PSLawNet Public Interest Career Resources

Public Service Career Library
Welcome to PSLawNet's central outlet for public interest career resources. These resources are organized in five subsections:

1. General Public Interest Resources (which include materials on a wide array of public interest career opportunities).
2. Government Service Resources
3. International Public Interest Resources
4. Postgraduate Fellowship Resources
5. Canadian Resources (for Canadian PSLawNet users and those interested in public service opportunities in Canada).
   
   General Public Interest Resources

• NALP Law School Guide to Public Interest Careers - The essential "bible", written by and for law school public interest career counselors.
• PSLawNet's Public Interest Job Search Fundamentals
• Yale Law School Public Service Careers Guide (published and updated annually by the Yale Law School Career Development 0ffice) - this guide offers a terrific overview of how to launch a public interest career.
• University of Virginia Public Service Job Search Resource Guide - this guide provides information about how to find a public interest law job, including where to find the employers, resume and interview tips, how to finance a public interest job, how to apply to public interest employers, and lists sample application materials.
• Harvard Law School Public Interest Specialty Guides - HLS publishes several guidebooks focusing on specific public interest practice areas and settings, including:
  Conservative Public Interest Law
  GLBT Rights
  Immigration and Refugee Advocacy
  Civil Legal Services
  Public Defender Careers
  More practice area-specific guides are freely available in PDF form at the Harvard Office of Public Interest Advising site. You may also find background information on the types of work attorneys are likely to encounter in a number of public interest practice settings, including work with charitable foundations, on political campaigns, and many other settings.
• Yale Law School Environmental Law Practice Guide
• Public Interest and Plaintiff's Law Firm Guide - produced by Columbia Law School and Harvard Law School, this guide provides an overview of public interest career opportunities in for-profit law firms, including advice on how to land jobs.
• Internship Opportunities in Capital Defense Offices - This webpage is maintained by the Berkeley Boalt Hall School of Law and includes current internship opportunities with public defender and capital defense (death penalty defense) programs.
• How to Make the Most of Your Summer Job - a Harvard Law School publication that is quite useful to law students beginning internships and summer public interest work experiences.
• Yale Guide to Firm-Sponsored Split Public Interest Summers - Several law firms have instituted programs that enable law students to work part of the summer with the firm, and part of the summer with a public interest organization, with the firm paying the students' salaries for the entire summer. These generous plans allow law students to explore two types of legal practice and demonstrate the firms' strong commitment to pro bono work.
  
  Government Service
• PSLawNet's Resources for Government Careers
• NALP's Federal Legal Employment Opportunities Guide - this annually-updated publication, produced by NALP, the Partnership for Public Service, and the ABA, offers tips for seeking federal attorney positions, definitions of terms used in the employment application process, descriptions of dozens of federal offices that employ attorneys, and much more.
• 2008-09 Guide to Public Sector Legal Job Applications - this Georgetown University Law Center publication includes tips for constructing resumes and other application materials. Working on Capitol Hill - Yale Law School=s guidebook breaks down the types of employment opportunities available on The Hill and includes personal narratives from Hill employees.
• May 2008 Report on Federal Student Loan Repayment Programs - this report by the 0ffice of Personnel Management outlines executive branch agency use of loan repayment programs in recruitment and retention efforts.
• Guide to Criminal Prosecution Careers - a Yale Law School Publication providing information on both summer and permanent hiring processes in U.S. Attorney=s and local prosecutors= offices. (For more information on careers in criminal justice, see our Prosecution/Public Defense Career Resource Page.)
  
  International Public Interest Law
• PSLawNet's International Resources
• Finding and Funding International Public Interest Opportunities - This online guide provides useful background info and recommendations for students/attorneys embarking on international public interest careers. It is annually updated by NALP members at the Universities of Arizona and Georgia, and at the William & Mary School of Law.
• Intergovernmental Organizations - Harvard Law School provides helpful background information about Intergovernmental 0rganizations (IG0s), explaining types of IG0s, types of legal issues, and more.
• Finding Employment Opportunities with International Governmental Organizations (IGOs) and Nongovernmental Organizations (NGOs) - Pick up tips on how to pursue a broad array of legal careers on the international stage. Created for NALP by the New York University=s Public Interest Law Center.
• Tips for Students Seeking International Internships - A concise, valuable tip sheet drafted by an international human rights attorney at New York University=s Public Interest Law Center.
• Postgraduate International Fellowships Guide - A listing of international fellowship opportunities around the globe, produced by Columbia Law School=s Center for Public Interest Law.
• Yale Law School Guide to International Public Interest Careers - Provides background-level and detailed information for those pursuing public interest careers.
  Postqraduate Fellowship Resources
  
  PSLawNet's Postgraduate Fellowships - Information & Resources
• Guide to Postgraduate Public Interest Fellowships - Produced annually by Yale Law School, this guide is ideal for law students who are beginning to explore postgraduate fellowships as a career option.
• The PSLawNet 0pportunities Database contains between 200-300 fellowship listings, updated annually to provide current application deadlines and job descriptions. If you are a registered PSLawNet user, log in on the homepage; or, register here. PSLawNet's Fellowship Application Deadline Calendar organizes fellowships by application deadline.
• The NALP/PSLawNet Comprehensive Fellowships Guide is an annually-produced print compendium of fellowship listings in the PSLawNet database. It is purchased by law school career services and public interest advising offices. Check with your school to see if they have it.
• Postgraduate International Fellowships Guide - A listing of international fellowship opportunities around the globe, produced by Columbia Law School=s Center for Public Interest Law.
  
  Useful web sites/electronic newsletters-stay up-to-date on important issues!
  
  http://www.equaljusticeworks.org/ - E-Clips - News about Equal Justice Works, public interest law, legal education, and other items of interest
  
  http://www.brennancenter.org/ - The Brennan Center issues two regular "E-Lerts." The Fair Courts E-Lert alerts you to important developments concerning judges and the judiciary. The Legal Services E-Lert summarizes news and opinion pieces about free and low-cost civil legal aid.
  
  http://www.nlada.org/ - The National Legal Aid and Defender Association's Equal Justice News contains the latest news items affecting the public defense and civil legal aid communities.
  
  www.abanet.org/legalservices/probono The ABA Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service is the national source of information, resources and assistance to support, facilitate, and expand the delivery of pro bono legal assistance. The Standing Committee and its project, the Center for Pro Bono, encourage lawyers to do pro bono work and help them connect with opportunities that meet their needs. Programs, projects and services help pro bono programs, advocates and policymakers address the legal needs of the poor.
  
  http://www.lsc.gov/ - publishes LSC update, an E-newsletter for the legal services community.