Public Interest Center

Northwestern Pritzker School of Law is a leader in preparing students for public interest careers and pro bono work that promotes advancement of social justice. The Public Interest Center provides strategic leadership of key public interest activities on campus and cultivates a strong public interest culture – one that encourages all students to develop a public service ethic.

Our staff is here to advise, support, and foster strong commitments to public interest and help shape the next generation of public interest attorneys and leaders. The Center provides financial support for students doing public interest work during and after law school; career programming and counseling; a wide range of pro bono and public service opportunities; and passionate student organization participation and leadership. The Center staff also works closely with faculty involved in the law school’s many public interest course offerings, including those in the Bluhm Legal Clinic and the Law and Social Policy concentration. This collaboration helps ensure that students learn a public interest ethic inside and outside the classroom.

Recent Updates

Congratulations to Melissa Castillo West (JD '24), who received a 2024 Equal Justice Works Felllowship!

Melissa will be an attorney with the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless to provide legal representation, outreach, and advocacy to unsheltered individuals and families in Chicago through a speciailized community lawyering service delivery model.

Congratulations to the 2024 Northwestern Law Public Interest Post-Graduate Fellows!

Five recent Northwestern Pritzker School of Law graduates received Northwestern Law post-graduate fellowships this year to support their work addressing issues such as economic justice, education equity, voting rights, gender-based violence, and prisoners’ rights.

Congratulations to Henry Zhu (JD '22), who received a 2024 Skadden Fellowship!

Henry will be an attorney with the National Immigrant Justice Center in Chicago to execute a multi-pronged, targeted project defending access to an important type of asylum claim. He will oppose government attempts to deny asylum protections to immigrants who have suffered past persecution or fear future persecution for belonging to a cognizable particular social group (like LGBTQ+ individuals and survivors of domestic violence).