Public Service Newsletter

Public Service Newsletter: Wednesday, October 26, 2011

About the Public Service Newsletter

The Office of Public Service Programs is here to serve students who are pursuing a career in public interest law and provide opportunities for all students to engage in the School of Law's tradition of public service. Look out for the Public Service Newsletter each Monday for information about public service career opportunities, events, resources, news, and more. View past newsletters.

Events at UNC Law

Ask the CSO

Wednesday, October 26, 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m., Rotunda

Career Services Staff will be in the Rotunda during lunch hour to answer your questions about careers, job search and more.

First Amendment Law Review Annual Symposium: "Discrimination by and against Religion, and the First Amendment"

Friday, October 28, 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Wilson Library, Pleasants Family Room

Please join the First Amendment Law Review for this year's annual symposium.

UNC Law Students attend FREE, non-UNC Students pay $10, and general admission is $30. North Carolina attorneys can receive up to 5 hours of CLE credit for attending. Attendees do not have to attend the entire event - come when you can and enjoy the discussions from our keynote speakers and panelists.

Featuring Key Note Speakers:

  • Dr. Martin E. Marty, The Fairfax M. Cone Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus at the University of Chicago and winner of the National Book Award.
  • Melissa Rogers, Director of the Wake Forest School of Divinity Center for Religion and Public Affairs and former Chair of President Barack Obama's Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.

And panelists:

  • Frederick Gedicks, Brigham Young University Law School
  • Wendy Kaminer, lawyer and social critic, author of Cowardice, Conformity and the ACLU
  • Christopher Lund, Professor at Wayne State University Law School
  • Katherine Lewis Parker, Legal Director, American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina
  • Nelson Tebbe, Professor at the Brooklyn Law School
  • Eric Treene, Special Counsel for the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division
  • Asma Uddin, The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty

Race and the Law: Reinventing the Fair Housing Act

Monday, October 31, 12:00 p.m. to 12:50 p.m., 5042

Sponsored by the UNC Center for Civil Rights and the Black Law Student's Association, this panel discussion will discuss methods of using the Fair Housing Act to remedy historic segregation.

Food Justice: From Seed to Table, the Right to Healthy Food

Tuesday, November 1, 12:00 p.m. to 12:50 p.m., 5042

The Conference on Race, Class, Gender, and Ethnicity (CRCGE) presents a panel discussion on Food Justice, an emerging movement that fights for communities’ right to produce, distribute, access, and eat food that is fresh, nutritious, affordable, culturally-appropriate, and grown locally with care for the well-being of the land, workers and animals involved. The CRCGE is a student organization that produces an annual conference bringing together academics, practitioners, and students to explore and discuss contemporary legal, political, and social issues through point of view of Social and Economic Justice. This panel is not only an opportunity to preview this year’s Conference topic, "Waking Up from the American Dream: The Sober Reality of Class in America," but it is also an introduction to the CRCGE and an exciting new movement. This event will be catered by Vimala's Curry Blossom Cafe.

1L Career Symposium

Tuesday, November 1, 4:15 p.m. to 5:45 p.m. AND Thursday, November 3, 4:15 p.m. to 5:45 p.m.

All first-year students must attend the First-Year Career Symposium. The CSO knows that finding employment is of paramount importance to students, and we're going to cover the nuts and bolts of not just your 1L job search, but the strategies behind your 2L and permanent job searches and how it all fits together. We will introduce you to the CSO job search manual and to Symplicity, our online career system, which you will use for on-campus interviews, off-campus interview programs, access to job listings and more. We look forward to getting to know you and working together.

2Ls Only: Public Interest Grant Information Session

Wednesday, November 2, 12:00 p.m. to 12:50 p.m., 5052

The School of Law will be awarding a limited number of public interest summer grants to 2Ls in the fall. Come hear about this early funding opportunity for 2Ls. Applications will be available on November 2 and will be due on December 2, 2011.

Please note: 2Ls will be eligible to apply for public interest summer grants in the spring of 2012 as well.

Please see Dorsey Bachenheimer or Sylvia Novinsky with any questions.

What Does it Mean to be a Public Defender?

Wednesday, November 2, 12:00 p.m. to 12:50 p.m., 4004

Sponsored by the Career Services Office and the Public Service Program, this panel will discussion will include faculty members and recent Carolina Law alums who are public defenders. Come learn more about careers in criminal defense!

The State of Education in NC: Addressing the Constitutional Implications

Wednesday, November 2, 12:00 p.m. to 12:50 p.m., 4085

The panel will address some salient issues in Education in North Carolina. Guests include:

  • Dean Boger, moderating
  • Matthew Ellinwood, North Carolina Justice Center, Policy Advocate Education Law Project
  • Dr. Terry Stoops, John Locke Foundation, Education Studies Director
  • Neal Ramee, Tharrington Smith, Education Lawyer
  • Darrell Allison, Parents for Educational Freedom in North Carolina, President
  • Mark Dorosin, Center for Civil Rights, Senior Managing Attorney

1L Workshop: Drafting Your Legal Resume and Cover Letter

Thursday, November 8, 12:00 p.m. to 12:50 p.m., 4085 AND Wednesday, November 16, 12:00 p.m. to 12:50 p.m., 5048

Come learn what legal employers expect to see in a resume and how to write a cover letter that will persuade an employer to grant you an interview! (This program will be repeated on Wednesday, November 16.) Please contact Lindsay Knell in the CSO for more information.

