Baylor Law School's Pro Bono Program
Service to others is at the heart of the legal profession. As attorneys, serving those in need is an honor and a duty. Our Pro Bono Program offers many ways for our students to serve the community.
Eligibility: Who can participate?
- All current Baylor Law School students.
Recognition
For students participating in the Pro Bono Program, the following recognitions are highlighted in the third year of law school.
- Pro Bono Honors: Recognition of students completing 50+ pro bono hours during their time at Baylor Law School.
- Pro Bono Champion: Recognition of students completing 100+ pro bono hours during their time at Baylor Law School.
- Public Interest Fellow: Recognition of students completing 200+ pro bono hours and completing 10 credit hours from the list of courses below during their time at Baylor Law School.
Guidelines: What work is included?
- Pro Bono Law-Related Service: government, prosecutors, public defenders, legal aid, nonprofits, legal clinics, law reform, public interest law firms, judicial internships, etc.
- Examples: assisting a professor with a pro bono project, working in the Baylor Law School's Legal Clinics, Greater Waco Legal Services, Texas Access to Justice Commission Pro Bono Spring Break, volunteering at Lone Star Legal Aid
- Pro Bono Community Service: non-law-related community volunteer work. A maximum of 25 hours worked of Pro Bono Community Service may be recorded over your entire time in law school.
- Examples: building homes with Habitat for Humanity, delivering meals at Meals on Wheels, volunteering with the Humane Society
- Exclusions: Hours cannot be:
- For academic credit (e.g., externship requirements)
- For disciplinary purposes (e.g., a sanction or probation requirement)
- For pay (exception: living stipend)
- A maximum of 25 hours worked when not enrolled in at least 5 hours of courses may be recorded over your entire time in law school.
- A maximum of 25 hours worked of Pro Bono Community Service may be recorded over your entire time in law school.
Logistics: How does the program work?
- Record hours quarterly in BearTracks, according to the above guidelines. The “Pro Bono” tab is on the left of your homepage.
Click here to email the Pro Bono Program Director!
If you have any questions about the Pro Bono Program, click the link to email our director. If you are uncertain whether a volunteer opportunity is eligible under the program guidelines, please get in touch with our director by clicking on the link.
Follow us on Instagram: @baylorlawprobono
List of Public Interest Fellow courses:
- Administrative Law: Federal
- Administrative Law: Texas
- Advanced Criminal Procedure
- Advanced Family Law
- Alternative Dispute Resolution
- Client Relations
- Civil Rights Actions
- Constitutional Law: Free Speech
- Elder Law
- Employment Discrimination
- Environmental Law
- Family Law
- Family Law Advocacy and Procedure
- Field Placement
- Healthcare Law
- Immigration Law
- Independent Study related to any of these courses
- Juvenile Justice
- Legal Clinics (if course credit is earned)
- Nonprofit Organizations
- Post-Conviction: Sentencing
- Poverty Law & Policy
- Separation of Church & State
- Supreme Court Seminar
- Zambia Study Abroad
- Other courses subject to approval by the Director of Clinical & Pro Bono Programs
