Public Interest/Public Service Employers

Work with us to find students with the talent, insight, and dedication to help you serve the public good.

The Office of Public Interest/Public Service Law and Careers (PI/PS Office) is Columbia Law School’s hub for public service work, connecting students and graduates with postgraduate and summer employment, fellowships, pro bono, and research projects. A wide variety of nonprofits, governmental bodies, and private firms around the world have chosen to work with us. We hope you will join them.

  • Public interest and government employers looking to hire our students and alumni or host them as postgraduate fellows should consult the “Jobs Postings” and "Interview Programs" tabs.
  • Agencies, organizations, and firms seeking pro bono project assistance from our students should consult the “Pro Bono Assistance” tab.
  • Public interest and government employers seeking information on summer funding should consult the “Columbia Summer Funding” tab. 

Please do not hesitate to contact us if we can be of assistance. For private sector corporate job opportunities, please contact the Office of Private Sector Careers. For judicial clerkships, please contact the Office of Judicial Careers.

 

Processes and Guidelines for Employers

If you would like to share information about a public sector opportunity, please reach out to the PI/PS Office. Include a brief description of your organization as well as a more detailed description of relevant job details (including responsibilities, eligibility, salary, expected length of employment, and application instructions). Also, be sure to review the policies and guidelines tab on this page.

To post private sector job opportunities, please contact the Office of Private Sector Careers.

The Office of Public Interest/Public Service Law and Careers hosts two virtual "on-campus" interview programs. Currently, all interview programs take place online.

Fall Public Sector OCI

  • For public interest and government employers, including private public interest firms, seeking 2Ls and 3Ls for summer and postgraduate jobs. 
  • Employers may screen applications and choose who they want to interview. (Prescreening is only available for public interest or government employers.)
  • Employer registration generally occurs in June. Interviews are held between late August and early October.

Spring OCI 

  • For employers seeking 1Ls, 2Ls, and 3Ls for summer and postgraduate jobs. 
  • Interviews are assigned by lottery; employers cannot prescreen applicants.
  • Employer registration generally occurs in December. Interviews are held from January to March.

To learn more about these programs, please contact Rebecca Hinde in the Office of Public Interest/Public Service Law and Careers. All employers must have a Symplicity account to participate in OCI. If you don't have an account yet, please create one before contacting Rebecca Hinde.

If you are a public interest employer and would like to speak with someone at the PI/PS Office about a postgraduate opportunity at your organization, please contact:

Emily Harris
Director of Public Interest Lawyering and Strategic Initiatives
[email protected]

If you are a government employer and would like to speak with someone at the PI/PS Office about a postgraduate opportunity at your organization, please contact:

Alex Hogan
Director of Government Programs
[email protected]

To post private sector corporate job opportunities, please visit the resources for employers provided by the Office of Private Sector Careers.

To post clerkship opportunities, please contact the Office of Judicial Careers.

 

Our students often exceed their mandated pro bono service requirement. Here's how to work with them in New York City and beyond.

The PI/PS Office distributes new pro bono postings to students throughout the entire year on a weekly basis. Both offices and organizations that already have an established relationship with our office, as well as offices and organizations that are new to the Columbia Pro Bono Program, can submit discrete pro bono projects for posting.

If you have ideas for student projects, whether they are research-oriented or direct service in nature, please contact the PI/PS Office's pro bono team at [email protected]. A pro bono program staff member will help you flesh out project specifics and discuss distributing the opportunity to our students. Interested students will then contact you directly.

All pro bono projects must meet the following four criteria:

  1. Law-related: The project requires knowledge of the law for completion.
  2. Supervised by an attorney (either directly or indirectly): The attorney supervisor will sign off on the final work product and/or a Student-Initiated Petition if needed.
  3. In the public interest: Examples include work that helps those who are under-represented, educates the public about the law, improves the legal profession, or deals with an issue of public importance from any side of the political spectrum.
  4. Uncompensated: Students may not receive any form of financial remuneration (salary, stipend, or grant) or academic credit (writing or other) for their work.

Representation on individual cases is not available through this program. In exchange for volunteer Columbia Law student legal assistance, the attorney supervisor must complete a supervisor's report provided by your student after they submit their work. 

We also suggest you include some sort of “application” in your posting—such as requests for a résumé, any specific course or experience requirements, or a 100-word statement of interest or cover letter—as well as a deadline for responses and your contact information.

Students working at a law firm may not receive credit for work done during a week in which they are being paid. Work done on behalf of paying clients at a law firm will not qualify for pro bono credit.

In addition to discrete research or other projects, offices and organizations can also advertise for unpaid term-time legal interns through our pro bono program by submitting the same information requested above to the PI/PS Office.

 

Our Columbia Summer Funding (CSF) program, one of the largest in the nation, is an integral part of preparing our students to practice public interest law. 

CSF will fund any law-related employment in the public interest, in the U.S. or abroad, that utilizes legal education and skills. The program will not fund positions consisting solely of non-law-related policy or administrative work.

“Public interest” shall be construed broadly, without regard to political orientation, and shall include nonprofit 501(c)(3) organizations, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), international criminal courts, government agencies (federal, state, municipal, and multinational), unions, judicial internships for which academic credit is not received, and in some cases, private public interest law firms.

If you are interested in hiring a Columbia Law School student as a summer intern, please consult the "Job Postings" and "Interview Programs (OCI)" tabs.

 

CSF will not fund research assistantships or work on pro bono projects of public interest law firms if the law firm does not submit proof to the PI/PS Office that (a) the student will be working solely on public interest matters and (b) the firm could not otherwise afford to pay a summer stipend.

Religious institutions (unless regarding secular activities available to the public) and membership agencies (such as a credit union, a fraternal order, or a cooperative) that are primarily for the benefit of the members of such organizations rather than the public are not eligible for this program. Likewise, work for a domestic political campaign or political party will not be funded.

 

The Human Rights Internship Program (HRIP) allows students to work in a wide range of international human rights organizations in the U.S. and around the world.

Columbia students will not receive funding unless your organization is HRIP-approved. To apply for participation in the program, email Director of Human Rights and Public International Law Kerry McLean.