  Memorandum

  To:

  Michelle Jackson, NALP Board Liaison, Public Service Section

  Cc:

  Fred Thrasher, NALP Deputy Director; Christina Jackson, NALP Director of Public Service

  Initiatives and Fellowships

  From: Katie Dilks, NALP Chair, Public Service Section (2016-2017)

  Re:

  NALP Public Service Section First Quarter Board Report

  Date: June 30, 2016

  This report contains updates on the activities of the NALP Public Service Section and its Work Groups for

  the first quarter. The 2016-2017 Public Service Section Work Groups and Vice-Chairs are:

  • LRAP/CCRAA Work Group: Amanda Furst, Public Interest Director, University of Minnesota Law

  School

  • Mini-Conference Planning Work Group: Rochelle McCain, Director of Public Interest and

  Government Relations, University of Pittsburgh School of Law

  • NALP Conference RFP Work Group: Samantha Zappia Kasmarek, Associate Director for Career and

  Professional Development, Syracuse University College of Law and Swati Parikh, Director of Public

  Service Careers, New York Law School

  • Pro Bono Work Group: Melissa Berry, Assistant Dean of Career Services, Chapman University

  Fowler School of Law and Diane Fears, Director of Career Services, Wayne State University Law

  School

  • PSJD Resources Website Work Group: Michael Bergmann, Executive Director, Public Interest Law

  Initiative (PILI) and Emily Kite, Associate Director Career Services, University of Wisconsin Law

  School

  • Publications Work Group: Sarah Bookbinder, Associate Director for Public Interest Advising, Suffolk

  University Law School and Diane Cross, Assistant Director Center for Professional Development,

  University of Cincinnati College of Law

  The First Public Service Section Quarterly Call was held on June 14 at 3:00pm EDT, and was attended by

  approximately 30 people.

  According to NALP Connect, the Public Service Section membership is currently at 283. Section members

  use NALP Connect to share job openings, information about upcoming conferences and updates on

  resources. Each week, the section receives a notification of the “PSJD Public Interest News Digest” posted

  every Friday by Christina Jackson, which has invaluable updates on hiring trends and other news. The

  transition to the new NALP Connect platform seems to be going smoothly so far.

  WORK GROUP UPDATES

  NALP Conference RFP Work Group

  Vice Chairs: Samantha Zappia Kasmarek, Associate Director for Career and Professional Development,

  Syracuse University College of Law and Swati Parikh, Director of Public Service Careers, New York Law

  School

  This year, the Annual Education Conference RFP Work Group helped coordinate 13 RFPs on behalf of the

  Public Service Section, including programs in collaboration with the Clerkship Section, the Law Student

  Professional Development Section, and the Diversity/Inclusion Section. Samantha and Swati held a

  conference call to work through and coordinate ideas, and encourage partnerships. They also read

  through and provided feedback on several RFPs being submitted, ensuring high quality contributions

  towards next year’s conference in San Francisco.

  The RFPs submitted on behalf of the Public Service Section for the 2017 Annual Conference are:

  • Advising Public Service Grads from Pre-bar Passage to Life Transitions

  • Answering Difficult Questions In Public Interest Interviews

  • Counselor, Activist, Advocate – What is the Role of Career Services Offices During Campus

  Protests?

  • Creating Jobs Out of the Mist: Envisioning, Building, and Funding Post-Graduate Fellowships

  • Law, Life & the Pursuit of Happiness: Prescriptions for Student and Lawyer Well-Being

  • Mission Not Impossible: Navigating Federal Government Legal Hiring from Application to Clearance

  • Through the Side Door: Entry into Government Service through Alternative Avenues

  • Professional Development Hot Topics for Public Service Counselors and Employers

  • The Art of Writing Successful Public Interest Fellowship Applications

  • The Vital Importance & Uncertain Future of Student Debt Relief

  • Building Practice-Ready Graduates: Creating and Counseling Students Towards Pro Bono and

  Externship Programs (co-submitted with Law Student Professional Development)

  • Mining for Gold: How to Find Hidden Clerkship Opportunities in California (co-submitted with

  Clerkships)

  • Promoting Careers in Prosecution to People of Color: A Discussion of the How’s, Why’s, and

  Implications of Diversity & Inclusion in Prosecutors' Offices (co-submitted with Diversity and

