National Jurist - November 2008 - (Page 23) By Michelle Weyenberg “We’re not grooming you to be Wall Street lawyers,” said Elena Kagan, dean of Harvard Law School, after being awarded the 2008 John R. Kramer Outstanding Law Dean Award from Equal Justice Works in August. “We’re grooming you to change the world.” Today, more students want to work in the public interest field than in the last 15 years. By the time these students are getting to law school, many are already infected with the “public interest bug,” said David Stern, chief executive officer for Equal Justice Works. Frankly, word has gotten back to students that lawyers are unhappy in private practice. These students want to have a rewarding, balanced life and make a difference on pressing problems. Like others in the field today, Stern is a self-described diehard public interest type. “I knew I was going to pursue public service with my law degree,” he said. “Even so, while in law school I felt the pressure of the private sector, especially with law firms recruiting on campus. In contrast, finding and securing a public interest job was a lot of work.” The stereotype of someone working in public interest law16 years ago was that the person couldn’t cut it at the big firm, Stern said. Today, the competition for public interest jobs is fierce, and those who win prestigious public interest fellowships are singled out and celebrated for their achievements. “We celebrate those who are choosing public interest work,” he said. “A change in the profession is seeing the caliber of people who want to go into this area.” While exploring how law schools have gotten better at improving public interest law programs, we’ll examine what resources are available to students, the current trends and the top schools for public interest law. November 2008 THE NATIONAL JURIST 23
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