Public Interest Law Foundation's "Bid for Justice" Auction

February 28, 2008 (NEW YORK) – Public service opportunities for law students and local legal organizations will benefit from an auction held by Columbia Law School’s Public Interest Law Foundation (PILF). The 16th annual “Bid for Justice” auction – offering prizes from martini lessons to babysitting – takes place on March 6, 2008.

WHAT:          Columbia Public Interest Law Foundation’s
                        “Bid for Justice” Auction

WHEN:          Thursday, March 6, 2008
                        Silent Auction: 7–9:30 p.m.
                        Live Auction: 8–9 p.m.

WHERE:       Columbia University, Roone Arledge Auditorium
                         Lerner Hall, 2920 Broadway, bet. 114th & 115th Sts.
                         #1 subway to 116th Street

Media interested in covering the event should contact Sonia von Gutfeld at 212-854-1453 or [email protected].

Items up for bid include a weekend stay at Professor Peter Strauss’ weekend home in the Berkshires; martini lessons for 20 students with Professor Philip Bobbitt; a Brooklyn Cyclones baseball game with Professors John Witt and Alex Raskolnikov; and numerous other donations from Law School professors. Columbia Law School student donations range from home-cooked meals to target practice shooting, while law firm donations include iPods and iPhones. Local and national businesses also have given generously to the auction.

The evening begins with a silent auction followed by a live auction, emceed by Columbia Law School student John Johnson ’08. More than 400 students, faculty, alumni and community members are expected to attend the event, which in past years has raised approximately $75,000. Tickets are available for $10 at the door. The auction’s Web site is http://www.columbia.edu/cu/pilf/auction.html.

Founded in 1980, Columbia Law School’s Public Interest Law Foundation is an independent non-profit organization run by Columbia Law School students. Half of the money from PILF’s auction supports the Law School’s guaranteed summer funding, which gives all Columbia Law School students stipends to work for a qualified public service organization during their first-year summer. The other half provides grants to non-profit legal organizations that apply to PILF’s Community Grants Program.

Columbia Law School, founded in 1858, stands at the forefront of legal education and of the law in a global society. Columbia Law School joins traditional strengths in international and comparative law, constitutional law, administrative law, business law and human rights law with pioneering work in the areas of intellectual property, digital technology, sexuality and gender, and criminal law.