With its exceptional faculty and unusually low faculty/student ratio, Stanford offers students numerous opportunities to acquire the knowledge and skills needed to serve the public interest. Every student is strongly encouraged to participate in a clinic, where students work with actual clients under the close supervision of faculty practitioners. In addition, the Center offers skills trainings that supplement the formal curriculum, preparing students to be more effective public interest advocates.
Stanford Law School is proud to count among our faculty some of the leading thinkers as well as practitioners in public interest law. Through seminars, directed research or exploration of classes in other schools of Stanford University, students are able to explore substantive issues ranging from civil rights to the economic impacts of the law to international criminal law as well as develop skills that they need to excel as lawyers upon graduation.
While most courses usually focus on case law, the in-house clinics offered at Stanford Law School enable students to combine legal studies with practical training.
Not only do our clinics offer the opportunity to gain practical skills, they also enable students to delve into specific practice areas. For instance, the Immigrants' Rights Clinic (IRC) is dedicated to providing students with the training and background necessary to become extraordinarily effective immigrants' rights attorneys and advocates. Through the clinics, students have the opportunity to directly represent individuals in Violence Against Women Act petitions while working on major pieces of advocacy with local community organizations.
Students also find that clinics allow them to build up their personal networks and get to know others with similar interests. This can enhance future employment prospects.
View a complete list of clinics.
Externships also provide a tremendous opportunity for hands-on learning and to explore different types and fields of practice in the public interest and government. For more information about externships, please visit the Externship Program webpage.
Each year, Stanford Law School awards Public Interest Fellowships to those who have a history of public service, provide leadership within the law school, and are committed to careers as lawyers in the public service. Fellows serve a variety of roles within the law school—they mentor first-year students, provide policy direction for the Center and the law school, have direct access to the law school administration regarding myriad issues related to public interest, and engage in direct programming with the assistance of the Center director and staff.
These tuition grant awards are an acknowledgement of the students'—as well as Stanford's—commitment to public service, and are provided with the goal of reducing the amount of financial debt our public interest fellows will face upon graduation.
The Fellows also serve an advisory body to the Center’s Director and staff, and are expected to:
Stanford provides academic, summer and post-graduate financial assistance to students committed to public interest practice. This reflects our institutional commitment to ensuring equal access to the legal system. It also recognizes the significant disparity in pay between private and public interest practice.
All Stanford law students who qualify for financial assistance are guaranteed to receive a summer stipend if they work at a non-profit organization or government agency.
Summer Public Interest Evaluations
Each year, the Center provides financial support that assists students to attend relevant conferences and symposia around the world.
The Center’s commitment to public service is also manifested through its financial assistance to students who incur expenses related to their volunteer efforts. Last year, we sent dozens of students to the Gulf Coast to assist clients and organizations in New Orleans, LA, Gulfport, MS, and Austin, TX over the winter and spring breaks.
The Miles and Nancy Rubin Loan Forgiveness Program—the Law School's loan repayment assistance program (LRAP)—provides financial aid to graduates who pursue public interest or government service careers. In 1987, Stanford Law School was the first law school in the country to launch such a program. Today, it still sets the standard for law schools that have followed its lead.
Stanford's commitment to guaranteeing career choices for its graduates is demonstrated by LRAP's success. The program reflects one of the school's key values: that public service is a worthy pursuit and that lawyers have a professional obligation to participate in public service throughout the course of their careers.
For those graduates who take public interest or public sector jobs and have need-based educational debt, Stanford Law School will lend funds to eligible applicants to help meet their monthly educational loan payments. If the graduate remains for three or more years in qualifying public interest employment, a portion of the loans made by the Law School may be canceled. Up to 100% of funds loaned may be forgiven.
For the latest terms of the Miles and Nancy Rubin Loan Forgiveness Program, visit the LRAP section.