, many of those honored will return to the Blue Lounge for "Table Talk" (see separate annoucement) giving peer career advise to other students.

The names of the honorees follow:

Civil Rights & Legal Aid
Kunthea Ker – ACLU of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
Michael Oswalt – AFL-CIO Law Student Union Summer Program, Washington, DC
Alexis Finkelberg – AIDS Legal Assistance Project, Durham, NC
Allison Jones – Alliance Defense Fund, Phoenix, AZ
Leah Nicholls – Arizona Center for Disability Law, Phoenix, AZ
Erin Gerrard – Bread for the City, Washington, DC
Heather Dambly – Carolina Legal Assistance, Raleigh, NC
Kelsey Cameron – Chicago Legal Services, Chicago, IL
Joe Colella – Children's Law Center, Lynn, MA
Meredith Stewart – Duke Law School's Children's Education Law Clinic, Durham, NC
Meredith Stewart – Duke Youth Academy for Christian Formation, Durham, NC
Jason Cross – Foundation Human Nature, Ecuador
Mara Herbert – Legal Aid, Charlotte, NC
Jonathan Connell – Mobilization for Youth Legal Services, New York, NY
Justin Wilson – NCGALA, Durham, NC

Criminal Law
Colin West – Berkshire County District Attorney, Pittsfield, MA
Dean Krishna – District Attorney, Philadelphia, PA
Melissa Oliver – District Attorney, Santa Barbara, CA
Shan Patel – District Attorney, Philadelphia, PA
Chris Raab – District Attorney (Alamance County), Graham, NC
Emily Coward – Federal Public Defender Seattle, WA
Natalie Rose – Federal Public Defender,Cleveland, OH
Ben Stark – Georgia Capital Defenders, Atlanta, GA
Amy Kalman – Maricopa County Attorney's Office, Phoenix, AZ
Kristi Pranger – Marion County Prosecutor's Office, Indianapolis, IN
Fritz Swartzbaugh – Public Defender, San Francisco, CA

Environmental Issues
Adam Shestak – Clean Water for NC, Raleigh, NC
Lindsay McGuire – Environmental Protection Agency, New York, NY
Sarah Doverspike – Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC
Kate Gehret – NC Coastal Federation, Newport, NC Kelsey Stansell – NC PIRG, Chapel Hill, NC
Elisabeth Alsbrook – South Carolina Coastal Conservation Center, Charleston, SC
Jessica Cox – Southern Environmental Law Center, Chapel Hill, NC
Brettny Hardy – Southern Environmental Law Center, Chapel Hill, NC
Riang Jian – Wildlaw, Montgomery, AL

Federal & State Clerkships
Emily Pitlick – Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, U.S. Dist. Ct., Washington, DC
April Hathcock – Judge Collier, USDC for the Eastern District of TN, Chattanooga, TN
Heather Johnson – Judge Dixon, USDC Eastern District NC, Durham, NC
Julius Smith – Judge Fern Saddler (US Superior Ct.), Washington, DC
Sonam Makker – Judge Fromholz, Los Angeles Superior Court, Los Angeles, CA
Lauren Mandell – Judge Martha Geer, NC COA, Raleigh, NC Christopher Donadio – Judge Michael Casale (Superior Ct. NJ), Newark, NJ
Christopher Montville – Judge Peck, USMJ SDNY New York, NY
Chris Stiner – Judge Restani, Court of Intern. Trade New York, NY
Michelle Hertz – Judge Richard Howell, SDNY, New York, NY
Aaron Singer – Judge Rosen, Detroit, MI
Laura Durity – Judge Tjoflat, Jacksonville, FL
Christopher Soots – Judge Torres, Providence, RI
State Attorney General and City & County Attorney's Offices Kelcey Patrick-Ferree – Durham County Atty. Div. Child Services, Durham, NC
Edna Garrett-Parker – NC Attorney General (Consumer Protection), Raleigh, NC
Rohith Parasuraman – NC Attorney General Executive Staff, Raleigh, NC
Matt Carden – NC Attorney General, Raleigh, NC
Julia Kohen – NY Attorney General, New York, NY
Adam Levine – NY Attorney General, New York, NY
Paul Graves – Washington State Attorney General, Bellingham, WA

