The Public Service Law Program at Cardozo School of Law

www.cardozo.yu.edu

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BENJAMIN N. CARDOZO SCHOOL OF LAW • YESHIVA UNIVERSITY

CENTER FOR PUBLIC SERVICE LAW

Center for Public Service Law

Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law | Yeshiva University

RELEVANT CLINICS, FIELD CLINICS AND EXTERNSHIPS

Cardozo Law is a school where the imperative of social change infuses all that we do.

Benjamin B. Ferencz Human Rights and Atrocity Prevention Clinic Students help the clinic litigate before international and regional tribunals and investigate human rights violations, among other responsibilities.

Bet Tzedek Civil Litigation Clinic Students represent elderly clients or those with disabilities in civil matters.

María Orellana ’16 (speaker), Matias

ABOUT THE CENTER FOR PUBLIC SERVICE LAW

Manzano ’16 (not pictured), along with clinic fellow Thomas Fritzsche, stopped the

It is difficult to overstate the wealth of public service offerings available to Cardozo School of Law students.

Through classes and clinics taught by experienced public interest attorneys, supplemented by a vast range of on- and off-campus opportunities, Cardozo prepares its graduates to become passionate advocates who improve our legal system and the lives of the people they serve. Cardozo Law is a school where the imperative of social change infuses all that we do. Our New York City location provides students with numerous opportunities to participate in the law through internships, externships, clinics and field clinics with public interest organizations, government agencies, federal and state courts, and international bodies.

deportation of two young brothers fleeing

The Center for Public Service Law provides support for Cardozo’s public service opportunities. The center oversees the Public Service Summer Stipend Program—which provides funding for unpaid summer internships with government and nonprofit entities—co-manages Cardozo’s Loan Repayment Assistant Program with Student Finance, administers the school’s David Rudenstine Postgraduate Fellowship in public service, supports the school’s pro bono projects, and counsels students on other ways to become involved in public service. The center collaborates with the Office of Career Services to help students launch their careers and to build and maintain relationships with public service employers.

Administrative Law

We invite you to join our vibrant, creative and innovative community.

violence in Central America as part of their work in the Immigration Justice Clinic.

A SELECTION OF COURSES

Children and the Law Collaborative Family Law Climate Change and the Law Criminal Appeals Clinic Criminal Defense Clinic Domestic Violence and Child Abuse Employment Discrimination Employment Law Environmental Law Immigration Justice Clinic Immigration Law International Human Rights Legislation Poverty and the Law Reproductive Rights Law

Bronx Defenders Family Defense Field Clinic Students examine child welfare law and policy, and gain litigation experience representing families in high-stakes child neglect proceedings.

Civil Rights Clinic Students litigate civil rights cases, such as those challenging unconstitutional conditions in prisons.

Consumer Rights Field Clinic Students extern at legal services offices at the forefront of consumer protection representation and reform.

Criminal Defense Clinic Students engage in field work in Manhattan Criminal Court, representing clients charged with misdemeanors from the cases’ inception through final deposition.

Immigration Law Field Clinic Students work in community-based nonprofit organizations assisting in direct client services.

Innocence Project Students represent convicted prisoners in their claims of innocence based on post-conviction DNA testing.

Kathryn O. Greenberg Immigration Justice Clinic Students represent clients who are seeking asylum, permanent residence, change of status, or suspension of deportation.

New York City Law Department Appeals Division Field Clinic Students are assigned appellate cases to research and draft from start to finish on a variety of civil matters.

New York City Law Department Juvenile Delinquency Field Clinic At the Family Court Division, students assist with and conduct interviews of witnesses and assist attorneys with trial preparation, among other tasks.

New York State Office of the Attorney General Social Justice Division Field Clinic Students work in the Civil Rights, Labor, Environmental Protection and other bureaus of the Social Justice Division.

Public Sector Externship Students extern in one of the hundreds of nonprofit organizations, government offices, and judicial chambers in the New York City area.

Special Education Law and Advocacy Field Clinic At Advocates for Children and collaborating organizations, students represent and assist with cases on behalf of low-income families.

OTHER GOVERNMENT AND JUDICIAL OPPORTUNITIES Alexander Fellows Program Students work full-time as junior law clerks for a semester in a federal judge’s chambers in New York or New Jersey. Students earn class credit and also take a weekly class taught by a federal judge.

This program exposes them to court proceedings that influence people’s lives every day.

Lawyering in DC Cardozo offers a week-long one-credit program in which 15–20 students travel to Washington, DC, in January. Through informal meetings with dozens of lawyers, students are immersed in the DC legal community and gain understanding of the unique intersection of private and public lawyering in our nation’s capital. Panels and speakers talk about working on Capitol Hill, for federal agencies, and for nonprofit organizations. Participants also have the opportunity to meet and network with Washington-based alumni. A trip to the Supreme Court is included.

INTERNATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR PUBLIC SERVICE WORK Cardozo students can also gain international legal experience. Each year, students receive funding to undertake international human rights and public service summer internships overseas. They have traveled to Rwanda and Tanzania to study genocide and the mechanisms that have been put in place to aid reconciliation.

Students traveled to Washington, DC as part of the Lawyering in DC program.

JUDICIAL CLERKSHIPS Cardozo recognizes the value of a postgraduate judicial clerkship in launching a legal career, and the Office of Career Services and the Center for Public Service Law offer comprehensive assistance with the application process.

