Fostering a Community
Public Service Opportunities
School of Law Public Service
Serving others during your time in law school will ensure that you remain a member of the broader community and foster your commitment to pro bono work throughout your legal career.
At St. Thomas Law, we recognize that lawyers are in a strong position to effect positive institutional and social change. As such, we expect and encourage all law students to explore a variety of ways their interests, skills and talents can best serve the public. As a requirement for graduation, all J.D. students must complete 50 hours of public service during law school.
Public Service Board
A Public Service Board of current students and administrators oversees the public service program. It collects and distributes information about public service opportunities, maintains the online logging system, determines whether particular activities constitute approved public service and keeps records of approved public service performed by law students.
Examples of Public Service Work
Many different types of service will count toward the hours needed for the graduation requirement, including pro bono public legal work and non-legal volunteer projects that help those in need. Here are some examples:
- Pack meals with Feed My Starving Children
- Client intake for the Volunteer Lawyer’s Network
- Assemble hygiene packs for the United Way
- Correspond with inmates through the Prison Pen Pal program
- Deliver dinners for Meals on Wheels
- Build and repair homes with Habitat for Humanity
- Advocate through the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota
- Tutor students online through Learn to Be
- Identify and map racial restrictions for Mapping Prejudice
- Staff a legal hotline for low-income renters for Home Line MN