Pro Bono and Community Service Opportunities
Whether you want to help low-income clients with their legal problems or prepare Thanksgiving baskets for people in need, you’ll find a service niche at William & Mary Law School. Our students’ initiative and their desire to serve, combined with the Law School’s citizen-lawyer tradition, produce a broad array of service opportunities. Pro bono service – unpaid, non-credit bearing legal assistance to those unable to pay – takes many forms at William & Mary. Recent initiatives include:
- Eviction Diversion Program: Law students help low-income tenants facing eviction in this partnership involving the Greater Richmond Bar Foundation, Housing Opportunities Made Equal, Central Virginia Legal Aid Society, and pro bono attorneys.
- Students for the Innocence Project (SFIP): Law students raise awareness about wrongful convictions, conduct exonoree outreach, and assist The Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project with prevention and correction of wrongful convictions.
- Wills for Seniors: Students work with attorneys from the law firm of Williams Mullen to conduct intake interviews and help prepare, execute, and witness wills for clients referred by the Peninsula Agency on Aging.
The range and breadth of our students’ nonlegal community service is as diverse as our students themselves. They volunteer on campus, in greater Williamsburg, in their home communities, and throughout the United States and the world. Indicative of students’ volunteerism is their participation in the Law School's Community Service Program (CSP), through which students pledge at least 50 hours of community service. Students who satisfy their pledges are recognized at the graduation awards ceremony and receive a certificate.
Other than through the Law School’s clinics, William & Mary does not provide pro bono assistance directly to members of the public. People seeking pro bono help may want to use these resources: (1) their local legal aid provider; (2) the Virginia State Bar’s Free Legal Answers and Lawyer Referral Service.”