Law Schools Amp Up Pro Bono & Externship Opportunities for Students

The law schools at Duke, UNC Chapel Hill and the University of Virginia are all expanding opportunities for their students to get real-world legal experience by offering new pro bono and externship programs.

Duke University and UNC Chapel Hill’s law schools have partnered up to create the Cancer Pro Bono Legal Program, a project that sends volunteer law students to both the Duke Cancer Center and the the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center – in both cases to help patients create power of attorney documents. Supervised by licensed attorneys, participating law students will also host monthly seminars on topics relevant to patients with chronic illnesses. The Cancer Pro Bono Legal Program launched last Friday.

The University of Virginia School of Law has redesigned their program to include three new types of externships that will launch in the fall. Students can: earn a full semester of credit by working for a local, national or international government or non-profit agency; earn course credit by working part-time in Virginia; or participate in the “UVA Law in DC” program, which will allow students to spend a semester working full-time in Washington, D.C. for a government or non-profit agency for academic credit.

As law students struggle to compete in today’s job market, these expanded opportunities to gain practical legal knowledge are much-needed. In addition to hands-on experience, students also benefit from academic seminars that reinforce what they are learning in the office. Cheers to UVA, Duke and UNC Chapel Hill law schools for creating more opportunities for public interest law students!