Cherry blossoms in front of a wrought iron gate featuring the Columbia crown

Celebrating Public Interest at Columbia

On April 22, 2025, the Office of Public Interest/Public Service Law and Careers celebrated members of the Class of 2025 who showed exceptional dedication to public interest or public service law while at the Law School. We also honored 2025 Distinguished Columbia Law School Graduate and keynote speaker Patricia Okonta '18, formerly assistant counsel at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and now with the Public Justice Student’s Civil Rights Project. 

The honorees included 219 3Ls and LL.M.s who demonstrated their commitment to justice through pro bono, summer work, leadership positions, public interest engagements, racial justice advocacy, their postgraduate plans, and more.

We are proud of these honorees! We can't wait to see how they change the world.

Photo of Daniel Abebe, Patricia Okonta, and Erica Smock at the 2025 Honors Reception.
Patricia Okonta '18  (center), Distinguished Graduate for 2025 , with Daniel Abebe (left), Law School Dean and Lucy G. Moses Professor of Law, and Erica Smock '95 (right), dean of the Office of Public Interest/Public Service Law and Careers, at the Public Interest Honors Reception, May 2025.