Current Pro Bono Opportunities

Current Pro Bono Projects

Projects are posted on the Pro Bono Board near the mailboxes and are listed online at http://www.law.unc.edu/studentlife/probono/projects/. Students can sign up for projects on the Pro Bono Board or email UNCProBonoProjects@gmail.com.

Individual Projects:

  • Interviewing, Research, and Document Review Assistance, Glenn, Mills, Fisher, & Mahoney P.A. - Durham, NC
  • Research School District Merger Case Studies in NC, UNC Center for Civil Rights - Carrboro, NC
  • National Incident Based Reporting System (NIBRS) Research AEquitas: The Prosecutors' Resource on Violence Against Women - Washington D.C.

Upcoming Pro Bono Events

Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) General Interest Meeting

Tuesday, November 1, 12:00 p.m. to 12:50 a.m., 5046

Come find out more about this organization and pro bono project! VITA seeks to provide free income tax assistance to low and middle-income taxpayers in Chapel Hill and Carrboro, North Carolina. Leaders will discuss how you can get involved. All volunteers must attend a training session and pass a certification test. Income preparation sessions will be throughout February and March.

Winter Break Pro Bono Trip & Projects Interest Meeting

Thursday, November 3, 12:00 p.m. to 12:50 p.m., 4085

Come out to this Interest Meeting to learn about all opportunities for participation in Pro Bono work over Winter Break including the Winter Break Trip and Winter Break Projects. Information will be available about the process for signing up and applicable deadlines.

Winter Break Pro Bono Project Sign-ups

Wednesday, November 16, 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m., Rotunda

Sign up for a Pro Bono Winter Break Project! Sign-ups will begin at 7:00 a.m. - arrive early to get a good spot in line so you can get the project you want! The list of project descriptions and time and geographic requirements will be circulated to students before the sign-up.

Career Corner

Post-Graduation Employment Opportunities

Summer Opportunities

Other Public Interest Opportunities

Fellowships at Auschwitz for the Study of Professional Ethics

FASPE ("Fellowships at Auschwitz for the Study of Professional Ethics") for Law Students is an intensive two-week, all-expenses-paid educational fellowship program that examines the moral responsibilities and professional duties of legal practitioners, lawyers and judges in extreme as well as more routine situations. The Law Fellows study historical, philosophical, theological, and cultural texts related to Nazism and the Holocaust, building the context for the discussion of contemporary ethical issues, while visiting Holocaust-related interpretive and historical sites in New York, Berlin, Auschwitz, and Krakow. The goal of FASPE is to provide students with new insights that will help them tackle problems of moral reasoning in their future careers. Students of all religious faiths – or of none – are encouraged to apply. Selection for the fellowship is very competitive; high academic distinction and a clear vision of how the fellowship will be relevant for and beneficial to the applicant are essential. UNC professor Eric Muller is one of the fellowship program’s faculty members.

Tentative dates of the fellowship are May 21 - June 1, 2012. Current 1Ls, 2Ls, and 3Ls may submit applications, and UNC plans to endorse up to three candidates, selected by a panel of law school faculty and administrators.

How to Apply

After reviewing the information on the FASPE website (http://www.mjhnyc.org/faspe/pr_law.html), interested students wishing to receive UNC’s endorsement need to write a short essay that explains why you are applying. Include what you can offer to FASPE, as well as what you hope to gain from it. Make sure to describe any previous experience you may have had with ethical issues or the study of ethics. Please also consider how your previous experiences might affect your fellowship and how you expect to use the experience of the program in your future profession. (750 words or less).

A copy of your essay and a resume need to be submitted electronically to Lindsay Knell in the CSO knell@email.unc.edu by October 31.

Center for Reproductive Rights-Columbia Law School Fellowship

The CRR-CLS Fellowship is a two-year, post-graduate fellowship that is designed to prepare recent law school graduates for legal academic careers. Fellows are affiliated with Columbia Law School and the Center for Reproductive Rights and they participate in the intellectual life of both institutions.

Future academics who are interested in women's rights, gender equality and/or human rights would be a great fit. Applicants do not need prior experience in reproductive rights nor do they need to be graduates of Columbia Law School to be eligible for this program. The deadline for the fellowship application is Monday, October 31. More information and an application can be found at the Center for Reproductive Rights' website.

To add items or provide feedback, please contact Sylvia Novinsky, Assistant Dean for Public Service Programs, or Mary Irvine, Public Service Fellow.