Looking to be an effective advocate for legislative and policy reforms?

Begin your public interest career…

The Public Interest J.D. (PIJD) benefits students who are interested in criminal law, environmental law, human rights law, racial justice, immigration law, anti-discrimination law, and other legal careers related to public interest and social justice. You will be empowered to be an effective advocate who can harness your law degree to work for legislative and policy reforms and to serve marginalized and underrepresented clients and causes.

Milestones

Unlike a traditional certificate program, successful completion will be based on milestones, not classes. Students need to demonstrate that they have completed certain benchmark experiences, such as:

• Interview an individual client under the supervision of an attorney, and prepare a summary and legal analysis
• Attend a judicial proceeding that is directly related to a client’s case
• Draft a document that can be used to expose a significant problem
• Participate in an advocacy campaign
• Evaluate, discuss, and propose resolution of an actual or simulated ethical issue
• Participate in a cross-disciplinary team
• Attend a meeting of a legislative or policy-making body

The PIJD Program is enhanced by its collaboration with Santa Clara Law’s Center for Social Justice and Public Service. The Center, dedicated to promoting social justice through law, offers events and learning opportunities that enrich our students’ academic experience. These include speakers on current social justice issues, the Spring Break Border Service Project, the Second Chances and Empathy Hackathon, and summer grants for students working in government offices and nonprofit organizations. law.scu.edu/socialjustice

MW

I deeply value the practical experience I was able to gain in various public interest roles while a student at Santa Clara Law, but what I treasure most is the connections I made with like-minded students who found their home at Santa Clara.
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Marina Wiant, VP of Government Affairs, California Housing Consortium

DZ

The class I took with then Santa Clara County Counsel Ann Ravel on affecting social change through local government led me to an internship with the Office of the County Counsel and propelled me into a career in government service. The Social Justice & Public Service Program at Santa Clara Law inspired me to develop a passion for government and social justice, leading me to service in the federal government, the Obama Administration, several local jurisdictions, and ultimately back to my home of San Jose to serve my community in the City Attorney's Office.
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Daniel Zazueta (‘10), Deputy City Attorney, City of San Jose

SA

Santa Clara continuously offered me opportunities to further explore my interest in public international law through externship opportunities, the international human rights clinic, and the curriculum. These opportunities equipped me to continue to pursue a career in public international law after graduating.
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Sophia Areias (‘14), Director with the Global Business Initiative on Human Rights.

Current Students

• For an overview of the PIJD program, review the program elements document here.
• For detailed graduation requirements, including deadlines, refer to this document.
• A detailed chart of the different potential milestone experiences as well as required proof of completion can be found here.
• A generic Milestone submission/signature form can be found here.
• The Academic Plan submission form can be found here.
• The Career Plan submission form can be found here.
• A list of qualifying experiential classes can be found here.
• The list of courses that satisfy the PIJD graduation requirement is identical to the list of courses for the Social Justice graduation certificate. That list of courses can be found here.
• A PIJD Graduation Application form can be found here.

Please note: completed forms, proof of milestones, and graduation applications must be emailed to publicinterstjd@scu.edu prior to relevant deadlines.

Public Interest Alumni

Santa Clara Law has an impressive network of alumni working in the government and nonprofit sectors at the local, state, national, and international levels. Many of those alumni are committed to helping our current Public Interest J.D. students launch their careers in public interest law. Here is a small sample of the government and public interest organizations where SCU alumni are employed: