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Public Interest Organizations

Public interest organizations are nonprofit organizations devoted to the public good. Attorneys working for these groups advocate on behalf of underrepresented individuals and interests.

Some students come to law school with a passion for an area, such as disability rights or the death penalty. Others develop an interest, for example, after studying criminal law and criminal procedure. And still others want to pursue public interest through their work providing pro bono representation.

Most public interest organizations fall into one of two categories: legal aid offices, which provide direct representation to individuals, and other nonprofits, such as the ACLU or the Southern Poverty Law Center, that promote social welfare causes through impact litigation and legislation and lobbying advocacy.

Notably, lawyers can engage in public interest work outside of these settings. Public interest work can occur in private law firm where lawyers provide pro bono representation, at private public interest law firms, and in the government. As a result, the range of activities that lawyers perform on behalf of the public interest is very broad—from prosecution to drafting articles of incorporation for a non-profit involved with issues of reproductive justice. Public interest opportunities are available to lawyers on both the conservative and liberal side of the political aisle.

Courses

Courses designated as "primary" are foundational, while those listed as "secondary" contain relevant and related content. "Co-curricular" courses are credit-bearing extra-curricular activities, while "experiential" courses are practice-based offerings. Please keep in mind that the focus of any course will vary depending on the instructor.

Primary Courses

478: Public Interest Advocacy 0 to 3 credits PRIMARY

This course is a 2-credit, seminar-sized, workshop-style legal analysis and writing course which focuses on public interest legal writing, working with underrepresented clients, and social justice/poverty themes.

Secondary Courses

441: Public Interest Lawyering Seminar 1 to 3 credits SECONDARY

This course covers the practice of public interest law, how the lawyer’s professional role differs in this type of law practice, and how the public interest lawyer can affect and influence public policy and justice in the courts, legislatures, and administrative agencies. Students participate in simulations which explore public interest law, speak with public interest lawyers and the public interest organizations that they represent, and write a paper that invites them to reflect on and expand the information and materials covered in the course.

507: Poverty Law 0 to 3 credits SECONDARY

This course will broadly study American poverty, poverty programs and constitutional, federal, state and municipal laws that directly affect the poor. Students will survey wealth disparities in the U.S. through demographic data relating to income, educational attainment, housing, access to medical care and voting.

Experiential Courses

345: Semester in Practice 10 or 11 credits EXPERIENTIAL

This is the field placement component of a full term externship program and is paired with the Externship Lecture course. Total credits between Semester in Practice and Externship Lecture will total 13. The number of credit hours awarded to an individual student will determine the hours of work required at the field placement and meet or exceed the ABA standards. In accordance with ABA guidelines, students work at a placement under a supervising attorney. C-LAW 300.

392: Intellectual Property Law Clinic I 4 credits EXPERIENTIAL

This course provides students with hands-on opportunities to assist clients with transactional intellectual property matters. Student services include advising clients on basic intellectual property principles, drafting contracts (or contract provisions) that affect intellectual property rights, prosecuting copyright and/or trademark applications, and preparing policy documents and guidelines. In addition to direct client representation, students will attend a two-hour seminar, and meet with the clinic faculty supervisor to discuss fieldwork each week. Intellectual Property is a prerequisite.

399: Medical-Legal Partnership Clinic - Seminar 2 credits EXPERIENTIAL

This experiential clinic course focuses on the attainment of fundamental lawyering skills through direct client representation and advocacy, with a particular emphasis on problem solving and legal remedies to address health-harming legal needs. Through collaboration with healthcare providers, students will identify legal issues that negatively contribute to the health of low-income patient-clients and develop a comprehensive, interprofessional strategy to overcome barriers to health justice. Seminar topics educate students about fundamental lawyering skills and substantive law essential for the cases students will work on over the course of their time in the clinic.

497: Introduction to Community Lawyering 4 credits EXPERIENTIAL

This four-hour, experiential learning course will introduce students to community lawyering and how lawyers can contribute their legal knowledge and skills to support community identified initiatives that highlight the community’s collective power to bring about long-lasting or sustainable change. In today’s evolving society, lawyers often help individual and corporate clients navigate the complexities of the law which is now becoming increasingly connected to concepts around diversity, inclusion and equity. This class will help sharpen your lens around these concepts and develop you into a well-rounded lawyer prepared to practice in a more diverse world. You will work hands on with a community client group(s) facing challenges involving affordable housing, displacement, land use, zoning, and historical preservation. This course will help you understand the intersection of the law and justice and deepen your creative and critical thinking to address the community client’s concern. You will learn that community lawyering involves viewing legal problems through a community’s perspective. You will also learn how lawyers can aid communities in solving their own problems, which fall often between what is legal and what is just.

