[Ed. Note: Expert Opinion” is a weekly feature which offers insight , opinion, and career advice from attorneys in a broad array of public interest positions.  This week’s post features Q&A with Professor Emily Benfer of the Loyola University School of Law.]

Emily A. Benfer is a Clinical Professor of Law and the founding Director of the Health Justice Project a medical-legal partnership at at Loyola University Chicago School of Law, Beazley Institute for Health Law and Policy.  Professor Benfer has dedicated her career to serving the public interest. She was a legal intern for Judge David Hamilton, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, the Indiana Protective Order Pro Bono Project, and the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless. She received an Arnold & Porter Equal Justice Works Fellowship to implement the advocacy and litigation strategy that she designed in order to represent, and improve the District’s response to, homeless families, children and youth. She then represented preschool aged children with disabilities in a successful class action against the District of Columbia. As a Staff Attorney and Teaching Fellow in the Georgetown University Law Center Federal Legislation and Administrative Clinic, she supervised and mentored law students on an array of legislative advocacy projects.

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Can you give us a brief outline of how you got to the job you are in today? Was this position what you originally planned on doing, or was your career trajectory part of an evolving process?

After serving as a Peace Corps volunteer, I worked as a paralegal at New Haven Legal Assistance Association, Inc. in Connecticut. In both experiences, I confronted poverty, injustice and inequality and I gained a better understanding of the skills and strategies necessary to cause social change. I determined to develop and employ these skills in an effort to ensure social justice. At the time, I thought this meant working in the trenches and advocating for clients. I quickly learned that there is no one right way to tackle injustice and that, in order to be truly effective, one must become a lifelong learner and gather and hone skills throughout one’s career.

Toward that end, I am drawn to professional opportunities that will challenge me to expand my skillset to become a more effective advocate. During my career, I have represented individual clients, organized, and passed local legislation (as an Equal Justice Works Fellow at the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless). I responded to patterns of injustice by gaining experience in class action litigation (at a public interest firm where I successfully represented a class of students with disabilities). I learned about and contributed to public policy creation and the federal legislative process (as a Supervising Attorney and Teaching Fellow at Georgetown Law Center’s Federal Legislation Clinic). 

As a Teaching Fellow at Georgetown Law Center, I recognized the importance of mentoring and teaching the next generation of public interest lawyers. As a Clinical Professor of Law, I am able to simultaneously respond to social injustice in our communities while encouraging others to join in the effort by supporting and training law students.

What internships or activities did you complete in law school that helped prepare you for this position?

Logging over 800 hours, I took advantage of every pro bono opportunity offered by the law school. These cases gave me hands on experience and better prepared me to represent clients and develop the attorney-client relationship immediately after earning a law degree. I served as a law clerk at the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, the Protective Order Pro Bono Program, United States District Court, Southern District of Indiana.

In addition, I served in leadership positions in law school organizations and on local and national boards of directors. These experiences provided me with insight about organizational management, coalition building, and perspective on nationwide approaches to injustice.

How did your contacts with previous employers, professors, and colleagues influence your job search, if any?

I have asked and followed the advice of my mentors (previous employers, professors and colleagues) throughout my career trajectory. It is incredibly important to seek out and build relationships with people who have similar goals and greater experience. They need not be lawyers but they should believe in a similar mission. Among the most fulfilling and important relationships in my life are those with my mentors. They have challenged me, inspired me, guided me, shaped my ethics, expanded my ambitions, and provided sage advice. They are exemplary heroes.

Would you change your preparation for this position in any way if you had the chance?

I would have enrolled in a clinic during law school.

Thanks, Emily!