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Public Interest Law

Summer Funding

Organizations and offices helping under-represented people and causes often cannot afford to pay law students for summer work. Summer awards help students do this important work without having to take additional loans to cover summer living expenses.

PILP Awards

In 1991, Lewis & Clark law students held the first Public Interest Law Project (PILP) auction raising enough money to help two students take jobs at the Legal Aid office in Portland during the summer. With the sweat of students and the support of the school and alumni, PILP has held an annual auction nearly every year since 1991 helping students take public interest positions in Oregon, across the country, and around the world during the summer months. Stipends are awarded based not only on the work that the host organization does, but also on the experience and supervision the student will receive. 

Visit PILP’s Summer Stipend page for more details.

Locations where our students have worked using their PILP stipends

Nearby news (187)

Lezak Legacy Fellowship

Sid Lezak was one of the longest serving US Attorneys in the history of the United States, the father of alternative dispute resolution in Oregon, an activist, a community servant, and a mentor to many Oregonians. The Lezak Legacy Fellowship is designed to honor his legacy by granting summer stipends to law students to encourage them to serve the Oregon community, and by providing mentorship and guidance to these students. Typically 4 to 5 students are selected as fellows each year.

Visit the Lezak Legacy Fellowship page for more details.

Outside Funding

Because Lewis & Clark is a member school of Equal Justice Works, students can apply to the AmeriCorps JD and other Equal Justice Works programs.  For a comprehensive list of funding sources, please visit the PSJD.org Summer Funding site. For further information on finding and funding public interest work, see our Public Interest Careers web page.

Public Interest Law

Contact Us

  • Public Interest Law is located in Gantenbein on the Law Campus.

    email

    voice 503-768-6634 fax 503-768-6729

    Director of Public Interest Law
    Carra Sahler

    10015 S.W. Terwilliger Boulevard
    Portland, Oregon 97219