Law and Public Service

How do public service attorneys seek justice for their clients, causes, and communities? Does a legal aid, public defender or civil rights attorney working on behalf of marginalized communities share anything in common with a prosecutor or a federal government agency attorney? And, most importantly, where might you situate yourself and your emerging interests along this broad spectrum? In this course, we’ll explore these questions as we examine the major branches of public service legal practice through a diverse mix of readings, guest speakers, policy discussions, and case study exercises. We’ll start honing a skill we rarely discuss in law school: How to think like a public service lawyer. Students will also have frequent opportunities to work in pairs and small teams, reflect deeply on their own potential public service career paths, and create work over the semester that will culminate in a final paper based on a legal or policy issue of their choice.