Grace Powell and Mariette Peltier are second-year students at the University of Virginia School of Law. Prior to law school, Grace worked as a Community Intake Advocate at the Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem for three years—an experience which inspired her to attend law school to become a public defender. During college, Mariette interned for… Continue reading Courtroom Adversaries, Classroom Friends
Author: law&publicservice
From Former UN Ambassadors to Dinosaurs: Why IRAP’s Student-led Model Gets it Right
The IRAP-tor with one of the winning school chapters “Sarah, you have to let it go.” My supervisor slowly took the file I was holding out of my hand as I gave her a sheepish smile. It was the last day of my 1L summer internship at the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP) and… Continue reading From Former UN Ambassadors to Dinosaurs: Why IRAP’s Student-led Model Gets it Right
Getting Radical in the South
This fall I flew to Austin, Texas to attend the GRITS Conference hosted by the University of Texas School of Law. GRITS stands for Getting Radical in the South, which is both a brilliant acronym and an important mantra that, I feel, is equally relevant and necessary here in Virginia. The conference featured practitioners across… Continue reading Getting Radical in the South
An Adventurous Summer in Alaska: In and Out of the Courtroom
Interested in public defense? Intern in Alaska. Not interested in public defense? Visit Alaska. Applying for jobs for my 2L summer, I wanted to get the most experience I could in the courtroom. I had no idea where I would want to end up post-graduation (and still don’t), so I knew it would be best… Continue reading An Adventurous Summer in Alaska: In and Out of the Courtroom
A Common Quest for Justice: The Value of the LPS Community for a Student with Niche Public-Interest Goals
Admittedly, my public interest career aspirations are niche. So niche, that when I tell people I aim to eventually work in the Jewish communal advocacy sector they often have no idea what I am referring to. Thus, before I share the genesis of my career goals, I must elaborate on the sector itself. While the… Continue reading A Common Quest for Justice: The Value of the LPS Community for a Student with Niche Public-Interest Goals
Exploring Career Paths in the “and more” Category
For better or worse, an inherent part of the aspiring public interest lawyer’s path is to go against the grain of the typical law school experience and be at least a bit off-kilter from the vast majority of your peers. But as “public interest” is certainly not a one-size-fits-all career path, I have found myself… Continue reading Exploring Career Paths in the “and more” Category
A Letter to Our Fellows
Below is a letter addressed to the Fellows of our Program from our outgoing student Co-Presidents, Maya Iyyani ‘18 and Jeremy Bennie ‘18 For the last year the two of us have had the privilege and pleasure of serving as Co-Presidents of the Program in Law and Public Service. With graduation approaching quickly, we are filled… Continue reading A Letter to Our Fellows
Child Advocacy in Action
I love law school, but at times it’s easy to feel isolated from the real world amid all of the studying. By the time March of my first year rolled around, more hands-on experience was exactly what I needed so I participated in Alternative Spring Break this year at the Council for Children’s Rights in… Continue reading Child Advocacy in Action
Do UVA Law’s Alternative Spring Break, Just Not for the Reason I Did
I will admit it. I was not excited for UVA Law’s Alternative Spring Break (ASB). I had signed up for less than altruistic reasons. Namely, I had registered because it seemed like an efficient way to knock out the forty hours of pro bono needed to receive a Public Interest Law Association grant for the… Continue reading Do UVA Law’s Alternative Spring Break, Just Not for the Reason I Did
A Week at Public Defender Service in DC
I came into law school completely certain that I was going to be a public service lawyer. I had absolutely zero exposure or experience to public service lawyering, however. Though I had a large collection of community service hours, mostly centered around working with kids in impoverished, inner city communities (my motivation for attending law… Continue reading A Week at Public Defender Service in DC
