Requirements for the Pro Bono Placement Option of the Public Interest Law Perspective Requirement

Students may fulfill the Public Interest Law Perspective Requirement by completing fifty (50) hours of pro bono service. (Students who have successfully completed certain courses may fulfill the requirement by performing 20 hours of pro bono service.) This work must be unsalaried and without other compensation and must be performed under the supervision of an attorney.

The work must be performed for a public interest organization which serves the poor or another underserved group, or for a private attorney or firm exclusively on a pro bono case which has been assigned by a pro bono or volunteer referral service for low-income clients. An example of such a referral is a domestic violence case assigned to a private attorney through the Suffolk County Bar Association Pro Bono Project or the Pro Bono program of the Nassau Supreme Court.

The work must be legal in nature and may include interviewing, factual investigation, drafting legal documents, legal research and similar duties. Clerical duties do not qualify toward the requirement. Time needed to train the student for the activity or instruction on the case will not count.

Supervising attorneys are encouraged to permit the student to have contact with the client and an opportunity to observe the legal system in action, if appropriate to the needs of the case and the work setting. 

At the conclusion of the student's work, the supervisor will be asked to complete a brief evaluation form. It will be the student's responsibility to return it to the Law Center.

A supervising attorney should notify the Law Center immediately if there are any deficiencies in the student's attendance or performance. Contact Thomas Maligno, the Director of Public Interest at Touro Law at (631) 761-7033.