Public Interest Career Development

Margaret A. Barreto-Morehouse Memorial Scholarship Endowment Fund: established in memory of Mrs. Margaret A. Barreto-Morehouse '80 to provide financial assistance to a continuing female student with the career goal of becoming a prosecutor.

Irwin N. Bloom Memorial Scholarship Endowment Fund: established in memory of Mr. Irwin N. Bloom '59 to provide financial assistance to students who have demonstrated a genuine interest and commitment to public service and government work.

Dino Hirsch Memorial Scholarship Endowment Fund: scholarships from this fund are awarded to Hispanic law students with financial need who are planning to pursue public interest careers. The endowment was established by the Coronado Street Tenants Association after they won a settlement from a negligent landlord with the assistance of Ms. Edie Sussman '81. The fund is named after the late tenant organizer who initially helped the 14 families.

Professor Douglas Salem Memorial Scholarship Endowment Fund: established by members of the Southwestern community in memory of this beloved and distinguished faculty member. Preference is given to students demonstrating academic excellence, participation in extracurricular and community activities, and financial need.

George A. Yanase Memorial Scholarship Endowment Fund: established in memory of Mr. George A. Yanase '67 by friends and members of the Yanase family. Scholarships from this fund are awarded to evening students in their final year of study who have been employed throughout their law school career and who have demonstrated an interest in public service and governmental work in the field of corporate securities law.

Happening every October in Washington DC, the Equal Justice Works Conference and Career Fair is the largest national recruitment event for public interest / public service career students and through which students can apply for academic-year, summer or postgraduate opportunities in regions from across the country – e.g. East Coast, Mid-West, South/Deep South, Pacific Northwest, and Southwestern states.

More than 180 employers will conduct formal interviews for academic-year and summer clerkships as well as postgraduate and entry-level positions with public interest, civil legal aid, and government agencies in offices from across the country. Employers also will be available to meet with students in informal “table talk” discussions. Registered student attendees also take part in workshops on public interest / public service careers, networking, resume review, mock interviews, and more.

If you are interested in competing for formal interviews, please contact Career Services or the Public Service Program as travel subsidies may be available to offset costs to attend. For information on registration and event details, please refer to the Equal Justice Works Conference and Career Fair website.

Southern California’s Public Interest / Public Sector Career Day (PICD) is one of the largest regional recruitment events in the country with more than 130 employers from private-public interest firms, public interest / civil legal aid agencies, social justice nonprofit organizations, and government agencies participating to recruit law students for summer law clerk programs and other year-round opportunities.

PICD is sponsored by the Southern California law schools – California Western, Chapman, La Verne, Loyola, Pepperdine, Southwestern, Thomas Jefferson, UCI, UCLA, University of San Diego and USC Gould School of Law.

PICD 2021 will take place on Saturday, February 20, 2021. All law students and alumni are welcome to participate in PICD. However, the formal interview component is only available to law students enrolled at a sponsoring law school. For individualized assistance and advice on how to participate in PICD 2021, please contact Southwestern’s Career Services to request an appointment with your assigned Career Services advisor.

Each spring, in partnership with a consortium of the Rocky Mountain / West Coast law schools, Southwestern co-sponsors a weekend retreat for practitioners, students, and academics to join together to discuss challenges to social justice lawyering and to provide training opportunities for public interest law students. The retreat embodies the aspirations of Trina Grillo (1948-1996), a former professor at the University of San Francisco School of Law and Santa Clara Law School, who was a dedicated social justice activist advocating against injustice, in its many forms, and toward diversity and equality. The Society of American Law Teachers (SALT) and Consortium Law Schools established the Trina Grillo Public Interest and Social Justice Law Retreat to honor her memory.

The Retreat offers public-interest minded law students an opportunity to break the isolation often experienced on respective campuses by meeting and networking with other students from around the West Coast. The Retreat provides a unique opportunity for public interest-oriented law students, faculty, staff, and practitioners to exchange substantive viewpoints, explore career opportunities and formulate strategies for social justice.

Registration is open only to students at a consortium school.  Please contact the Public Service Program for registration instructions, travel, and lodging information.

Consortium Law Schools

• Golden Gate University School of Law
• Santa Clara University School of Law
• Southwestern Law School
• Stanford Law School
• UC Berkeley School of Law
• UC Hastings College of Law
• UC Irvine School of Law
• UCLA School of Law
• University of Nevada, Las Vegas - William S. Boyd School of Law
• University of San Francisco School of Law
• University of Southern California School of Law
• University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law
• University of Washington School of Law