The School of Law has named public interest and social justice (PI & SJ) law as an area of specialization and excellence. The law school provides students with a legal education that instills a commitment to social justice, public interest, and public service in every graduate. While not all attorneys specialize in these issues, many SCU School of Law graduates perform public service.
Center for Social Justice and Public Service
The Center for Social Justice and Public Service (CSJ&PS) administers the Public Interest & Social Justice Law Certificate (PI&SJ law certificate) program, schedules events, and coordinates resources for students interested in PI & SJ law and service. CSJ&PS develops courses to augment and enhance the School of Law’s social justice law curriculum and works closely with the Northern California Innocence Project (NCIP), Katharine and George Alexander Community Law Center (KGACLC), and other law school clinical and internship programs. CSJ&PS also sponsors conferences, speakers, and seminars, bringing prominent scholars, practitioners, and judges to campus. Public Interest Law Career Services (PILCS) provides information regarding public interest organizations and public service grants and fellowships, in conjunction with the center and the Public Interest and Social Justice Endowment.
Academic enrichment
1. Social Justice Thursday Speaker Series
Joining theory and practice, the CSJ&PS sponsors a lunchtime speaker series on contemporary social justice issues. Topics are as varied as community law practice; private practice in the public interest; the digital divide; international human rights; and race, class, and criminal justice. Speakers are prominent attorneys who describe their practice, as well as scholars who discuss recent work. Faculty serve as facilitators.
2. Social Justice Thursdays Reading Group
Many first-year law students feel that issues of social justice and legal ethics can get lost in a thicket of technical knowledge. This series addresses these feelings by providing first-year law students with a forum to discuss social justice issues, alternative perspectives on legal education, and first-year subject areas. Faculty serve as discussion leaders.
3. Social Justice Judicial Roundtables
Students, faculty, and alumni meet to share ideas about social justice and public service with judges in an informal setting.
4. Social Justice Diversity Lectures
The CSJ&PS offers two major lectures, one fall and one spring, presenting cutting-edge ideas in social justice scholarship. These lectures emphasize the role of identity categories such as race, gender, and sexual orientation to the development of law and legal theory.
5. Social Justice Visiting Practitioner
The CSJ&PS invites noted social justice practitioners to campus. The practitioners hold office hours to talk with students individually, attend relevant classes and receptions, give a noontime talk, and meet with faculty.
6. Social Justice Workshop
Each year this workshop focuses on a cutting-edge legal issue, bringing prominent scholars to campus to discuss their work in this developing field. Lectures are open to the campus community.
7. Trina Grillo Public Interest and Social Justice Law Retreat
This annual weekend retreat gives PI & SJ-oriented law students, faculty, and practitioners the opportunity to forge an alliance by exchanging viewpoints, exploring career opportunities, and formulating strategies for social justice. Co-sponsored by SCU School of Law and the Society of American Law Teachers (SALT), with other law schools, the retreat honors the memory of Trina Grillo, 1948-96, who was a source of inspiration to many law students, professors, and public interest lawyers.
Career guidance and financial support
1. Public Interest Law Career Services
The nationally recognized Public Interest Law Career Services (PILCS) office, an integral part of Law Career Services, is one of the few centers nationwide managed and staffed entirely by law students. Under the direction of a student public interest law coordinator, PILCS staff members provide information on career resources, volunteer positions, internship and fellowship listings, and potential funding opportunities. PILCS also administers the Pro Bono Recognition Program.
2. Public Interest and Social Justice Law Endowment
This endowment funds grants for law students working in summer public interest positions as volunteers or for low pay. The endowment also funds income supplement grants to School of Law graduates with an annual adjusted income under $50,000. The endowment is supported through fees paid by employers to use the on-campus interview program, private contributions, and proceeds from the annual Benefit for Justice.
Public Interest and Social Justice Law Certificate (PI&SJ law certificate)
Students may earn a Certificate in Public Interest and Social Justice Law upon graduation, allowing them to serve community needs for social justice while studying law. Students who are particularly interested in consumer law, criminal justice, critical race jurisprudence, health law, or immigration and refugee law may elect to earn their certificate with a special emphasis in one of those areas. However, students need not elect a special emphasis in order to earn a Public Interest and Social Justice law certificate.
