Director, Public and Pro Bono Service

Department

Law Career Services

About the Department

The University of Chicago Law School occupies a unique niche among this country's premier law schools. Located on a residential campus in one of America's great cities, Chicago offers a rigorous and interdisciplinary professional education that blends the study of law with the humanities, the social sciences, and the natural sciences. Students, faculty, and staff form a small, tightly knit community devoted to the life of the mind.

Job Summary

The Director of Public Service and Pro Bono Service leads the planning, development, and implementation of programs, counseling, resources, and career activities for students and alumni interested in pursuing public service activities and careers, as well as pro bono service. This full-time position reports to the Associate Dean for Career Services.

Responsibilities

• Develops and implements comprehensive public sector career counseling, programming, and job search services for law students and alumni in various stages of their education and professional development.
• Advises and counsels students and alumni on their career development, choices, and opportunities with primary emphasis on public sector and public interest.
• Supports the work and goals of the Office of Career Services generally, including providing career counseling and advising, coaching, interview preparation, and programming services for students and alumni.
• Provides detailed information and guidance on application procedures for summer, school-year, and post-graduate positions, including post-graduate fellowships and government honors programs.
• Supports, administers, and develops public service initiatives to increase student support and to meet the Law School’s public service goals.
• Coordinates and promotes the Law School’s Postgraduate Public Service Fellowship Program.
• Supervises the Associate Director of Public Service and Pro Bono.
• Oversees the Pro Bono Service Initiative and works closely with the Associate Director of Public Service and Pro Bono to encourage student participation.
• Works closely with the Senior Director of International Programs in the career-related aspects of their work.
• Assesses and regularly develops and updates public sector resources, including in the career resource center, on the Law School’s website, in the Office of Career Services (OCS) Job Search Guide, in Symplicity, and in other communications.
• Supervises the maintenance of the public service career listserv and drafts frequent informational materials for dissemination to this listserv group.
• Oversees information dissemination and student registration for public service job fairs and events.
• Develops and provides public service career programming as needed, such as information sessions and speaker panels on public service, pro bono, and other related topics. Assesses and evaluates the effectiveness of programming and workshops.
• Evaluates the operation, administration, and budgetary impact of the public service program.
• Participates in alumni and other community fund development efforts that support the Law School’s public service programs.
• Works closely with the Director of Financial Aid in the administration of all public interest funding programs for students and graduates, including summer funding and loan repayment assistance programs.
• Advises CLF (Chicago Law Foundation), PILS (Public Interest Law Society), and other student organizations as requested on public sector programming, initiatives, and funding.
• Serves as a staff liaison to the faculty Public Interest Law Committee.
• Attends Admitted Students events, including Entering Students Dinner and Day in the Life events.
• Serves as the Law School’s representative to Equal Justice Works, the Public Service Peer Group, and the Chicago Area Law Schools’ Public Service Committee; engages with NALP, PSJD, and other organizations; and represents the Law School and the Office of Career Services to other internal and external audiences.
• Cultivates and expands employer relations and publicity to increase public sector employment and fellowship opportunities for students, including by attending public service career conferences, networking events, and career fairs, and promoting these events to students when applicable.
• Partners with the Senior Associate Director of Employer Recruitment Programs and others in OCS to recruit and maintain relationships with public sector employers for job postings and participation in the Public Service Interview Program (PSIP).
• Assists in the executio