Public Works

Interested in Pro Bono work at private law firms?

The Virginia Law Pro Bono Program will present a unique opportunity on March 12, 2009 for students  interested in pro bono work at private law firms. Gregory A. McConnell (bio) Director of Public Interest Law and Pro Bono Counsel at Winston & Strawn LLP and Marc R. Kadish (bio), Director of Pro Bono Activities and Litigation Training for Mayer Brown, both oversee the pro bono activities of their respective firms and will be on hand to offer 30-minute informational sessions to students who have questions about pro bono work in law firms and how that work can influence their careers. These will NOT be interviews for employment opportunities.

Students who would like the opportunity to meet with Mr. McConnell and Mr. Kadish should submit a statement of interest to lawprobono@virginia.edu by Tuesday, March 10, at 5:00pm. Students selected for an informational session, will be contacted by the Public Service Center to arrange a meeting time. Please note, informational sessions will be scheduled around a student's classes.

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Buffett Fellowships for Summer 2009

The Center for Children, Families, and the Law is now accepting applications for Buffett Fellowships for Children the Summer of 2009. Graduate Students of any discipline (Law, Education, Economics, Psychology, etc.) at the University of Virginia who are planning to be involved in applied work in the topic area of children and families in need are welcome to apply. 

A listing of past and present fellows is available on the CCFL website. Although not predetermined, there are a limited number of fellowships available for law students for the Summer of 2009.

Applicants are encouraged to think broadly and creatively in applying for the Buffett fellowships. Examples of appropriate applied activity include law students working in public service settings and representing children and/or families, or clinical psychology graduate students working as therapists with children and/or families in need.

Less obvious but still appropriate applications might include: economics or business students who plan to assist a child welfare or family agency with fund raising or financial management, or sociology graduate students who plan to help to mobilize volunteers or garner community support for a family or child advocacy initiative. Innovation is encouraged in thinking broadly about applied work with children and families.

Applicants are asked to submit: resume, description of the project, and a letter from a faculty member or other individual willing to supervise the practical experience.

Please visit the CCFL website for more information on the specific application requirements.

Applications will be accepted at any time, but suggested guidelines are: immediately for any ongoing practicum; April 1 for the summer. Determinations of awards will be made within one month of receipt of applications.

Submit applications to:

Erin Horn,Center for Children, Families, and the Law
Department of Psychology
University of Virginia
102 Gilmer Hall
PO Box 400400
Charlottesville, VA 22904-4400

Recipients of the Buffett Fellowships will be expected to contact the donor directly (in the form of a letter) before and following the fellowship, and are encouraged to take part in other Center activities. Questions about the fellowships or application procedures should be directed to Center Director, Robert Emery, or the Center Administrator, Erin Horn.

National Black Prosecutors Association Annual Job Fair, July 21, 2009

The National Black Prosecutors Association (NBPA) is pleased to announce its upcoming Annual Job Fair on Tuesday, July 21, 2009 at the Marriot Memphis Downtown in Memphis, Tennessee. 

The goal of the National Black Prosecutors Association’s (NBPA) Job Fair is to promote diversity in prosecutors’ offices by providing a forum where law students, recent law graduates, and experienced attorneys from across the nation can meet and interview with prospective prosecutorial employers at the local, state, and federal levels.The NBPA, established in 1983, is a professional member organization comprised of over 800 prosecutors. NBPA's mission is to recruit, train, and advance the careers of minority attorneys as prosecutors at all levels of government. It's annual convention serves, not only as a job fair forum, but as a comprehensive legal training program for prosecutors. 

Attached is a letter containing more information about the Job Fair, as well as the applicant registration form and a list of employers who have participated in past Job Fairs.

Download NBPA Job Fair Prospective Participant Letter

Download NBPA List of Participating Employers

Download Applicant Registration Form 2009

For more information, visit the NBPA website.

PSLawNet: The Online Resource for Public Service Legal Careers

Still looking for internship or permanent opportunities in the public interest? Search among thousands of opportunities and employer organization profiles on Public Service Law Network (“PSLawNet”), an invaluable resource for students interested in public interest opportunities.

The online database boasts internships, fellowships, and permanent positions in addition to 11,000 organizational profiles for employers across varied public interest fields and locations. Moreover, PSLawNet offers several extremely helpful tools for registered users making the search for public interest opportunities easier than ever.

Found something but not ready to act on it? Flag and store opportunities and profiles for later viewing. Still searching? Receive email alerts containing newly posted opportunities that match your preselected criteria.

