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Public Interest Career Counseling
The Office of Career and Professional Development (OCPD) provides individual advising to students interested in pursing public interest careers.
Lindsay Slaker, Associate Director of OCPD, is the primary public interest adviser and available to meet one-on-one with students to discuss, among other things, public interest careers and job searches, post-graduate fellowships, and funding for summer public interest positions. She can be contacted for appointments at either 608-890-3427 or lslaker@wisc.edu.
Lindsay also maintains an e-mail listserv for students interested in receiving periodic updates on public interest events and jobs. Please contact her directly to join the listserv.
Public Interest Job Fairs
Annual University of Wisconsin/Marquette Law School Public Interest Job Fair
The University of Wisconsin Law School and Marquette University Law School jointly host the Wisconsin Public Interest Interview Program (WIPIIP). WIPIIP is a great opportunity for students to interview with multiple public interest and government employers for either paid or unpaid summer internships or permanent positions after graduation.
The 2024 WIPIIP is being held virtually on the following dates:
- Thursday, February 15th
- Friday, February 16th
Participating employers select the single date most convenient for their organization and interviewers. Students from UWLS and MULS may interview on both dates. Students must submit their application materials by Monday, January 29, 2024.
Employers that have participated in WIPIIP include:
- ABC for Health
- ACLU of Wisconsin
- Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee
- City of Madison, City Attorney's Office
- City of Racine, City Attorney's Office
- Clean Wisconsin
- Community Immigration Law Center
- Community Justice, Inc.
- Dane County Corporation Counsel
- Disability Rights Wisconsin
- Federal Defender Services of Wisconsin, Inc.
- Freedom From Religion Foundation
- Greater Wisconsin Agency on Aging Resources
- Ho-Chunk Nation Trial Court
- Kenosha County District Attorney's Office
- Legal Action of Wisconsin
- Legal Aid Society of Milwaukee
- Midwest Environmental Advocates
- Office of the United States Trustee
- Office of the Governor
- Sheboygan County District Attorney's Office
- State of Wisconsin Dept. of Justice
- State of Wisconsin Equal Rights Division
- U.S. Attorney's Office - Western District of Wisconsin
- UW-Madison, Office of Legal Affairs
- Wisconsin Coalition Against Sexual Assault
- Wisconsin Dept. of Administration
- Wisconsin Dept. of Natural Resources
- Wisconsin Dept. of Revenue
- Wisconsin Dept. of Transportation
- Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission
- Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty
- Wisconsin Judicare Legal Aid
- Wisconsin Legislative Council
- Wisconsin Office of the Commissioner of Insurance
- Wisconsin State Public Defender
36th Annual Midwest Public Interest Law Career Conference
The Midwest Public Interest Law Career Conference will be virtually February 3, 2024. Participation is free and open to the first, second, and third year students from participating schools. The registration deadline is November 20, 2023. If you timely pre-registered, the deadline by which to submit resumes will be January 10, 2024.
Equal Justice Works Career Fair
This is the largest public interest law-related job fair in the country. Each October it brings over 200 employers virtually to interview and meet with students. The registration typically opens in early August, and student applications are due in mid-September. More information about the Career Fair is available at www.equaljusticeworks.org.
Public Interest Job listings & Research SItes
The Career Services Office has assembled a list of Internet resources to help students search for public interest internships, careers, fellowships and funding opportunities in many areas of law, including electronic resources for Public Interest students.
Non-Profit Organizations
- PSJD: Comprehensive listing of public interest legal positions, including volunteer opportunities, paid summer positions, and post-graduate positions and fellowships.
- Idealist: Comprehensive listing of public service positions, both legal and non-legal, in over 140 countries. This is an especially good site for post-graduate job listings. Searchable by subject matter, country, type of position, and other categories.
- National Legal Aid & Defender Association: This is the best site for post-graduate jobs in civil legal services organizations and defender organizations. Other public interest organizations are also listed. Searchable by state.
- GoinGlobal
- Human Rights Careers
- ACLU
- Center for Constitutional Rights
Government
- Government Honors & Internship Handbook: Contains information on federal government post-graduate honors programs and summer internship programs. (Password-protected list of OCPD usernames and passwords.)
- Office of Personnel Management: This is the federal government's official one-stop source for federal jobs (permanent and internships) and employment information. Searchable by position, salary, and geographic location. Updated every business day. Note: when searching for federal jobs, you should also check the agency site, as not every job makes it into USA JOBS.
- CareerOneStop: Offers resources and tools for job seekers.
- National Association of Attorneys General Job Website
- Government Jobs: The only government sector job board created from a fully integrated recruitment, selection and applicant tracking system designed specifically for public sector employers.
- Roll Call Jobs: Features jobs in government affairs, lobbying and other positions with organizations that do lobbying and other work with the federal government.
State-Specific Job Sites
- Chicago, IL (Chicago Bar Association)
- Minnesota (MN Justice Foundation)
- New York City (Government Jobs)
Inter-Governmental Organizations
- International Criminal Court
- United Nations: Check under "Human Rights," "Legal," and "Humanitarian Affairs." Information on the United Nations Young Professionals Programme.
- UN Development Program: Has some rights-related jobs. Information on UNDP Leadership Development Program.
- UN High Commissioner for Human Rights: Theoretically the High Commissioner's vacancies are all listed on the UN site, but in reality there are often jobs here that are never posted to the main site.
- UN High Commissioner for Refugees: Information on external vacancies and international professional roster.
- UNICEF: Some rights-related jobs.