U. S. Attorney's Office and Department of Justice
Sean Nobmann – U.S. Attorney's Office, Denver, CO Segev Phillips – U.S. Attorney's Office, Denver, CO
Amy Edwards – U.S. Attorney's Office, Birmingham, AL Jessica Foschi – U.S. Attorney's Office, New York, NY
Ryan Ito – U.S. Attorney's Office, Honolulu, HI
Leni Perkins – U.S. Attorney's Office, Washington, DC William Voit – U.S. Attorney's Office, Phoenix, AZ
Jerome Maiatico – U.S. Attorney's Office (ED of PA), Philadelphia, PA
Ian Miller – U.S. Attorney's Office (ED of VA), Alexandria, VA
Hilary Houston – U.S. Attorney's Office, E.D. of Virginia, Roanoke, VA
Amy Curry – Department of Justice, Vacine Litigation, Washington, DC
Uchenna Evans – Department of Justice, Civil Rights, Washington, DC
Sean Lonnquist – US Virgin Islands DOJ, Solicitor General, US Virgin Islands

Federal Government Agencies
Erin Shively – Dept. of Homeland Security General Counsel, Washington, DC
Anne Hazlett – Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Washington, DC
Brian Holladay – Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Atlanta, GA
Jason Scoffield – U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Anchorage, AK
Chris Panaro – U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Miami, FL
Tyler Ohanian – US Agency for International Development, Washington, DC
Julius Smith – US Dept. of Education, Washington, DC

Miscellaneous
Ian Millhiser – Center for American Progress, Washington, DC Jessica Hoffman – David Ball (Trial Consultant), Durham, NC Pei-Kan Yang – Government of Taiwan, Taipei, Taiwan
Joe Davis – Senator Biden, Judiciary Committee, Washington, DC
Candace Jackson – Senator Lindsey Graham, Washington, DC Emily Coward – UNC School of Government, Chapel Hill, NC

A Duke Law Alumni/Student Reception will be held in DC on Friday, October 28, 2005, from 5:00 to 7:30 p.m. at The Child Harold, which is located at 1610 20th Street NW, Washington, D.C. in Dupont Circle.

We are having this event in conjunction with the Equal Justice Works (EJW) Public Interest Career Fair and Conference. In addition to alumni, we are inviting students from Duke Law School who are interviewing and attending the career fair/conference. This is an informal get together for meeting and greeting.

This invitation is going to some of our Duke Law alumni who either work in government or the non-profit sector, or who are in private firms but have a long-standing commitment to the public interest programs at Duke Law School so that they can mingling with the current students to give them encouragement, and to learn from them what life is like at Duke these days.

This event is co-sponsored by the Duke Law Offices of Alumni & Development, Career Services, and Public Interest & Pro Bono. The on-site hosts will be Carol Spruill, Associate Dean of Public Interest and Pro Bono; Tia Barnes, Director of Public Interest and JD Advising; and Kim Burrucker, Coordinator of Public Interest and Pro Bono.

The Office of Public Interest & Pro Bono is pleased to announce a new Duke Law pro bono group project related to a timely national issue. Duke alumni John Coburn '94 has just moved back to the area from Chicago. He works for a Chicago-based social entrepreneurial organization that trains nationwide on Social Security and Medicaid issues and is doing much of the training for the massive new federal drug benefit program. John is interested in providing training pro bono to local groups of the elderly and disabled and people with AIDS/HIV who do not understand this huge new federal program (sometimes referred to as Medicaid Part D) and how to get the medicine they need. John has agreed to train interested Duke Law students to do this with him.
If you think you might want to participate, please contact spruill@law.duke.edu. Later, we will announce a time that John will be at Duke Law School during the first week after fall break to talk about this new law, what he does, and how you can join him in this important contribution to low-income people in the community.

If interested, please read on:

The Access to Healthcare Information Project

In 2003, Congress passed and the President signed the largest expansion of a public benefits program in over forty years, the Medicare Modernization Act. The Medicare Modernization Act may be the single most important piece of social service legislation to pass Congress for years to come. The Act creates Medicare Part D, a new prescription drug program for seniors and people with disabilities. Medicare Part D includes a myriad of complex and confusing health care rules. But, because so many people are impacted by this legislation, education out in the community is key. Unfortunately, there are not enough people out there that understand this new benefit and can explain it to others.

The Access to Healthcare Information Project will train you on Medicare Part D and provide you with the materials that you need to go out into underserved communities to help people understand this complex new benefit. Individuals are needed to train both service providers and consumers.

As a group, we can decide what communities we want to target:
*individuals with HIV,
*individuals with mental illness,
*seniors living in public housing, etc.
The need for education and outreach is so great that we can choose among any number of communities and have an impact.

Who Should Join this Project?
*Individuals interested in working in underserved communities
*Individuals interested in working with seniors or people with disabilities
*Individuals interested in working with community groups in a non-traditional legal capacity (education and outreach)
Individuals interested in health care law; and/or
Individuals interested in seeing the real world, real people impact of implementing a new piece of federal legislation
PLUS, almost everybody has a grandparent, parent, aunt, uncle or other relative who will be impacted by this and you will be able to help them over Winter Break!