Enrollment in certificates with emphasis in consumer law, criminal justice, critical race jurisprudence, health law, and immigration and refugee law may be limited, so students are urged to file the Notice of Intent and Request for Advising (available at law.scu.edu/socialjustice/certificate-and-curriculum.cfm) as soon as possible. Students must complete PISJLC requirements in three categories:
- Academic (coursework and writing requirement)
- Practicum
- Public service (Community service)
The certificate requirements are described below and can also be viewed online at law.scu.edu/socialjustice/certificate-and-curriculum.cfm. Requirements for the PISJLC with a special emphasis follow the description of the basic certificate requirements.
General Requirements
a. Academic course work
For the general PI&SJ law certificate students must successfully complete a minimum of 15 units total, as follows, from the approved lists (A, B, and C) of PI&SJ law certificate courses available via law.scu.edu/socialjustice/certificate-and-curriculum.cfm.
- Select at least two “Core” courses from List A
- Select at least one “Law Identity Related” course from List B
Students are strongly encouraged to select at least one core course that requires experiential learning outside the classroom.
Students must satisfy the remaining units by successfully completing coursework from either the above lists, completing course work from List C, or, with approved petition, completing another elective course that satisfies the student’s educational goals of learning more about the use of law and the legal system to aid the legally marginalized, subordinated, and underrepresented. To obtain this approval, students must file a petition with CSJ & PS no later than January 19 of the student’s graduating year for May and July graduates and October 13 for December graduates.
Students who wish to propose an original study plan for the PI&SJ law certificate may design their own 15 units of course work by filing a petition with CSJ&PS by January 19 of their second year of residency. The petition should describe the courses the student wishes to take, including any courses from the approved lists, and explain why the courses are necessary (in lieu of the standard course work) for the student to pursue their public interest and social justice work. Petitions are reviewed by an advisory board. Students petitioning to redesign the PI&SJ law certificate course still must comply with requirement (b) – (d), as follows:
b. Academic writing requirement
Students must complete a substantive written work on a public interest or social justice law topic. Papers, briefs, motions, or projects in conjunction with course work, directed research, or a journal article may qualify. A supervising professor must sign the Application for Award (see below) to verify completion of the writing requirement and to certify that the student has the ability to express ideas and to communicate in writing. Some faculty members require rewrites before approving written work; students should check with the supervising professor well in advance of any deadline.
Prior to graduation, students must submit to CSJ&PS one paper and one disk copy of the project along with the Application for Award. Projects completed during the final semester in residence require the supervising professor’s signature and the expected date of project completion. Students must also submit the library release form (available at law.scu.edu/socialjustice/certificate-and-curriculum.cfm) although this requirement may be waived by the CSJ&PS director for good cause, including confidentiality. Heafey Law Library maintains a collection of the writing projects.
c. Community service
Students must complete 50 hours of on-campus or community volunteer work promoting public interest and social justice as defined by the Pro Bono Recognition Program. These hours cannot be paid, for unit credit, and must be distinct from the 50 hours needed for the Pro Bono Recognition Program unless the work is completed in one academic year. These hours may be law-related, but need not be. Work as an officer or active member of a campus student organization may not count toward fulfillment of this requirement. The supervisor must sign the Application for Award verifying completion of the work. For information on volunteer placement opportunities, students should contact Public Interest Law Career Services (PILCS), located at Loyola Hall, room 151. Please contact the PILCS by e-mail to PILCS@scu.edu or by telephone at (408) 554-6930.
-Note: Students graduating during 2008-09 must complete a minimum of 25 hours of community service work.
d. Practicum
Students must complete 150 hours of supervised legal work in a public interest/social justice organization (including the options of the Northern California Innocence Project (NCIP) and the Katharine & George Alexander Community Law Center (KGACLC), a government office, or in a judicial externship. The work must serve marginalized, subordinated, or underrepresented clients or causes; e.g., work for a public defender or work within a district attorney consumer fraud and domestic violence unit. The supervising attorney must sign the Application for Award (see below) verifying completion of the work.
This work may be paid, volunteer, or for unit credit; however, the hours must be distinct from the 50 hours of public service required for the certificate. The hours must also be distinct from the 50 hours of volunteer work required for the Pro Bono Recognition Program.
