Temple University Beasley School of Law has long fostered an environment where the values of public interest work are supported and cultivated. The Rubin Public Interest Law Honor Society was created to acknowledge students whose exceptional dedication to public interest law gives them the energy to go beyond the rigors of their academic curriculum. In realizing Temple’s tradition of commitment to service, the Rubin Public Interest Law Honor Society recognizes our students whose pro bono efforts exceed the requirements to graduate. These efforts include providing legal services to underserved communities and addressing important public issues.
Temple Law School recognizes that a public service component to a legal education serves many important purposes. First, it introduces law students to public service as one of the traditional hallmarks of the legal profession. Second, students’ public service helps to narrow the gap in legal services to the underserved by providing a pool of pre-professional workers whose efforts make legal services more widely available. Third, law students receive valuable exposure to clients and actual legal problems that prepares many of them for full time public interest careers or other pro bono opportunities during their legal careers.
To qualify for the Honor Society, students must complete 50 hours of pro bono work while they are in law school. Pro bono work is defined as:
Any law-related work for a not-for-profit organization qualifying as tax exempt under Internal Revenue Code § 501(c)(3) or for government:
- providing free civil legal services for low-income individuals;
- providing free criminal legal services for the indigent; or
- serving the poor or disadvantaged, promoting the rights of individuals or communities, or otherwise promoting access to justice.
This includes any of Temple’s pro bono projects (the Housing Justice Initiative, Expungement Clinic, Name Change Project, or Student Discipline Advocacy Service); district attorney offices; public defenders; civil legal aid organizations; and some government agencies. Work that involves serving under-represented clients or communities will often qualify. Judicial internships do not qualify.
Further, students cannot receive funding from outside of Temple for these hours. Students receiving academic credit, federal work study, or money through a fellowship provided by Temple Law (including the Rubin Presser scholarship, Duffy Fellowship, or Sunflower Award) can count up to 25 of those hours towards the pro bono requirement.
If you are interested in gaining membership to the Rubin Public Interest Law Honor Society, log your pro bono hours into Paladin. You will receive more information about how to enter the Rubin Public Interest Honor Society in your last semester of law school.
For more information on the Rubin Public Interest Law Honor Society, please contact Jasper Katz, Associate Director for Career Strategy & Professional Development, at 215-204-2184. Please note: no determinations about a student’s overall eligibility for the Honor Society can be made before their last semester, but we can offer guidance about whether a particular placement would qualify as pro bono work.