Shweta Kumar
My experience with the UVA Law Pro Bono Program was undoubtedly the highlight of my 1L year, and it played an important role in shaping my career path. I would advise incoming students not to write off the idea of participating in pro bono projects, even if they are certain that they want to start off in private practice. I knew that I was interested in intellectual property and health care, and it was understandably difficult to find pro bono opportunities at the intersection of patent law and public interest.
However, with the help of the program directors, I contacted a number of organizations and ended up working on two different pro bono projects over winter break. I worked with the Future of Privacy Forum on a white paper on genetic privacy. I also worked with the Collaboration for Research Integrity and Transparency at Yale Law School, an interdisciplinary organization that seeks to promote data transparency and access. I continued to do pro bono for CRIT over the spring semester, and ended up working with them for the first half of my 1L summer. Through my work with CRIT, I was able to reaffirm my interest in litigation.
Pro bono projects can provide students with invaluable professional work experience before their 1L summer jobs, serve as an interesting point of discussion for job interviews and create helpful networking opportunities. Unique pro bono projects can also be a valuable way to break into a niche area of law, such as public interest IP or health data privacy. Most importantly, pro bono work can serve as a reminder of why we came to law school in the first place: to serve our communities and effect positive change.