PRO BONO OPPORTUNITIES
Villanova Law students make a difference in the lives of many by providing free legal services to people who otherwise could not afford the help they need.
Pro bono work enables students to affect the lives of others, while exploring various fields of law, networking with attorneys, and also advancing their own skills. Pro bono legal work puts classroom learning into practice through hands-on experience. Volunteers perform the work of practicing attorneys, including interviewing and counseling clients, drafting pleadings, negotiating deals and appearing in court. By using the law to help clients achieve their goals, pro bono volunteers learn about the power, and the limits, of the law and the lawyer’s role in resolving complex problems associated with poverty and powerlessness.
GETTING INVOLVED
Students who complete a minimum of 60 pro bono hours before graduation are awarded the Dorothy Day Award for Pro Bono Service and are recognized at commencement.
Villanova Law students can earn pro bono hours through various partners. The Public Service Job Directory, a database of pro bono and public interest organizations, helps students identify an area of interest. This includes “Facilitated Pro Bono Opportunities” coordinated through the Villanova Law Pro Bono Society (see below for more information).
FACILITATED OPPORTUNITIES
Facilitated Pro Bono Opportunities adhere to the following process:
- Villanova Law shares these opportunities with students;
- A student liaison from the Pro Bono Society is assigned to that opportunity;
- A faculty liaison is assigned to that opportunity;
- Information regarding the opportunity (including brief description, contact person at the organization, name/email of student and faculty liaison) is provided on our website.
Site Chair: Jaclyn Caretta ’27
Faculty Liaison: Janine Dunlap-Kiah
Site Contact: Brendon Sylvester, Legal Clinics Administrator
CLC is an urban legal ministry that seeks to address injustice and poverty in partnership with existing inner-city host ministries by bringing volunteer attorneys into neighborhoods where their services are most needed. Students will work with volunteer attorneys on clinic days to provide a wide range of legal services.
Site Chair: Jessica Alexander ’27 and Edie Bradley ’26
Faculty Liaison: Deeya Haldar
Site Contact: Rich Mattia, Supervisor, Domestic Violence Unit, Philadelphia Family Court
Survivors of domestic violence often come to family court without an attorney to seek a Protection from Abuse (PFA) Order. DVAP provides critical legal information and referrals to unrepresented litigants in Philadelphia Family Court. Student volunteers are stationed in the Domestic Violence Filing Unit to assist individuals navigating the process without legal representation.
Site Chairs: Gabe Dash ’26 and Steven Irvin ’26
Faculty Liaison: Janine Dunlap-Kiah
Site Contact: John Winicov, Esq., Senior Staff Attorney
The Face to Face Legal Center protects the human, civil and legal rights of low-income and homeless individuals. It bridges the “justice gap” by offering free legal services to individuals who live below 150% of the Federal Poverty Level. The center is staffed by two full-time attorneys and a legal assistant; it provides a full range of legal services from consumer to family law. Our Legal Center’s nationally recognized birth certificate clinic helps countless people secure legal identification without which they are prevented from full participation in society.
Site Chairs: Kyra Kervick-Maclean ’27 and Gavin Tamer ’26
Faculty Liaison: Steven Chanenson
Placement Contact: Erin Boyle, Esq., Assistant Public Defender
Since 2013, the Montgomery County Public Defender Office has offered free criminal record expungements for eligible clients. The Montgomery County Expungement Clinic is staffed by law student volunteers who are supervised by the Policy Director and Chief Public Defender. For first year law students, the clinic presents an excellent opportunity for direct, one on one contact with adult and juvenile clients by conducting intake interviews and follow up calls. Certified law students who volunteer for the clinic may also represent clients in contested hearings. In addition to working directly with clients, clinic volunteers get valuable experience drafting legal petitions and orders to file in the Criminal Clerk’s Office.
Site Chair: Dennis Reilly ’27
Faculty Liaison: Anton Robinson
Site Contact: Jacqueline Newsome, Esq. Managing Attorney
The Pardon Project (an initiative of Philadelphia Lawyers for Social Equity “PLSE”) has two student volunteer opportunities:
1: Pardon Project Coach: This is an interview and writing project where the student-volunteer will be connected to an individual looking to fill out a pardon application in Pennsylvania. A pardon represents total forgiveness of a criminal record. If granted, the individual’s entire criminal record in Pennsylvania will be erased and restore the rights and privileges that were lost as a result of their convictions. PLSE will pre-screen the individual to make sure they are a good candidate for a pardon and the student liaison will then connect the student-volunteer to the client. The student-volunteer will attend a 1-hour training (likely via zoom) before starting the project. The student-volunteer will interview (either by phone, zoom, or in-person) the client to help write a persuasive narrative for the pardon application. Generally, 2-4 interviews and 3-5 hours will be needed to finish the application before providing the application to Professor Rogers for review prior to filing the application.
2: Community Education and Intakes: This is an opportunity to provide assistance to community members who are seeking to learn about criminal records, expungements and pardons. Student-volunteers will attend a 1-hour training to learn how to answer general questions at a community-based intake/community event, After the training, the student-volunteer can sign up to participate with PLSE staff in a one-day event that lasts approximately 3-4 hours. At the event, student-volunteers will (with some additional training at the event) interview community members, conduct intake, review online rap sheets and counsel individuals on the pardon process and whether now is a good time for them to apply.
Site Chair: Mehee Kim ’27
Faculty Liaison: Stephen Olsen
Site Contact: Precious Myers
Villanova operates a Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program, assisting low-income taxpayers in the Philadelphia area to prepare their annual returns. This program is a collaboration with the Tax Law Society.
OTHER OPPORTUNITIES
Additional internal and external pro bono programs are announced throughout the year. Villanova Law’s Lawyering Together Program also pairs students with private bar attorneys to provide pro bono legal services to individuals and organizations across the country.