The Levin Center plans a number of programs throughout the year to introduce students to an array of public interest career opportunities and provide specialized skills trainings to prepare you for careers as public interest advocates. Most programs are open to all students, although some offer priority to our Public Interest Fellows.

Public Interest Career-Related Programs

We offer specific job search workshops targeting students by class year. For first-year students, we begin by hosting panels featuring attorneys that can offer an overview of different practice settings. For example, our civil governmental panel traditionally includes civil litigators from local, state, and federal agencies.

On or soon after November 1, we hold our 1L Public Interest Job Search Workshop to discuss the job search process, review timelines, and identify specific resources. In addition to scheduling one-on-one counseling appointments, first-year students can also sign up for our Mock Interview program. Each November and January, public interest attorney volunteers conduct mock interviews for our first-year students. This provides our students a chance to hone their interviewing skills in a very real interviewing situation.

Second- and third-year students can participate in workshops focused on the 2L summer job search and the postgraduate public interest job search, which includes workshops on governmental honors programs and the postgraduate fellowship application process.

Public Interest/Public Sector Career Fair

As part of the consortium of Northern California law schools, Stanford jointly co-sponsors and organizes this annual career fair featuring over 100 public interest employers representing nonprofits, governmental agencies, and private public interest law firms. It traditionally takes place the first Saturday of February at UC Hastings School of Law.

Alumni Mentor-in-Residence Series

This series invites SLS alumni who are mid-level public interest attorneys to return to campus and speak about their careers. Speakers walk you through their career path and talk about what they do on a day-to-day basis. Each Alumni Mentor-in-Residence lunch highlights an attorney within a specialized practice area and is limited to 15 students. This allows for a more personalized session and provides an opportunity for each student to interact with our alumni mentor. Past mentors include attorneys from Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights; Youth Law Center; Natural Resources Defense Council; Electronic Privacy Information Clearinghouse; Federal Defender's Office, San Francisco; U.S. State Department; and U.S. Department of Justice, Antitrust Division.

Pro Bono Program Trainings

The Pro Bono Program encourages every student to volunteer their talents and legal skills to help clients who otherwise would not be able to receive legal assistance. As part of this program, we sponsor trainings to help prepare students for their work. Past workshops have focused on working with survivors of trauma; learning about ethics and professional responsibility; and learning how to interview and conduct legal intake. Individual pro bono projects often also provide additional training that is customized for their practice area and clientele. For more information, please visit the Pro Bono Program section of our website.

Public Interest Skills Workshops

Public interest advocates are often called upon to handle other responsibilities beyond legal duties. Thus, the Levin Center offers an annual series of public interest skills workshops designed to equip our students with specialized non-legal skills. Past workshops have focused on Social Justice Communications and Social Media; Persuasive Public Speaking for Lay Audiences (i.e., focused on community outreach as opposed to oral arguments); Fundraising; and Legislative Advocacy. Public Interest Fellows receive first priority in enrolling in these workshops due to the limited slots.