PUBLISHED:February 13, 2012

CIS Symposium offers students chance to learn about public service careers

Law students interested in public service careers will have a chance to hear from a host of alumni, practitioners, and faculty whose careers span the public interest spectrum, including nonprofits, government, and academia, during a Feb. 17 daylong symposium.

The Careers in Service symposium will feature panelists speaking on topics such as working as a public defender, prosecuting at the state and federal levels, and practicing public interest law internationally and in pursuit of and civil rights, and offering practical advice on such matters as loan forgiveness for graduates entering public service.

“The symposium provides students the opportunity to learn more about various areas of public interest law practice, and to gain information and advice about how to start and build a career in government service or public interest,” said Kim Bart ’02, assistant dean of Public Interest and Pro Bono.

Afternoon focus sessions will allow students to network with panelists get in-depth information on specific areas of practice. The sessions will be led by experienced attorneys like Leslie Cooley ’05, an assistant district attorney with the Mecklenburg County District Attorney’s Office, Maj. Gen. Charles Dunlap, a visiting professor of the practice and former deputy judge advocate general of the United States Air Force, and Julie Youngman ’94, a senior attorney focusing on litigation with the Southern Environmental Law Center.

The focus group topics are:

  • Government Prosecution: District Attorney/US Attorney/JAG
  • Academia
  • Consumer and Banking Law
  • City and County Attorneys
  • Education and Children's Law
  • Death Penalty
  • Criminal Defense and Public Defender
  • Environmental Law Practice
  • Legislative Policy and Advocacy

  • View the full CIS Symposium agenda.