Law Students Discuss Pro Bono Requirement

While the Law School's faculty gears up to debate the merits of requiring students to do pro bono work, about 30 law students gathered for a public form last night to discuss how such a measure could be implemented.

Most of the students at the forum, which was moderated by Thomas J. Samuelian, president of the Law School Council, said that it should be a vital part of a legal education to have students do unpaid legal work in the public sector.

Implementing such a requirement would send "a message from the University indicating that pro bono work is not just what people do to be nice, but a responsibility of being a member of this profession," said Sandy D. Hauser, a third-year law student who sits on a joint student-faculty public interest advisory committee.

The school's current debate about the role of public interest law in its curriculum was sparked approximately one year ago, when Dean Robert C. Clark--citing budgetary constraints--announced that he was firing the school's lone public interest career counselor.

But after several faculty members joined student-led protests, Clark appointed a joint student-faculty committee to examine the role of public interest issues in the curriculum.

Among other initiatives, a majority of the committee recommended instituting some form of a pro bono requirement, a measure which was also supported by a narrow majority of students in a school-wide referendum last year.

Earlier this year, Clark reinstituted a public interest career counseling office and appointed Professor of Law Christopher F. Edley to direct the school's public interest operations.

But Clark's decision on the pro bono requirement is being put on hold until the school's faculty discusses the issue later this month.

At last night's forum, the discussion centered on the several ways by which students might fulfill the proposed pro bono requirement.

Hauser outlined the options detailed in the advisory committee's current proposal. She said the options include participation in student volunteer groups, clinical courses, summer employment or a resource bank that will keep track of outside opportunities.