Click here for Subject-Specific Guides

• Handbooks
  
  CPIL has developed a series of Handbooks for the 1L, 2L and 3L student which provide a comprehensive overview of how to pursue a career in the public sector.  The Handbooks include everything the student needs to know about the programs and resources available through Columbia Law School.  Handbooks are available at the CPIL office, 9th floor of Little Warren.

• Columbia Public Interest Database/Intern Evaluations
  
  The Public Interest Database contains contact information, descriptions, and extensive student evaluations for internship opportunities and pro bono projects throughout the world.  The database contains contact information, descriptions, and extensive student evaluations for internship opportunities and pro bono projects throughout the world.
   
  
• Public Interest Job Fairs
  
  The Annual Equal Justice Works Job Fair is scheduled for October 6-7, 2007 in Washington DC.  
   
  The New York City Public Interest Legal Career Fair, hosted by NYU Law School, will be February 7-8, 2008.
  
  
•  Resume Workshop Materials
  
  Throughout the fall, CPIL and OCS will hold public interest resume and job application workshops.  Dates for these workshops will be announced by email and are posted on CPIL’s on-line calendar of events. 
  Click on the pdf below for workshop materials. 
   

Columbia runs two different interview programs.

1. Early Interview Program (EIP) happens in August at the Doubletree Hotel in midtown.  This interview program is primarily for 2Ls and 3Ls to obtain summer and permanent jobs in the private sector and students can interview with law firms from all over the country. There are several public sector employers who usually interview students at EIP, including the Department of State and the House of Representatives Office of Legislative Counsel.  EIP is administered by the Office of Career Services .
   
   
2. OCI  happens at Columbia Law School in the Fall for 2Ls and 3Ls, and in the Spring for 1Ls. Through this program, government regulatory agencies, public defenders, prosecutors, and other government agency employers come to campus to interview students for summer and permanent jobs.  OCI is administered by the Office of Career Services. 
   
   Throughout the year, CPIL hosts nonprofit employers who will interview students on-campus.  Watch your email for information.

If you are thinking about working as a law firm summer associate but intend to work in the public interest at some point after you graduate, we suggest choosing a firm with a strong pro bono program, or policies which will allow you to do substantial pro bono during the summer or as an associate.  This will help you continue to build relevant skills and demonstrate your ongoing commitment to public interest law in general.  No one piece of information is necessarily dispositive of a firm's pro bono commitment or culture.  You must make this determination for yourself in an interview and by talking to people who work or have worked there. 

Click below to view CPIL's Guide to Assessing a Law Firm’s Commitment to Pro Bono.  

Splitting the summer between a law firm and a public sector employer is a good option for students who need to work at a firm their second summer to finance their education, although some public interest organizations, do not allow them because they require their interns to work a full summer.  There are two ways to structure a split summer. 

• “Sponsored Split” - the firm funds the student for the whole summer, and s/he spends at least half the summer at the firm and some weeks at a public interest organization.  Each firm’s program is slightly different.  Some first hire a class of summer associates then allow those students to apply for the opportunity to participate in a sponsored split. 
  
  Yale Law School prepares a list of “Firms Sponsoring Split Public Interest Summers.”
  
  Columbia has an exclusive split summer fellowship with the firm Sidley Austin in New York City.
  
  
•  “Student Split” – the student secures a summer associate position with a firm and then negotiates with that firm to split the summer with a public interest employer.  The firm pays the salary while the student is there and the student funds the second half of the summer. Employers are open to this type of arrangement on a case-by-case basis; market forces may affect law firms’ willingness to allow summer associates to split their summers. Usually, this kind of split necessitates a summer of working longer than 10 weeks.

Learn more about postgraduate fellowships.

Click here to view a selection of the some of the most useful websites which list job opportunities. More resources are available in the Appendix to the Public Interest Handbooks.

There have been significant changes in the application timeline for both DOJ programs. Please review the following powerpoint  for the most updated information.