{"id":92,"date":"2016-04-12T12:33:04","date_gmt":"2016-04-12T17:33:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/curriculum-pathways\/?page_id=92"},"modified":"2026-04-17T12:21:32","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T17:21:32","slug":"public-interest-law-pathway","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/curriculum-pathways\/public-interest-law-pathway\/","title":{"rendered":"Public Interest Law Pathway"},"content":{"rendered":"
\nPublic interest law includes a broad range of practice areas and employment opportunities. Public interest lawyers work in legal aid offices; at private law firms or as solo practitioners doing civil rights, fair housing, or employment discrimination; in government agencies such as the Public Defender\u2019s office or Attorney General\u2019s office; or as in-house counsel at nonprofits or advocacy organizations such as the ACLU, Advocates for Human Rights, Gender Justice, or the NAACP LDF; as well as many other places.Public interest law can include social justice advocacy, impact litigation, movement lawyering, and transformative lawyering. Public interest lawyers may do litigation, transactional work, or policymaking. They often represent and advocate for the rights and interests of individuals or groups that are underrepresented or marginalized in society through direct client representation or by influencing legislation, regulation, and public policy.<\/p>\n

Organizations that serve the public interest often do not have the resources to train new attorneys. Students interested in public interest work should seek out as much professional skills training while in law school as they can.<\/p>\n

The courses provided below focus on doing public interest work more generally in the civil context. For related pathways, see below.\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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<\/i><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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Foundational Courses<\/div>\n
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Administrative Law<\/a><\/div>\n
Civil Rights<\/a><\/div>\n
Evidence<\/a><\/div>\n
Professional Responsibility<\/a><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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<\/i><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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Recommended Courses<\/div>\n
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Employment Discrimination<\/a><\/div>\n
Fair and Affordable Housing<\/a><\/div>\n
Introduction to Business Organizations<\/a><\/div>\n
Immigration<\/a><\/div>\n
Pretrial Civil Practice<\/a><\/div>\n
Resilient Practice<\/a><\/div>\n
Wrongful Conviction<\/a><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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<\/i><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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Experiential Courses<\/div>\n

Recommended Clinics<\/span><\/p>\n

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Economic Inclusion<\/a><\/div>\n
Immigration<\/a><\/div>\n
Nonprofit Tax<\/a><\/div>\n
Wrongful Conviction<\/a><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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<\/i><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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Experiential Courses<\/div>\n

Recommended Externship<\/span><\/p>\n

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Administrative Law<\/a><\/div>\n
Civil Rights Litigation and Policy<\/a><\/div>\n
Government Agency<\/a><\/div>\n
Legislative & Lobby<\/a><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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<\/i><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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Recommended Seminars<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

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Critical Lawyering<\/a><\/div>\n
Disability Law<\/a><\/div>\n
Education Law<\/a><\/div>\n
Race and the Law<\/a><\/div>\n
Reproductive Rights<\/a><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Get Involved in Public Interest Work<\/strong><\/p>\n

To get involved in public interest work while in law school, students can explore opportunities through the Minnesota Justice Foundation<\/a>, which connects students with meaningful pro bono and public service placements in Minnesota and across the country, including a growing range of remote opportunities for students to engage in meaningful work from wherever they are.<\/p>\n

For related pathways for doing public interest work in the criminal law context or in more narrow substantive areas, check out the following:<\/p>\n

Criminal Law<\/a>
\nElder Law<\/a>
\nEmployment Law<\/a>
\nEnvironment, Energy, and Natural Resource Law<\/a>
\nGovernment Practice<\/a>
\nHealth Law<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Public interest law includes a broad range of practice areas and employment opportunities. Public interest lawyers work in legal aid offices; at private law firms or as solo practitioners doing civil rights, fair housing, or employment discrimination; in government agencies such as the Public Defender\u2019s office or Attorney General\u2019s office; or as in-house counsel at … <\/p>\n

Public Interest Law Pathway<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-people.php","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":{"0":"post-92","1":"page","2":"type-page","3":"status-publish","5":"entry"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/curriculum-pathways\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/92","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/curriculum-pathways\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/curriculum-pathways\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/curriculum-pathways\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/curriculum-pathways\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/curriculum-pathways\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/92\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":502,"href":"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/curriculum-pathways\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/92\/revisions\/502"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/curriculum-pathways\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}