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Rubin Public Interest Law Honor Society

• Approved Public Interest Placements
• Approved Clinical Placements
• Current Membership

Temple University Beasley School of Law recognizes that a public service component to a legal education serves many important purposes. First, it introduces law students to public service as one of the traditional hallmarks of the legal profession. Second, Temple Law students' public service helps to narrow the gap in legal services to the underserved by providing a pool of pre-professional workers whose efforts make legal services more widely available. Third, law students receive valuable exposure to clients and actual legal problems that prepares many of them for full time public interest careers or other pro bono opportunities during their legal careers.

Temple Law School has long fostered an environment where the values of public service work are both supported and cultivated. These values are evidenced by the number of alumni holding public service positions in Philadelphia and across the nation, and through the variety of clinical programs, public interest internships, and pro bono opportunities afforded to our students.

In realizing Temple Law School's tradition of public service, many Temple Law students go beyond the rigors of their academic curriculum and provide legal services to underserved communities and address important public issues without receiving pay or academic credit. Temple Law School recognizes all of our students' public service efforts which exceed the expectation of a part-time job or a clinical class. In order to enhance our tradition of public service, the Rubin Public Interest Law Honor Society was created to acknowledge Temple Law students whose exceptional dedication to public service gives them the energy to go beyond their academic requirements.

There are three levels of recognition: Member, Associate and Fellow. Each level of recognition requires a certain combination of  'public service units' and/or a certain number of pro bono hours.

Public Service Units: a public service unit consists of one of the following:

1. One semester of clinical work from approved clinical list;
2. One semester (80 hours) of paid work, including work-study, at an approved placement; OR
3. One summer of work at an approved placement.

Pro Bono Hours: Pro bono work is defined as work done at an approved placement where the student does not receive monetary compensation, work-study, or academic credit.

Member: One public service unit PLUS twenty (20) hours of pro bono work OR fifty (50) hours of pro bono work
Associate: Two public service units PLUS twenty (20) hours of pro bono work OR seventy-five hours of pro bono work
Fellow: Three public service units PLUS twenty (20) hours of pro bono work OR one hundred (100) hours of pro bono work

In order to participate in the Rubin Public Interest Law Honor Society, please notify Maureen Olives, Director of Public Interest Programs, by email at molives@temple.edu of your intention to participate and where you are performing public service or pro bono work. You must notify the Director at the start of your placement, and she will confirm that you are working at an approved placement.*

Students must document their hours by completing the Rubin Public Interest Law Honor Society survey at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=995702207132 . Surveys will be due on the following dates:

Logs may be obtained from the Director of Public Interest Programs, Room 203 Barrack Hall or by email to molives@temple.edu, or on the Public Interest Law bulletin board on the first floor of Klein Hall.

The Rubin Public Interest Law Society does not carry academic credit. It is an honor which can be noted where you list other academic honors on your resume.

The Rubin Public Interest Law Honor Society Recognition Policy was drafted by the first class of Rubin Public Interest Scholars: Marlo Cohen, Rhonda Grubbs, Nancy MacEoin and Donna Johnson. The policy was approved by the faculty on March 5, 2003. The Society is named in honor of Leonard Rubin, a 1949 graduate who bestowed a generous gift to enable the Law School to create scholarships to support public interest minded students.

*The Director of Public Interest Programs ('Director') must approve each placement in advance to ensure that the work is professional, law-related, performed under an attorney's supervision and consistent with the goal of fostering student participation in public service. The following guidelines will be used in making these decisions:

1. work directly related to the delivery of legal services to indigent individuals by attorneys or organizations; or
2. work for an attorney or attorneys on behalf of organizations, donations to which qualify as charitable contributions under state or federal tax law; or
3. law-related work for federal, state or local government, including governmental agencies, but excluding judicial clerkships, and other positions not directly benefiting under-served populations or causes; or
4. work directly related to the administration of the pro bono program;
5. employment for pay at a private law firm does not qualify for any of the above categories.