Student Time Log
Matriculation Dates
Fall 2024 and After
For students who matriculated at Northwestern Pritzker Law in fall 2024 or later, please register or log into Track It Forward to log your pro bono or public service hours.
Prior to Fall 2024
All students who matriculated prior to fall 2024 should continue to use the following Student Time Log system.
What Hours to Log
- Pro bono hours. For work to qualify as pro bono, it must be legal or policy related, supervised by a licensed attorney or law school faculty member, and uncompensated (financially or with academic credit). Qualifying pro bono works includes legal research and writing, client interviewing, client counseling, lecturing on legal topics, writing informational brochures or web-based information on legal topics for underserved populations, and moot court/mock trial judging or coaching.
- Public service hours. For work to qualify as public service, it must be performed on behalf of a nonprofit organization (under IRC section 501(c)(3)) or a government agency and be uncompenstated (financially or with academic credit). Students may count up to five hours of volunteer work for the law school.
- SFPIF hours. For work to qualify as SFPIF hours, the volunteer work must be performed on behalf of the Student Funded Public Interest Fellowship (SFPIF) student organization. For more information, visit the SFPIF website.
- Training hours. Students may count instructional training required to perform the pro bono or public service work but only if they also subsequently volunteer.
- Clinic, externship, or internship hours (without compensation or academic credit). Time volunteering in externships, internships or any of the Law School's clinics, can be logged only if performed without compensation or academic credit.
What Hours NOT to Log
- Political campaign work. Fundraising and other partisan work on behalf of a political campaign should not be logged.
- Legal research to support scholarship, a journal article, or other publication.
- Volunteer work completed before you started law school.
- Commute time. Travel times to and from the volunteer site cannot be logged.
If you have any doubts about whether something should be logged, please contact Sheila Simhan, Director of Pro Bono and Public Service, at sheila.simhan@law.northwestern.edu.