Students Taking Pro Bono Pledge
All five of Michigan's law schools emphasize the duty of attorneys to provide their skills and service to promote the public good and assist the poor. Three schools, University of Michigan Law School, Western Michigan University Cooley Law School, and Wayne State University Law School encourage their prospective attorneys to take the next step and pledge their time and service to help those less fortunate while in law school.
The University of Michigan Law School’s pro bono pledge asks all students to commit to provide at least 50 hours of service over their law school career – 10 of which need to be provided while classes are in session. The benefit of this requirement is two-fold, according to Professor Amy Sankaran, Director of Externship and Pro Bono Programs at the law school. First, it helps the students learn to balance the requirements of pro bono service with rigorous academic (and later professional) life. Second, it provides service to the communities surrounding the law school, making an impact in the local area. In this summer’s graduating class, 69 students completed all the required service, while nearly 200 students per year report pro bono service. Students fulfilling the pro bono pledge receive a certificate signed by the dean, and recognition at an Honors Convocation.
Wayne State University Law School strongly encourages law students to take the pro bono pledge, which asks them to commit to at least 50 hours of public service during their time in law school. Since the program began in 2010, Diane Fears, Director of Career Services and the Student Voluntary Pro Bono Program, has seen 78 students successfully complete the program. To qualify, the student must provide legal services to low income or underserved communities under the supervision of a licensed attorney. During the service, students log their time and type of service, which is attested by the supervising attorney. Students who complete the program receive the Warrior Pro Bono Award during the annual Honors Convocation. Fears said she sees a wide variety of students taking the pledge, not just those dreaming of working in the public interest sector, but also students aiming to work at large firms or hoping to become in-house counsel.
Western Michigan University Cooley Law School’s pro bono pledge doesn’t require a specific time requirement like Wayne or U of M. Instead, the pledge is to complete one pro bono experience per year while in law school, and also commit to future service in accordance with their future state’s expectations. A pro bono experience could be volunteering with a legal service organization or participating in one of the school’s numerous clinics. Dean Charles Toy says that by having students take the pledge, it encourages them to think about the privilege of being an attorney and the duty to help others, and instills early the pro bono drive, which continues after graduation.
All three of these schools indicated that many students far exceed the minimum requirement, and that students continue to provide pro bono services after graduation, as full members of the bar.
While not every Michigan law school has a pro bono pledge program, they all provide staff and services to support and promote the duty of public service through legal clinics, organized school service projects, and through student encouragement. Most of Michigan’s law schools require a term of service though an in-house legal clinic or outside externship, which provide services to underprivileged populations while introducing students to the value of service as they gain real-world legal experience.
(Jeffrey Barker, Lynn Ingram, and Robert Mathis contributed to this story.)