Pro Bono & Community Service Honors Program Description
For a full program description, please view the program handbook (pdf).
How does the Pro Bono & Community Service Honors Program work?
From April 1 to March 31 the following year, students find volunteer opportunities and donate their time. (First year law students may count community service performed prior to the start of law school but cannot begin pro bono work until classes begin)
Students record their time either via a paper log, submitting time to the Public Interest Law Coordinator twice a year in January and at the end of March or by reporting online throughout the year after working. All time submitted counts toward the Oregon State Bar Pro Bono Challenge; for time to count for Lewis & Clark Law School's Honors Awards, students must submit supervisor signed Work Completion Forms for each volunteer employer.
Throughout the year, the Public Interest Law Coordinator meets with students to discuss volunteer opportunities and works with employers to develop volunteer opportunities.
What work qualifies for the Honors Awards?
To qualify for the honors awards, work must be performed without remuneration of any kind, be it pay or credit for a civic, charitable, governmental, educational, or public-service organization or attorney performing pro bono work. Additionally, qualifying work must have a significant impact off campus. Volunteer work for on campus organizations like PILP do not qualify unless those activities have a significant off-campus impact as work with NLG, NEDC, and NCVLI often do.
Pro Bono and Community service are differentiated on whether the work is law related--pro bono--or not--community service.
For a complete description of qualifying work including examples and a breakdown of pro bono into attorney-supervised representational work and non-representational work, consult the Program Handbook.
Unauthorized Practice of Law
While volunteering, students must be cautious to avoid the unauthorized practice of law including, but not limited to 1) holding themselves out, in any manner, as attorneys or lawyers authorized to practice law; 2) appearing, personally or otherwise, on behalf of another in any judicial or administrative proceeding other than as an attorney-supervised certified law student; 3) providing advice or service to another on any matter involving the application of legal principles to rights, duties, obligations, or liabilities.
For more information on the unauthorized practice of law, visit the Oregon State Bar UPL Site
Any student who is uncertain whether what they are asked to do is the unauthorized practice of law or not should immediately contact the Career Services Office.
