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Social networking for women NGO activists and their clients
By Anna Nelson • February 04, 2008 •Nonprofits and the Public Interest
PulseWire is in beta testing, open for women who are working in the fields of human trafficking, HIV/AIDS, and water sustainability. Could that be you? [More after the jump]From the website: PulseWire is an interactive website where women worldwide — including those using internet cafés and cell phones in remote villages — can speak for themselves to the world and collaborate to solve global problems. It is also a new space inviting men to support and learn from women's voices.PulseWire is a tool designed by and for diverse users: a Sri Lankan market woman looking for new sources of micro-credit,…
Why Do Women Dominate Public Interest?
By sintecho • November 07, 2007 •Nonprofits and the Public Interest
I was poking around the Perspectives magazine articles available online, and I came across An Eye-Opening Tool for Wide-Eyed Law Students, a piece last year about the Equal Justice Works ranking of law schools by their public interest programs. I found two things interesting about the article. First, the approximately 27% of law graduates who enter public interest has remained fairly static since the 1980s. Second, women are presumed to benefit more from pressure on law schools to provide more support for public interest job hunting since women are more likely to take public interest jobs (the article cites a…
Hanging out my own shingle: what being Ms. JD means to me
By Carol Simpson • September 16, 2007 •Nonprofits and the Public Interest
My summer internship is over. I spent 10 weeks totally immersed in public interest law, and as a result I have completely changed what I had so carefully planned to do after graduation. No longer do I plan to remain an academic, nor do I wish to pursue a job at a large firm. More than likely I will open a solo practice so I can do public interest law. Some of this change may also go back to how I got to attend law school. Just at the time I was preparing to take the LSAT, my younger son, then…
Avoiding burnout on the Death Row defense bar
By Carol Simpson • July 30, 2007 •Nonprofits and the Public Interest
Each week during our internship, the legal staff has an “Intern CLE,” or some sort of legal lecture. Sometimes we watch a video on some aspect of public interest law, followed by a Q&A with an attorney practicing in that field. It may be someone working in criminal defense, legal aid, a lobbyist, or a legislative aide. We even watched Good Night, and Good Luck. The interns get to learn a little about other areas of public interest law, and can network with attorneys in other non-profits. And it serves as a little break in an otherwise intensive work week.We…
Public interest practice is a wellspring for reform of the entire legal profession
By Christine Mathias • June 24, 2007 •Nonprofits and the Public Interest
The old saw that "law is a conservative profession" is no excuse.Upon entering the legal profession, I am acutely aware that women are in the minority. This is based on the number of women I've seen at my school and in my limited legal experience, as well as the treatment towards women and women's attitudes in the field. There are double standards for women, and women are often reluctant to address this. Starting from law school, it seems that women are more apprehensive to discuss the topic of law at all. Law school rewards confidence and aggressiveness, it seems, and…
We have a duty to use our law degrees to advance women’s rights
By Emily Lambert • June 13, 2007 •Nonprofits and the Public Interest
As women entering the legal profession, I believe we all have the duty to use our law degree to help advance the rights of women in some way. Before I even started law school at Catholic University, I knew that I wanted to use my law degree to advance women's rights. Since I have started law school my desire to provide legal services to the poor and underprivileged women has only strengthened. My commitment to this line of work is evidenced through my legal internships, volunteer work, and clinical work. During my first year of law school, my friend at…
International Human Rights Lawyering: Can I do my own gender justice?
By Anonymous • June 11, 2007 •Nonprofits and the Public Interest
My first year of law school has taught me there is no law. At least, there is no law that is not first experienced by and filtered through the participants to a case or a suit. Each complaint tells a story of men and women who have suffered. Sometimes they lose money, other times rights, and in the worst of cases, the victims lose their dignity and lives. Women experience "The Law" much differently than the men who construct it, and their stories must be told.I study public international law. It is not sexy. The worst crimes are still being…