Navigating the path to a public interest career can be difficult. Center’s staff provide personalized counseling to help students explore their goals and better understand their options.
In addition to regularly scheduled workshops and presentations on career planning, the Center director and staff are available to talk about:
The director and center’s staff offer counseling, job search strategy, resume and cover letter review and development, and employer identification.
Post-graduate fellowship and government honors programs frequently provide the best avenue to enter public interest law practice immediately upon graduating. The Center develops individual plans with each student about how to best engage in these processes. Stanford law graduates have been very successful in obtaining prestigious Skadden, Equal Justice Works and other fellowships as well as being offered places with the Department of Justice’s Honors Program.
It is not uncommon for a graduate committed to achieving a career in the non-profit or government sectors to spend some time at a private law firm at the beginning of their career. Economic, personal and other reasons may dictate this path for some. The Center director and staff work with any graduate who requests help creating a career plan, evaluating options and possible timelines for transition, ensuring that pro bono remains a constant part of their work, and thinking through the issues that will need to be addressed for the graduate to achieve their long-term goals.
Center staff are routinely in touch with alumni who want help transitioning out of their current positions. The Center maintains a list serve that law school alumni may sign up for to be informed about public interest and public sector job opportunities.