Public Interest and Social Justice Law Certificate with emphasis in Consumer Law
This certificate is appropriate for students who wish to practice in the area of consumer protection law. Students must complete the following course work:
- 16 units of required academic course work for the PI&SJ law certificate with emphasis in consumer law set out at law.scu.edu/socialjustice/certificate-and-curriculum.cfm
- PI&SJ law certificate general requirements (b) – (d) outlined above, for academic writing, community service, and practicum.
All students who sign up for this specialized PISJLC are given the opportunity, if possible, to attend the annual National Consumer Law Center-National Association of Consumer Advocates conference held each fall.
Public Interest and Social Justice Law Certificate with emphasis in Criminal Justice
This certificate is appropriate for students who wish to practice in the area of criminal law as either prosecutors or defense counsel. Students must successfully complete the following classes required for all J.D. candidates: 106. Criminal Law and 320. Evidence. Students earning this certificate must complete the following course work:
- 16 units of required academic course work for the PI&SJ law certificate with emphasis in criminal justice set out at law.scu.edu/socialjustice/certificate-and-curriculum.cfm
- PI&SJ law certificate general requirements (b) – (d) outlined above, for academic writing, community service, and practicum.
Public Interest and Social Justice Law Certificate with emphasis in Critical Race Jurisprudence
This certificate is appropriate for students who wish to learn more about race and its relation to social justice law. Students earning this certificate must complete the following course work:
- 16 units of required academic course work for the PI&SJ law certificate with emphasis in critical race jurisprudence set out at law.scu.edu/socialjustice/certificate-and-curriculum.cfm
- PI&SJ law certificate general requirements (b) – (d) outlined above, for academic writing, community service, and practicum.
Public Interest and Social Justice Law Certificate with emphasis in Health Law
This certificate is appropriate for students who are considering careers in the field of health law. Students earning this certificate must complete the following course work:
- 16 units of required academic course work for the PISJLC with emphasis in health law set out at law.scu.edu/socialjustice/certificate-and-curriculum.cfm
- PI&SJ law certificate general requirements (b) – (d) outlined above, for academic writing, community service, and practicum.
Public Interest and Social Justice Law Certificate with emphasis in Immigration and Refugee Law
This certificate is appropriate for students who wish to practice in the area of immigration and/or refugee law. Students earning this certificate must complete the following course work:
- 16 units of required academic course work for the PI&SJ law certificate with emphasis in immigration and refugee law set out at law.scu.edu/socialjustice/certificate-and-curriculum.cfm
- PI&SJ law certificate general requirements (b) – (d) outlined above, for academic writing, community service, and practicum.
Advisors and mentors
Students are encouraged to notify the CSJ&PS of their intent to pursue a PI&SJ law certificate and may request an advisor. See the Notice of Intent and Request for Advising at law.scu.edu/socialjustice/certificate-and-curriculum.cfm. Students should file the notice as early in their law school career as possible, both to take full advantage of the advising opportunities and to ensure that their course of study will satisfy the certificate requirements.
In most cases, filing the notification form is not required as a prerequisite to earning the certificate; however, students planning to use Civil Practice, High Tech, and Social Justice Internship and Seminar (590) should file the notice to describe the nature of the internship work for which they seek credit.
In addition, students completing a PI&SJ law certificate with special emphasis (consumer law, criminal justice, critical race jurisprudence, health law, or immigration and refugee law) are strongly urged to file the notification form by January 19 of their second year of residency. After the filing, CSJ&PS assigns an advisor to help with course planning and other activities to facilitate compliance with certificate requirements. The center also arranges for a specialized mentor to advise on career opportunities and other aspects related to preparing the student for practice in a specialized field.
Applications
To be eligible for a PI&SJ law certificate, graduates must submit an Application for Award to CSJ&PS.
The application deadline for J.D. students graduating December 2008 is November 10, 2008. The application deadline for J.D. students graduating in May 2009 is February 9, 2009.
Applications, submission deadlines, and details are available via law.scu.edu/socialjustice/certificate-and-curriculum.cfm.
For more information
- School of Law, Center for Social Justice & Public Service: law.scu.edu/socialjustice
- socialjustice@scu.edu or 408-551-1720
- Director: Professor Stephanie M. Wildman
- Program Coordinator: Ivy Flores