What is the Time Commitment? Individuals should be willing to spend about 4-6 hours in training. Depending on the group’s wishes, we could spread this out over a few days. After the training, you will do joint presentations with John Coburn until you feel comfortable going out on your own. Then, you can schedule as few or as many trainings as you would like.

What will I be doing? You will be giving about an hour presentation to groups of service providers and/or individuals who receive Medicare. We may also do some one-on-one counseling with individuals to help them fill out applications and choose a drug plan.

Why is this so important? Medicare Part D will fundamentally change the way in which many seniors and individuals with disabilities access prescription drugs. Without the proper information and guidance, many of these individuals will not do what is needed to assure continued continued access to their prescription drugs. You will be providing this important information to them!

Where can I find out more information on Medicare Part D? Visit the Make Medicare Work Coalition’s website at www.makemedicarework.org.

The Office and Board of Pubic Interest and Pro Bono officially begins the year's activities with the Public Interest Kick-Off tomorrow, Thursday, September 8th in the Blue Lounge. The reception (beer and sodas) begins at 4:30 p.m., the program starts at 5:00, and after the program, everyone is invited to enjoy pizza while going to about 20 stations where board members will share information about their plans for the year and let you know how to get involved.

After a welcome from Dean Bartlett and other brief introductory remarks, we will hear from our keynote speaker, Tim Profeta. Tim Profeta, Duke Law '97, came back to Duke on June 1, 2005, as founding director of the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions. Prior to this, he served as Counsel for the Environment to Senator Joseph Lieberman. As Lieberman's counsel, Profeta was a principal architect of the Lieberman-McCain Climate Stewardship Act of 2003. He also represented Lieberman in legislative negotiations pertaining to environmental and energy issues, as well as coordinating the senator's energy and environmental portfolio during his runs for national office. Profeta has served as a visiting lecturer at Duke Law School, where he taught a weekly seminar on the evolution of environmental law and the Endangered Species Act. Before joining Lieberman's staff, he was a law clerk for Judge Paul L. Friedman, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, and the Swidler Berlin law firm in DC. He also worked on election litigation in Florida after the 2002 campaign.

Stations at the Public Interest Kick-Off include:

Public Interest Retreat
Domestic Violence Sexual Assault Awareness & Prevention Project (DVSAAP)
Equal Justice Works Conference and Job Fair
Public Interest Law Foundation (PILF)
Guardian ad Litem (GAL)
Innocence Project
Pro Bono Pledge
Public Interest & Pro Bono Office
Public Interest Employment
Alumni and Student Profiles
Clinics
Refugee Asylum Support Project (RASP)
Southern Justice Spring Break Mission Trip
Street Law
Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA)
Jewish Law Student Association Community Service
Living Wage Project
Homelessness Study Project
Truth and Reconciliation Project
LL.M. Involvement

Looking ahead to a companion event next week, we will have the New Student Pro Bono Sign-Up, Thursday, Sept. 15, 12:15, Room 3041, where we will hear more information about the vast array of pro bono activities that are available, and you can commit to one on the spot (or just learn more about them).

Please help us spread the word to 1Ls who may not yet be on the public interest listserv.

For more information about the event contact Carol Spruill at Spruill@law.duke.edu or Kim Burrucker at Burrucker@law.duke.edu.
Sponsored by the Office and Board of Public Interest & Pro Bono and PILF.

GUARDIAN AD LITEM PANEL DISCUSSION
Friday, SEPTEMBER 2ND, 12:10-1:15PM
ROOM 3043

Past and present members of the award winning Duke Law Guardian Ad Litem Program will be answering your questions about the program, its time commitment, and what the job entails. We will also be showing a video about the program. Food will served! For any questions, please email Chris.Richardson@law.duke.edu.

The Office and Board of Public Interest and Pro Bono welcomes the new J.D. and LL.M. students and encourages all of you to become involved. Upcoming events include the Public Interest Kick-Off at 4:30, Thursday, Sept. 8 in the Blue Lounge, and the New Student Pro Bono Sign-Up on Thursday, Sept. 15 in Room 3043.

Other events being planned by individual pro bono groups to explain what they do include Guardian ad Litem (for abused and neglected children), Friday, Sept. 2, 12:10, Room 3041; Volunteer Income Tax Assistance, Tuesday, Sept. 6, 12:15, Room 3037; Domestic Violence/Sexual Abuse Advocacy Project, Sept. 7, 12:15, Room 4048 (including a speaker and a short film); and Refugee Asylum Support Project, Wednesday, Sept. 21, 12:15, Room 3037. Also, we strongly urge anyone who would like to hear about public interest events, pro bono opportunities, fellowships, etc. to sign up for the public interest listserv. To do so, send a message to maiser@lists.law.duke.edu with no subject line or signature and type subscribe publicinterest in the body of the message.
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