Pro Bono Honors Program
What is the Pro Bono Honors Program?
The Pro Bono Honors Program, a program of the Center for Public Service Law, encourages law students, faculty and staff to provide pro bono legal assistance to low-income communities; connects students to pro bono resources and opportunities; trains students on vital topics such as professionalism, cultural and cross-difference competency and secondary trauma/compassion fatigue; recognizes student pro bono work beyond the 60-hour public service graduation requirement; and promotes a culture of public service in the life of the law school and in the legal profession.
In addition,
standard 302(b)(2) of the ABA Standards for the Approval of Law Schools
requires all ABA approved law schools to offer "substantial opportunities for
. . . student participation in pro bono activities." Student pro bono work
further demonstrates our law school's long standing commitment to public service.
IF YOU ARE A LOW INCOME PERSON IN NEED OF PRO BONO ASSISTANCE:
This program does not provide legal assistance to individuals in need of advice
or representation. Here is resource information to assist you:
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Outside King County: Call the CLEAR line at 1-888-201-1014 weekdays
from 9:15 a.m. until 12:15 p.m. CLEAR works with a language line to provide interpreters
as needed at no cost to callers. If you are deaf or hard of hearing, please call
1-888-201-1014 using your preferred TTY or Video relay service.
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King County: Call 211 for information and referral to an appropriate
legal services provider Monday through Friday from 8:00 am – 6:00 pm. 211 works
with a language line to provide interpreters as needed at no cost to callers. Deaf
and hearing-impaired callers can call 1-800-833-6384 or 711 to be connected to a
relay operator at no cost, who will then connect them with 211.
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Persons 60 and Over: Persons 60 or over may call CLEAR*Sr at 1-888-387-7111,
regardless of income and regardless of what county you live in. Low-income seniors
may call the CLEAR line at 1-888-201-1014, from 9:15 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.
For more information see the
Northwest Justice Project
“As an intern with the Northwest Justice Project’s Veterans Project, I’ve not only
learned and advanced my own professionalism, but I’ve refined my ability to train
future interns more effectively than I was trained and helped my current supervising
attorney to more effectively train her future interns. I believe that the conscious
cultivation of this cyclic profession and professional development in public interest
law is an essential ingredient in gaining the critical mass in public interest law
that will elevate public interest law from the calling of too few to the dominant
purpose of most legal professionals.”
-Leo Flor, Class of 2013: Northwest Justice Project’s Veteran’s Project
“I am quickly confronted with poverty, addiction and suffering, plain and simple…I
want to have the skills and the knowledge necessary to make tangible difference
in combating basic human misery…Many of our clients [at Open Door Legal Services/Union
Gospel Mission] are residents at the men’s shelter down below. These people have
often suffered, many from serious additions, domestic violence and the plights of
American style capitalism (wealth disparity and concentration). Despite receiving
such bad hands, these people have endured and many are looking to start new lives.”
“Typically I am paired up with a licensed attorney and assist in client consultation.
In practice, I help with intake and I make myself available for any questions that
arise. I am asked to look up statutes, attorney information, directions, etc. Because
I work with a variety of attorneys I am in a good position to evaluate the strengths
and weaknesses of each attorney vis-à-vis dealing with individual clients. This
observational role grants me an invaluable opportunity to incorporate and evaluate
my own client interactions (present and future), hopefully molding myself into something
better than I was the day before.” “Essentially, this is why I ended up at UW, this
is why I ended up at Open Door Legal Services/UGM, and this is why I think we fundamentally
exist—to make tangible differences.”
-Matthew R. Berry, Class of 2012: Open Door Legal Services/ Union Gospel Mission