Nikolai Morse ‘24
Managing Editor
While most students were enjoying a well-earned rest over spring break, a group of students spent their free time volunteering for public-interest organizations across the country. The program, hosted by the Public Interest Law Association (PILA), is a long-running program which provides students the opportunity to work with an organization for a week, provide assistance to organizations who are often severely under-resourced, and gain valuable experience in the process.
While the Alternative Spring Break (“ASB”) program is now considered a mainstay in the UVA law school student experience, it has grown significantly since its inception. The ASB program at UVA Law originated in the late-aughts as an effort by PILA to provide interested students an opportunity to do good while gaining hands-on experience. In its first year, seventeen students participated between two organizations.
According to Ariana Smith ’23, PILA’s Alternative Break Programming Director, this year nearly sixty students participated across twenty-seven different organizations. Students had the opportunity to work with attorneys from organizations across the country whose focus included public defense, legal aid, civil rights, prosecution, sexual assault, domestic violence, immigration, and environmental law.
Smith ’23 emphasized the value of the program to both the participating students and the communities in which they volunteer. “I think the program is a great supplement to traditional classes, which can sometimes feel a bit more theoretical and abstract as opposed to hands-on and skill-based. And more importantly, students are learning and leveraging those new skills to help others and strengthen the communities they're working within.” Students who participated in the ASB program noted the variety of benefits the program offered.
For many students, the ASB program was an ideal opportunity to serve their community while not adding another commitment to an already-challenging class schedule. “As a 1L, joining pro bono programs in the fall seemed like it would be too overwhelming, ASB was a great way to get my feet wet in the pro bono world, and hopefully start building a habit of service that I can maintain throughout Law School,” says Camille Blum ’24.
For other students it was an opportunity to explore a field of the law they had an interest in as a potential career. This reporter, for instance, was able to supplement an interest in criminal law by working for the Fredericksburg Public Defender’s Office. Having the chance to participate in and observe the daily work of the public defenders helped add to an understanding of not only what the experience of working in the criminal law is like but also seeing the stakes for the accused and the victims in the criminal justice system.
Students who participate in the program are also eligible to use these hours to satisfy their Public Summer Service (“PSS”) grant pro bono hours requirement. The PSS program, which is also run by PILA, provides students who are working unpaid positions in the public service or judicial fields a grant to assist them with living expenses over the summer.
While most students conducted their pro bono remotely, students who had the opportunity to be in person noted the benefits of being able to interact with attorneys and observe court proceedings. “I had the opportunity to meet with clients, research for motion hearings, and even watch a trial. Having the chance to see how the attorneys at the Fredericksburg PD’s office litigated challenging cases helped me better understand a side of criminal law that, prior to ASB, I had little experience with,” says Liam Fineman ’24.
In addition to their daily work assisting attorneys at their host organizations, students participated in a curriculum curated by second- and third-year law students that supplemented their volunteer experience. This curriculum included readings and podcasts focused on the challenges faced by legal advocates and their clients in a given area of public service. Students met daily to discuss these materials and reflect on how they connected to their ASB experience. Outside speakers provided an additional perspective and the opportunity for the students to ask questions of practitioners. Whitney Carter, ’23 who led the Public Defense & Capital Punishment discussion groups said, “During our curriculum time, we had the opportunity to hear from Dawn Davison, a formal capital defender, and Lauren Reese, a public defender. It was really interesting and useful to hear their takes from what public defense and capital work really looks like when you’re doing it.”
For any student interested in public service, giving back to their community, or even just gaining hands-on experience relevant to litigation, PILA’s Alternative Spring Break program presents a unique opportunity. Perhaps most importantly, it exemplifies the role of lawyers as advocates, taking the practice of the law from abstract ideas we learn in classes to something concrete and impactful. As Smith ’24 noted, “ASB is…a good reminder that law school is a lot more than just readings and cold calls. Behind the cases we read are real, live people who are confronting our legal system with a lot at stake, and when we do pro bono work, we truly engage with those people in a way that I think is really valuable and fulfilling.”
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cpg9jy@virginia.edu