Part
of the Law School's Student
Bar Association (SBA), the Public Interest Committee is made up
of law students dedicated to achieving public interest goals,
including providing legal counsel to people with limited
means in a range of matters, including:
- Immigration
- Domestic Violence
- Child Advocacy
- Family Court Mediation
- Death Penalty Advocacy
- Community Service
Collaborating with various public interest organizations, the
Law School administration and the Office of Career Services, the
Committee coordinates on-campus panel presentations, fundraisers
and social events. Our pillar event is the annual Public Interest
Auction co-sponsored with the Law School's Public
Interest Center. Started in1997 by students, faculty and
alumni, the Auction draws the entire law school community for an
evening of fun for a cause. Participants donate money and/or a
variety of items that attendees bid on at silent and live
auctions.
The Committee also encourages student involvement in public
interest organizations where they can provide legal information to
clients under practice orders or with attorney supervision. Among
other organizations, we maintain relationships with the Courtroom
Advocates Project (CAP), where students advocate for victims of
domestic violence in New York City's Integrated Domestic Violence
courts and Project Fair, where students provide legal assistance to
public assistance, food stamp, and Medicaid recipients in "fair
hearings" throughout New York City. We also partner with the
Student Hurricane Network (SHN) to send students on an annual
spring service trip to lend legal assistance to victims of
Hurricane Katrina. Throughout the school year, students work from
the Law School to ease the civil system backlog in the region
Katrina
What is Public Interest Law?
Attorneys involved in the field of public interest law work
to provide legal counsel for the poor, the elderly and those of
limited means, in areas such as immigration, domestic violence,
child advocacy, family court mediation, death penalty advocacy, and
community service.
What is the Public Interest Fellowship
program?
The
Public Interest Fellowship Program provides stipends for St.
John’s law students who work during the summer in qualifying Public
Interest positions that would normally be unpaid. The summer
fellowships affords students the opportunity to serve or advocate
for the poor, disadvantaged, marginalized, or underrepresented
members of society. In the past, fellowship recipients have worked
as close as Jamaica, Queens and as far away as Calcutta, India.
The Fellowship program also provides funds to help defray the
cost of students representing St. John’s on the annual Student
Hurricane Network’s Gulf Coast Service Trip. Fellowship funds
also support St. John’s Loan Repayment Assistance Program, which
provides graduates who accept positions in the public interest
sector with funds to lessen their post-graduate debt balance.
2012-13 Officers
Co-Chairs
Danielle Kasten
danielle.kasten@gmail.com
Lena Martinez-Watts
lena.martinez.watts@gmail.com
Elizabeth Mastropolo
e.mastropolo@gmail.com
Joseph Torda
josephtorda@gmail.com
Faculty Advisor
Rachel Andron