601: Community Law and Business Clinic I 2 or 4 credits EXPERIENTIAL

The work of this clinic is primarily transactional. Students will assist clients at various stages in the business development process, with an emphasis on business, housing, and institutional support in economically disadvantaged segments of the community.

603: Litigation Externship Lecture 2 or 3 credits EXPERIENTIAL

The course provides students with an opportunity to build upon their placement experience with a litigation focused curriculum. The course is complementary to other litigation focused courses but is developed to meet or exceed ABA standards for experiential learning. C-LAW 602.

622: Innocence and Justice Clinic 4 credits EXPERIENTIAL

In this interdisciplinary course, students will examine the legal, scientific, cultural and psychological causes of wrongful convictions. They will apply this knowledge to actual cases by reviewing and investigating claims of actual innocence by inmates and, where appropriate, pursuing legal avenues for exoneration and release from prison. Students will meet for two class hours per week and for one hour a week with instructor to examine and complete field work assignments.

637: Veterans Legal Clinic I 4 credits EXPERIENTIAL

During this semester-long experiential course, students will represent low-income former servicemembers and veterans in a range of legal proceedings. The clinic primarily represents North Carolinians who are seeking potentially life-saving health care and compensation benefits for service-connected disabilities, but who have been unable to access such benefits because of the nature or characterization of their military discharge. Almost all clinic clients were separated from the military because of minor misconduct that was related to behavioral health conditions that were incurred or aggravated during military service. Unfortunately, these conditions were highly stigmatized and widely misunderstood until recent years, which led to an inequitable dismissal from military service for tens of thousands of North Carolinians. Clinic students are on the front lines of correcting those mistakes and injustices.

676: Summer Externship 4 credits EXPERIENTIAL

This course is currently available only in the summer. The director of the externship designates one or more cities in North and South Carolina, usually including Charlotte, NC, and offers the students externships in a designated practice area. The practice areas vary from summer to summer. Students meet weekly with the director to integrate and apply the doctrinal insights received elsewhere in the law school curriculum and in the subject matter of the field placements. The course fulfills the practical skills requirement.

690: Environmental Law and Policy Clinic 4 credits EXPERIENTIAL

The course will allow students to learn about the real work of environmental law and policy through a combination of intensive training on the skills needed to work with clients and grappling with environmental law and policy matters with which clients need help. At the commencement of the semester, students’ classwork will focus on lawyering skills and the basics of administrative and environmental law through two Saturday intensives. During the course of the semester, a weekly, two-hour class meeting will build upon these skills and include practitioners from industry, private practice, government, and non-profits. In addition, this weekly meeting will serve as a touch-point for learning and sharing with other students how their representation of clients is progressing, what concerns and issues are arising, and what learnings they are taking away. Students will be expected to put 10-12 hours of effort into the clinic per week in keeping with the 4 credit requirement. They will keep timesheets and a journal of their experience.

Faculty

The following faculty are knowledgeable about the topic and may be a useful resource for you.

Jane Aiken

Jane Aiken

University Distinguished Professor

Alyse Bertenthal

Alyse Bertenthal

Associate Professor of Law

Christine Coughlin

Christine Coughlin

Professor of Law

Mark Hall

Mark Hall

Fred D. and Elizabeth L Turnage Professor of Law

Rebecca Morrow

Rebecca Morrow

Professor of Law

Ellen Murphy

Ellen Murphy

Professor of Practice

Wendy Parker

Wendy Parker

Research Professor of Law

Wilson Parker

Wilson Parker

Professor of Law

Scott Schang

Scott Schang

Professor of Practice

Sidney Shapiro

Sidney Shapiro

Frank U. Fletcher Chair in Administrative Law

Kenneth Townsend

Kenneth Townsend

Teaching Professor

Steve Virgil

Steve Virgil

Clinical Professor of Law

Ronald Wright

Ronald Wright

Needham Yancey Gulley Professor of Criminal Law

Related Pathways

Civil Litigation

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Legislation and Lobbying

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Government

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