Public Interest and Social Justice

“The power of a law degree is its capacity to permit the holder to help others, and that is a career I have pursued for 42 years – in indigent defense, capital case litigation, challenging wrongful convictions, and federal civil rights litigation. Even when victories are few and far between, or make only incremental change, they matter deeply to the clients and their communities. Working on such matters – cases, policy issues, legislation, community support – also enriches my teaching and the learning my students experience.”

“Public interest isn’t necessarily about the kind of work you do; it’s more about your perspective on being a lawyer. Do you think of your role as one that pushes forward the cause of social justice? Are you giving of yourself to help others? Do you center the concepts of equity and equality in your work? Are you working to empower your clients? Do you make sure that people feel heard and valued? Will the work that you do leave the world a better place than it would otherwise be? These are the cornerstones of a public interest mindset.”

“I try to infuse everything I do at Temple — teaching, research, and service — with concern for social justice. Promoting justice, particularly for people marginalized by structures of economic, social, and political power, is a core responsibility of all lawyers.”

“Dedication to social justice is at the heart of Temple Law. I am constantly inspired by my students and their deep commitment to serving communities in need and pursuing systemic change in furtherance of equality and justice. Just this year, my students filed administrative claims under the Federal Tort Claims Act on behalf of families separated at the border and conducted country conditions research used by hundreds of asylum seekers to support their claims to protection. The students learned numerous lawyering skills from interviewing to factual research to legal analysis – and a meaningful lesson about how they can use law as a powerful tool for justice.”

“Public interest law can be so many different things—helping individuals traditionally denied access to justice, working to expand rights where they have been denied, tackling systemic problems like racism and poverty, helping individuals keep their homes or feed their children, addressing climate change—every law student should find an issue that means something to them and have the experience of using their legal skills to make a difference.”

“Tax law is entirely about the public interest. Taxes not only pay for government, which ensures that we live under the rule of law and not whim or anarchy, but the tax system is the principal way the federal government delivers social safety net benefits and administers social programs. For example, the Earned Income Tax Credit is an anti-poverty program and the home mortgage interest deduction is a housing program. Lawyers who work for the IRS work in the public interest too: a fairly run tax system benefits every member of the public.”

Public Interest law centers the lived experiences of client communities and with that powerful narrative, public interest lawyers work to effect change and ensure that all clients are treated with dignity and respect and gain access to justice. CLS values diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging and this is reflective in our recruitment of law students with diverse backgrounds, many of whom come from Temple Law. The work that is done by our law student interns every year, and the partnership we have with Temple Law, furthers our mission and our core values by engaging with students who come to the table ready to fight for justice. We have had incredible and fortunate experiences with our Temple Law students, who have represented our clients and engaged in our advocacy with stealth and resolve. Our partnership with Temple Law is valuable and rewarding, and I myself am a Temple Law alum so that partnership is made all the more rewarding. We look forward to always continuing and strengthening that partnership, so that our law students experience first-hand that a career in public interest legal services is a foundational piece to eradicating poverty and systemic racism.

We love partnering with Temple University Beasley School of Law and have long-been impressed by the brilliant students we’re privileged to work with at the Education Law Center. From the dedicated students who volunteer with School Discipline Advocacy Service to the passionate students working with the incredible staff of the Sheller Center, the students are deeply committed to public interest law. We could not do our work to ensure access to a quality public education for all children in Pennsylvania without our outstanding Temple Law interns, legal fellows, and staff attorneys!

It is a tremendous honor for YSRP to partner with dedicated and justice-seeking students from Temple Law each year. In addition to adding much-needed capacity to our small team with big goals, Temple Law students bring fresh ideas and a fiery passion to our work. Their energy is contagious. 

As an inaugural client of the Justice Lab clinic, it was a highlight to work with Temple Law students and professors to collectively achieve a moratorium by the City of Philadelphia on a decades-long practice of charging parents for the cost of their children’s incarceration. We knew that in order to tackle this issue with the attention and resources it deserved, we needed a strong partner, and engaged with the Justice Lab to dig deeper. Each of the students we worked with was consistently hardworking, brilliant, and insightful. The same is true for the students we supervise each semester, who propel our work forward in invigorating and inspiring ways. 

We are grateful to Temple Law, and particularly the Public Interest Programs, for enriching our work and helping to move our city toward justice.

Through Al Otro Lado’s partnership with Temple Law School, students work on the cases of individual asylum seekers at the US Mexico border, as well impact litigation projects which challenge human rights violations in the US immigration and detention systems. It has never been more important for lawyers to stand in solidarity with immigrants, and to work toward dismantling a system in which family separation, detention, and deportation to one’s death are routine. Through this partnership we hope to inspire students not to not only practice law on behalf of immigrants, but to disrupt, deconstruct and redefine the systems that oppress immigrants in the first place.