Equal Justice Works is a

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

–based

nonprofit A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

organization that focuses on careers in

public service A public service or service of general (economic) interest is any service intended to address the needs of aggregate members of a community, whether provided directly by a public sector agency, via public financing available to private busin ...

for

lawyers A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as wel ...

. Equal Justice Works' stated mission is "to create a just society by mobilizing the next generation of lawyers committed to equal justice."

Programs

Founded in 1986 as the National Association for Public Interest Law (NAPIL), the organization works with

law schools A law school (also known as a law centre/center, college of law, or faculty of law) is an institution, professional school, or department of a college or university specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for bec ...

law firms A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise consumer, clients (individuals or corporations) about their legal rights and Obligation, respon ...

, corporate legal departments and nonprofit organizations to provide the training and skills that enable attorneys to provide legal assistance to the poor and other vulnerable populations. Research has shown that early

public interest In social science and economics, public interest is "the welfare or well-being of the general public" and society. While it has earlier philosophical roots and is considered to be at the core of democratic theories of government, often paired ...

experience for law students and new lawyers leads to a lifelong commitment to

justice In its broadest sense, justice is the idea that individuals should be treated fairly. According to the ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', the most plausible candidate for a core definition comes from the ''Institutes (Justinian), Inst ...

, but that

debt Debt is an obligation that requires one party, the debtor, to pay money Loan, borrowed or otherwise withheld from another party, the creditor. Debt may be owed by a sovereign state or country, local government, company, or an individual. Co ...

keeps many law graduates from taking public interest jobs. Equal Justice Works has contributed to the research and advocacy of loan repayment assistance programs and the College Cost Reduction And Access Act of 2007. One hundred ninety-five law schools (including 189 of the country's 196

American Bar Association The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary association, voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students in the United States; national in scope, it is not specific to any single jurisdiction. Founded in 1878, the ABA's stated acti ...

-accredited law schools) are members of Equal Justice Works and participate in programs to develop public interest training and opportunities. "Equal Justice Works Fellowships" is the largest

postgraduate Postgraduate education, graduate education, or graduate school consists of academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications usually pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachelor' ...

legal fellowship program in the United States. The projects proposed by the Fellows are varied and tend to reflect unresolved social and legal issues including

immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as Permanent residency, permanent residents. Commuting, Commuter ...

health care Health care, or healthcare, is the improvement or maintenance of health via the preventive healthcare, prevention, diagnosis, therapy, treatment, wikt:amelioration, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other disability, physic ...

and

civil liberties Civil liberties are guarantees and freedoms that governments commit not to abridge, either by constitution, legislation, or judicial interpretation, without due process. Though the scope of the term differs between countries, civil liberties of ...

Activities

The organization publishes The E-Guide to Public Service at America's Law Schools, an online resource of public service opportunities, curricula, and financial-aid programs. Equal Justice Works also hosts an annual Conference and Career Fair for employers, job seekers and law school professionals. Through "Summer Corps"—a partnership between Equal Justice Works and

AmeriCorps AmeriCorps ( ; officially the Corporation for National and Community Service or CNCS) is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the United States government that engages more than five million Americans in ...

—350 law students serve at nonprofit legal aid organizations every summer.

Leadership

Equal Justice Works is governed by a

board of directors A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulatio ...

made up of about 30 law firm partners, corporate counsel, legal educators, and executives from legal services agencies. The CEO is Verna L. Williams. From 1995 to 2022,

David Stern David Joel Stern (September 22, 1942 – January 1, 2020) was an American lawyer and business executive who was the commissioner of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1984 to 2014. Stern oversaw NBA basketball's growth into one of t ...

was Executive Director. During this period Equal Justice Works’ budget grew from under $2 million to over $21 million, to support more than 200 positions in the postgraduate fellowship program.

References

External links

*{{official, http://www.equaljusticeworks.org
Summer Corps
Organizations established in 1986 Legal organizations based in the United States Non-profit organizations based in Washington, D.C. Legal advocacy organizations in the United States 1986 establishments in Washington, D.C. Service year programs in the United States