How to Register for PSLawNet?  As a Virginia Law student, you can create a PSLawNet account for free. Registering is quick and easy. Visit the homepage and click on “Job Seekers.”  After filling out your contact information, PSLawNet will send you an email with a link to activate your account and you will have thousands of public service opportunities at your fingertips.

Social Justice Jobs in Community Organizing Available to UVA Graduating Students and Alums!

The Direct Action & Research Training (DART) Center is now accepting applications for the 2009 DART Organizers Institute, the paid, four-month field school for people interested in launching a career in community organizing. 

DART will be on UVA grounds on Thursday, March 12 at 7:00 p.m. at St. Marks Lutheran Church, 100 Alderman, (across the street from grounds) to discuss careers in the field of community organizing, and to schedule interviews with students interested in empowering their communities and working for social change.

Please RSVP by contacting Sunil Joy at sunil@thedartcenter.org or calling 785.841.2680 with your name, phone number, and email address. 

Participants will undergo a combined classroom and field training covering such topics as entering a community, Identifying and training local leaders, Strategic planning and issue cutting, Relationship and community building, Direct Action on community issues, and Fundraising

The DART Center, has built coalitions throughout the country that have won important victories on a broad set of justice issues including: Education reform in low-performing public schools, Job Training,  Drugs and Violence, Criminal Recidivism, Living Wage, Neighborhood Revitalization, Predatory Lending, Affordable Housing, etc.

The DART Organizers Institute combines a 7-day classroom orientation with 15 weeks of infield training at a DART host organization. This is a paid training program that includes: a $7,000 living stipend, transportation to the classroom orientation and host city, and mileage reimbursement during the infield training. Room, board, and tuition will also be paid by DART during the 7-day classroom training. After successful completion of the program, DART will work to place graduates into permanent full time salaried positions ranging from ($27-30,000/year for Associate Organizers and $30-34,000 for Lead Organizers). 

Graduates from the four month DART Organizers Institute have gone onto accept Executive Director and Associate Community Organizing positions throughout the country.

The 7-day classroom orientation and 15 week infield training starts July 12, 2009 and runs through November 7, 2009. Training locations will include placements in several states around the country.

Although it may be helpful, no direct experience is necessary. Organizer Trainees (OTs) hired to participate in the DART Organizers Institute must demonstrate a desire to pursue community organizing as a long-term professional career. A master's degree or similar life experience is preferred though unnecessary. Candidates must have a college degree or be graduating prior to June 1, 2009. 

Also, candidates must display a workmanlike diligence, be driven to produce sustained results, have proven capacity to build relationships of trust, create and execute a plan, act professionally, feel comfortable working with religious institutions, be accountable and willing to hold others accountable, demonstrate disciplined thought and action, and work in a team setting.  OTs must also have access to a car during their training and be flexible regarding relocation. Fluency in Spanish/English is a plus and people of color are encouraged to apply.

To find out more about DART or to apply, we encourage you to send your resume to: Sunil Joy, DART Network, 820 New York Street Lawrence, KS 66044 or by email: sunil@thedartcenter.org. If you have any questions, please call: (785) 841-2680. Also, you can download applications or view profiles from previous OTs at the DART website.

Students may also wish to download the attached flier (pdf), which contains more details on the information session: Download Community Organizers Wanted @ UVA.

Pro Bono Opportunity with Charlottesville Civil Rights Attorneys

Two civil rights attorneys in Charlottesville are seeking two students to work on a pro bono project involving claims under the Americans with Disabilities Act.  Volunteers will conduct legal research on ADA claims for blind prisoners and factual research on accommodations for blind prisoners.

The hours are flexible and the project is expected to be completed by mid-March. 

To Apply:  Interested students should submit a resume and short statement of interest to lawprobono@virginia.edu by Monday, February 23, 2009, at 5:00 pm.

This project satisfies the 75-hour Pro Bono Challenge.

2009 Public Interest Interview Week: List of Employers

The list of employers for the 2009 Public Interest Interview Week is available here:

Download 2009 Public Interest Interview Week - Employer Table

2009 Public Interest Interview Week - Final Update

The interview schedules for the 2009 Virginia Law Public Interest Interview Week are now accessible on Symplicity. To see your interviews, log-in to Symplicity and click the “OCI” tab. The On-Campus Interviews screen will come up and you should select the “Scheduled Interviews” tab. Change the session to “2009 Public Interest Interview Week” and all of your interviews for the Interview Week will be displayed in table form with the date, time, and location provided. Please note: the interview schedules are subject to change over the next few days, so make sure you check your schedule the evening before your interview to verify the room number and time.  