  Inclusion)

  Publications Work Group

  Vice-chairs: Sarah Bookbinder, Associate Director for Public Interest Advising, Suffolk University Law School

  and Diane Cross, Assistant Director Center for Professional Development, University of Cincinnati College

  of Law

  The Publications Work Group just submitted a nearly full slate of proposed articles for the NALP Bulletin to

  Janet Smith for the year:

  Samantha Kasmarek,

  Miriam Ingber

  Public Interest Jobs in the Private

  Sector: Part I

  September

  Laura Torchio

  TBD

  October

  TBD

  Report on Mini-Conference

  November

  Carolyn Goodwin,

  Laren Spirer

  Lessons from NY pro bono

  requirement as CA prepares to

  implement the same

  December

  Teresa Schmiedeler

  Professionalism & Civility in Legal

  January

  and Dina Billian

  Profession and what public sector

  and private sector might learn from

  each other in addressing importance

  of professionalism and civility in work

  cultures

  Elyse Diamond

  Moskowitz

  Creative ways to collaborate with

  faculty and student groups to build a

  successful public interest

  program/community

  February

  Sam Kasmarek and

  Miriam Ingber

  Public Interest Jobs in the Private

  Sector: Part II

  March

  Katie Dilks

  TBD

  April

  Sarah Bookbinder

  Trends in Americorps programs for

  2017 grads

  May

  Diane Cross

  Trends in Pro Bono Programs –

  changes/best practices as a result of

  state pro bono requirements (maybe

  different?)

  June


  Additionally, the Publications Group is working to support Section members in writing for the PSJD Blog

  and other outlets, as appropriate.

  LRAP Work Group

  Vice-chair Amanda Furst, Public Interest Director, University of Minnesota Law School

  The LRAP Work Group held their first conference call on June 6th and set out goals for the year: to

  collaborate with NALP and Christina to promote the results of the LRAP survey conducted last year,

  including with the ABA and Equal Justice Works; to potentially work with the ABA and Equal Justice Works

  to ensure that accurate information is available regarding state-level LRAP programs (the ABA maintains an

  up-to-date resource, but it can be difficult to find); to work with Equal Justice Works to develop a best

  practice resource for counseling students around student loans and working with loan servicers; to

  continue to monitor potential legislative threats to Public Service Loan Forgiveness, in partnership with

  Equal Justice Works.

  Pro Bono Work Group

  Vice-chairs: Melissa Berry, Assistant Dean of Career Services, Chapman University Fowler School of Law

  and Diane Fears, Director of Career Services, Wayne State University Law School

  The Pro Bono Work Group held their first conference call on June 7 and set out goals for the year: to

  develop an Intro to Pro Bono resource that would give people new to the field a quick overview of useful

  resources and organizations; to submit 2 articles for the NALP Bulletin on behalf of the Section (one on

  Lessons Learned from the New York Bar pro bono requirement, and one TBD); to actively work to

  collaborate with other groups focused on pro bono (primarily Equal Justice Works, the American

  Association of Law Schools, the ABA, and others as appropriate); and to attempt to increase the diversity in

  membership of the Work Group by conducting outreach to law firm members and non-profit and

  government employer members.

  PSJD Resources Work Group

  Vice-chairs: Michael Bergmann, Executive Director, Public Interest Law Initiative (PILI) and Emily Kite,
  Associate Director Career Services, University of Wisconsin Law School

  The PSJD Resources Work Group held their first conference call on June 10th and set out goals for the

  year: creating 3 new practice guides (in Water Law, Native Peoples, and Criminal Law); working on the

  summer funding section within the funding sources category of the resource center; and (3) working on

  reviewing, updating and adding new content in the public sector career path (particularly adding

  information about policy-related and JD-advantage jobs, and careers with the military/JAG).

  Mini-Conference Planning Work Group

  Vice-chair Rochelle McCain, Director of Public Interest and Government Relations, University of

  Pittsburgh School of Law

  The Mini-Conference Planning work group held its first conference call on June 24th. The Mini-

  Conference this year will be held on Thursday, October 27th, the day before the Equal Justice Works

  Conference and Career Fair, in Washington, DC. There are currently approximately 15 people helping

  on the Work Group, which will ensure that the Mini-Conference remains a substantive value-add for

  Section members.

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