Through the New York Pro Bono Scholars Program, students spend their spring 3L semester working full-time and for credit, on behalf of indigent clients, through an externship with a host organization or through a BU Law clinic.\u00a0Students take the February New York bar exam, begin their fieldwork immediately after, and work for 12 weeks into mid\/late-May.<\/p>\n
The program enables students to enter practice early. \u00a0Students passing the bar exam, completing other NY bar requirements, and satisfying BU\u2019s graduation requirements are admitted to the New York bar in late June.<\/p>\n
Qualifying Placements:<\/strong><\/p>\n The New York Pro Bono Scholars Program Guide defines a qualifying placement as the following:<\/p>\n Pro bono<\/em> service must be full-time, supervised law-related work that assists in the provision of legal services for:<\/p>\n Your placement should provide ample opportunity for client contact or be of direct benefit to an identifiable client or clients. Work that involves advocating on behalf of disadvantaged individuals generally but does not directly benefit specific individuals will not qualify.\u201d Click here<\/a> for the complete placement guide.<\/p>\n Placements may be anywhere \u2013 there is no geographic restriction to New York.<\/p>\n Credits:<\/strong>\u00a0 Students receive 10 ungraded credits for the fieldwork and 2 graded credits for writing bi-weekly journals and a 15-20 page research paper under guidance of a BU Law faculty member.\u00a0 Students must log 45 hours per week on their fieldwork and academic work combined.<\/p>\n Please note that although the academic component is graded, all 12 credits of the program count toward BU Law\u2019s 16-credit cap on non-GPA credits.<\/p>\n How to apply:<\/strong>\u00a0 As a first step, set up an appointment with\u00a0Eron Hackshaw and Kate Devlin Joyce to discuss the academic requirements and your career interests.\u00a0 If the program is a good fit and you decide to participate, the next step is to secure a placement.\u00a0 The CDO, the Office of Clinical & Experiential Programs, and the NY Pro Bono Scholars Program all have resources to help you.\u00a0 Once you line up a placement, you will fill out an application that will be reviewed by a faculty committee.\u00a0 The deadline to submit the application to the State of New York is September 15 of each year, for participation that spring<\/strong>, so make sure to plan ahead and have your application in early.<\/p>\n Once your application is approved, the school will notify the New York Pro Bono Scholars office, and they will issue final approval for your participation.\u00a0 You will next register for the NY bar exam.\u00a0 It is highly recommend that you take the MPRE and the New York Law Exam<\/a>\u00a0in the fall, if you haven\u2019t already.<\/p>\n Contact:<\/strong>\u00a0Eron Hackshaw, Director of Public Service and Pro Bono (eronh@bu.edu<\/u><\/a>); Kate Devlin Joyce, Director of the Externship Program (kdevlin@bu.edu<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n