DAVID RUDENSTINE POSTGRADUATE FELLOWSHIP The David Rudenstine Postgraduate Fellowship is awarded to one member of each graduating class to work in public interest law for one year.

PUBLIC SERVICE SUMMER STIPENDS Many first-year students undertake 8-10 week, fulltime public service internships during the summer.

The range of summer internships available to Cardozo students is as large and varied as public service law itself, stretching from New York City’s West Village throughout the United States and around the world.

Providing invaluable practical experience, these internships often pave the way to career references and jobs after graduation. Internships are available at direct legal-services providers; public interest organizations; international organizations; federal, state, and local government agencies; public defenders’ and district attorneys’ offices; and federal and state courts.

The following are some internships that Cardozo students have held:

Cardozo raises funds for the stipends through institutional and government funding, and an annual auction. Since 2004, Cardozo has funded every qualified summer-internship applicant for work in public service.

Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA)

LOAN REPAYMENT ASSISTANCE PROGRAM (LRAP)

The Innocence Project at Cardozo School of Law

The Laurie M. Tisch Loan Repayment Assistance Program at Cardozo provides annual forgivable loans to graduates working in public service for up to six years post-graduation to assist them in overcoming their educational debts. This particularly expansive LRAP program provides support not only to those graduates who go to work for nonprofit public interest organizations but also to those working for government agencies, including prosecutors’ offices.

Israeli Ministry of Justice in Jerusalem

Alliance for Arab Women, an Egyptian women’s rights organization in Cairo American Civil Liberties Union, Houston branch Federal courts in New York, New Jersey, Illinois, and California; state courts in Massachusetts, Florida, New York, New Jersey, and Washington, DC

HIV/AIDS Legal Services Alliance in Los Angeles

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Senate Judiciary Committee, Washington, DC.

PUBLIC LAW ADVOCACY WEEK

WORKSHOPS, SYMPOSIA, LECTURES AND EVENTS

PUBLIC SERVICE JOURNALS

PRO BONO PROJECTS

This annual student-organized series of activities includes panels or workshops as well as lunchtime discussions on issues related to public interest law practice. Students may also participate in local community-service events.

Cardozo offers numerous public service talks, panels, and symposia during the school year examining critical topics in the law today. The following topics have been featured recently:

Courtroom Advocates Project Supervised by attorneys with Sanctuary for Families, students assist victims of domestic violence in obtaining orders of protection in family court.

Recent P*LAW Week panels have addressed:

The Future of Net Neutrality and Broadband Privacy

Cardozo students produce three widely-cited journals that publish articles focused primarily on public service topics by distinguished academics and practitioners, as well as notes and comments written by students. Students are selected for membership on the basis of academic achievement and writing ability.

The Legal Status of Puerto Rico and its Role in Disaster Recovery

Ethics and Government Lawyering in the Age of Trump

School to Prison Pipeline LGBTQ+ Youth and Homelessness Police Responses to Mental Health-Related Calls Involving People of Color

The Fair Housing Act After 50 Years

Taking: The Intersection between Colonialism and Consent in Gender-Based Violence The Innocence Project’s Impact After 25 Years: Law, Policy, and the Courts Examining 50 Years of the Voting Rights Act

Disability & Discrimination: Olmstead, Advocacy & Enforcement

Policing, Conflict and Change

A Place to Call Home: Housing for Marginalized Populations

IP and the Public Interest: The Case of Climate Change

A Deeper Look Into Human Trafficking: Contemporary Slavery, the Sex Trade and Beyond

Public Education: Moving to a Trauma Informed System

The Abolition of War

Legal Issues After a Natural Disaster

Navigating Boundaries: Cultural Competency & the Marginalized Client Gentrification in NYC: Protecting Tenants from Predatory Landlords Sanctuary Cities

Additionally, Cardozo honors contributions to public service by students, alumni, faculty and staff at its annual INSPIRE! Awards Ceremony.

The Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution reflects Cardozo’s pioneering work in the field of alternative dispute resolution. This journal bestows the prestigious Advocate for Peace Award. Recipients have included President Bill Clinton, playwright Eve Ensler, filmmaker Abigail Disney, and Liberian peacemaker Leymah Gbowee.

The Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights and Social Justice offers perspectives on a wide variety of issues that impact social justice including health care, gender, housing and civil rights among others. Formerly the Cardozo Journal of Law and Gender, it was the first journal to publish a women’s annotated legal bibliography and continues to publish the bibliography on a wide variety of topics.

Cardozo’s International Comparative, Policy & Ethics Law Review is an academic peer-reviewed journal dedicated to the exploration of both domestic and international legal concepts, and their application in the resolution of legal issues across all jurisdictions.

Suspension Representation Project Students advocate for New York City public school students in suspension hearings and help safeguard their right to education.

Uncontested Divorce Project Supervised by attorneys with Sanctuary for Families, students assist victims of domestic violence in their uncontested divorces.

Unemployment Action Center Students help laid-off workers navigate the regulatory maze of unemployment benefits and advocate on clients’ behalf in front administrative hearing officers.

OTHER PUBLIC SERVICE-ORIENTED STUDENT GROUPS Cardozo Advocates for Kids Cardozo Environmental Law Society Cardozo FIRE (For Immigration Rights and Equality) Cardozo Students for Human Rights Student Animal Legal Defense Fund