Cancellation: Since the cancellation deadline has already passed, you will no longer be able to cancel an interview unless you have already accepted another offer or have an emergency.  If either of these situations occur, you must notify the Public Service Center immediately by sending an e-mail to publicservicelaw@virginia.edu to allow us to either schedule in an alternate candidate or to inform the employer of the absence.

Additional Materials: Some employers attending the Interview Week may require students to present additional materials at the time of the interview. The Public Service Center highly recommends that all students bring a copy of their resume, law school and undergraduate transcripts (unofficial is fine), as well as a writing sample to each of their interviews. Students who have received an interview with an employer who has requested additional materials will receive an email from Symplicity describing the required materials. The following attached document, Download 2009 Public Interest Interview Week - Employer Requested Materials, also lists which employers have specifically requested additional materials. 

Please feel free to contact the Public Service Center if you have questions. Good luck with your interviews.

Pro Bono Opportunity with a Washington, DC Attorney

An attorney in Washington, DC is seeking one 2L or 3L volunteer to research constitutional law issues involving petitioning the government for redress when a contractual agreement prohibited a franchisee from discussing matters surrounding termination.

The student should be a second or third year student who has taken Constitutional law courses.  The estimated time commitment for the project is five-ten hours per week, and the project must be completed by June 1, 2009.

To apply:  Interested students should submit a resume and short statement of interest to lawprobono@virginia.edu by Monday, March 2, 2009 at 5:00 pm.

This project satisfies the 75-hour Pro Bono Challenge.

U.S. Department of Treasury: Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN)

James H. Freis, Jr., Esq., Director of Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) of the Department of Treasury, will speak at a brown-bag session at the Law School on Monday, February 16, 2009, in SL258, between 11:45 and 12:45.  Mr. Feis will discuss his responsibilities at FinCEN and will offer advice about careers in government service and international law. 

This Public Service Center event is co-sponsored by J.B. Moore Society of International Law and the Virginia Journal of International Law. We hope to see as many of you as possible.

Mr. Freis's biography:

James H. Freis, Jr. was appointed Director of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) by Treasury Secretary Paulson on March 5, 2007. As Director, Mr. Freis will oversee FinCEN’s efforts as administrator of the Bank Secrecy Act to establish and implement policies to detect and prevent money laundering and terrorist financing, as well as support the law enforcement, regulatory and intelligence communities through the sharing and analysis of financial intelligence.

Mr. Freis brings to FinCEN extensive experience in both the international and domestic arenas. Before this appointment Mr. Freis served in the Treasury Department as Deputy Assistant General Counsel for Enforcement and Intelligence, providing legal support to the Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, including supervising legal counsel to FinCEN, the Office of Foreign Assets Control, and the Treasury Executive Office for Asset Forfeiture. He was also responsible for developing international financial measures against rogue states.

Before coming to Treasury, Mr. Freis served as Senior Counsel in the Legal Service of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) in Basel, Switzerland, where he supported the banking, risk control, and compliance departments in providing financial services to central banks and international organizations for management of monetary reserves. He also had regular interaction with the Basel-based committees of experts setting international financial standards.

 Mr. Freis previously served in the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's (FRBNY) legal department, where he advised on payment and settlement systems issues at wholesale and retail levels, administration of foreign government and central bank accounts, and legislative and regulatory reform. He was part of the successful defense of the Bank before the Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal in The Hague with respect to the management of Iranian funds during the hostage crisis. Mr. Freis also spent one year working in Germany with the Federal Banking Supervisory Authority and in a commercial bank.

Mr. Freis earned his Juris Doctorate from Harvard Law School and his bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University, graduating with honors from each institution. He has authored several law review articles on international financial issues and has taken graduate coursework in economics at New York University. During his student days he also worked as a teller at a bank in New Jersey.

He is an attorney-at-law and a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) charterholder. He is a member of the American Bar Association as well as a member of, and former secretary to, the Committee on International Monetary Law of the International Law Association (MOCOMILA). He is the recipient of the Treasury Secretary’s Honor Award, received recognition for outstanding service to the BIS, and was the recipient of the FRBNY President’s Awards for Excellence. Mr. Freis currently resides in Washington, DC with his wife and two children