S.J. Quinney College of Law

Welcome! We’re so, so excited for you to join us.

Please arrive at least 15 minutes early to your first time volunteering. The student director (a 2L or 3L who is in charge of the program) will greet you and give you a quick training specific to that site. The student director will then pair you with a more experienced volunteer.

You and your partner will meet with clients and conduct an initial intake. During your first few sessions, it is completely okay if you want to sit back, take notes, and let the other student do all the questioning. We encourage you to listen and learn until you feel more comfortable. After a few clients, you can start to take the lead with asking questions. This initial intake should last approximately 10 minutes.

After the initial intake, you and your partner will walk over to the supervising attorneys. You will share the client’s situation with an attorney, and you will collaborate with that attorney to determine what advice to give to the client. Sometimes, you may have to go back to the client to ask additional questions.

Once you have spoken to the attorney, you will return to the client and convey the attorney’s advice. Do not provide any advice unless you have okayed that advice with your attorney supervisor.

Yes! Absolutely. Let the student director in charge of the site know at least 24 hours in advance.

The Certificate of Service is given to all JD students who complete 50 or more hours of pro bono service prior to graduation and all MLS students who complete 20 or more hours of pro bono service prior to graduation.

Qualifying work must be: a) uncompensated (either monetarily or with credit), b) law-related, and c) for the benefit of the public interest. Work does NOT need to be completed through PBI. If you are completing an unpaid internship or have completed a surplus of hours for an unpaid field placement, you can log up to 25 hours from that position as long as it meets the other requirements.

If you are curious if your volunteer work will count, please talk to or email Caisa Royer.

Hours should be logged on 12twenty. See instructions for logging hours in 12twenty.

Students can start volunteering with PBI after their first semester. A training is held in January each year, but eager students can complete the training online (linked above) as soon as they finish 1L fall finals.