PSLawNet

The Public Service Law Network, more commonly known as PSLawNet, is the world’s largest public interest law jobs database and “virtual” career center. PSLawNet - housed at www.pslawnet.org - is administered by the National Association for Law Placement(NALP), but runs as a collaborative project among its 200 U.S. and Canadian subscriber law schools. All students and alumni of subscribing schools have free and unlimited access to legal public interest job postings and employer profiles, in addition to publicly available content accessible through the site’s homepage. Because PSLawNet is supported by NALP and its subscriber law schools its chief virtue is that it allows public interest employer organizations to create profiles and post law student and lawyer job opportunities free of charge. It is meant to provide an online “coming together point” for those seeking public interest employment opportunities and those offering them.

In addition to job postings and employer profiles, PSLawNet’s publicly accessible online library of educational and career-building resources for those interested in public service careers brings together materials from dozens of sources. These materials include tips on drafting public interest resumes and cover letters, interviewing tips, a calendar of public interest career fairs nationwide, and extensive information about public interest career paths - including work in prosecution, public defense, international work, and practice in nonprofit law offices. PSLawNet thus serves as an online career services office for public interest-minded law students and attorneys

History

PSLawNet began in 1989 at New York University School of Law as “Pro Bono Students” (PBS). PBS sought to create a database of organizations serving under-represented communities that could be searched by law students interested in volunteering. Prior to this time, no easy way existed for law students to identify law-related volunteer opportunities. An instant success, PBS expanded within a few years to law schools throughout the state of New York and then eventually to law schools all across the country. By 1995, Pro Bono Students had become Pro Bono Students America (PBSA).

PBSA’s innovative technology allowing students to search for academic year and summer internships by geographic location and subject matter was markedly different than any previous public interest resource, and it quickly became the primary research tool for students exploring public interest and government career options. Eventually, the database was expanded to include post-graduate fellowship opportunities and full-time public interest job listings as well.

In 1998, PBSA’s name was changed to Public Service Law Network – PSLawNet – to reflect its broader scope as a comprehensive, public interest career resource and job search tool. By 2000, PSLawNet’s membership had grown to nearly 125 U.S. law schools. This evolution from its inception at just one law school led NYU in 2003 to decide that it was time for PSLawNet to be housed with an organization serving a more national audience. NYU and PSLawNet’s Executive Council deliberated at some length before unanimously selecting NALP as its new home. Since that time, PSLawNet has continued to grow and improve. PSLawNet’s subscriber base now numbers nearly 190 U.S. law schools and nine Canadian schools. It has undergone several enhancements to its website and database, including this most recent upgrade in July 2008.

NALP

Since 2003, NALP has housed and administered PSLawNet in its Washington, D.C. office. Founded in 1971 as the National Association for Law Placement, NALP is a nonprofit educational association of law schools and legal employers. NALP is dedicated to facilitating legal career counseling and planning, recruitment and retention, and the professional development of law students and lawyers. PSLawNet is at the core of NALP’s programs promoting legal careers in public service.