Student Organizations
Emory has numerous student organizations in various areas of law. Below are those organizations that provide opportunities in public interest law. For a list of ALL student organizations, click here.
Emory Public Interest Committee (EPIC)
Emory Public Interest Committee (EPIC) is Emory's most prominent public interest student group. EPIC was formed in 1989 by students committed to making public interest jobs accessible to Emory students. Each year, EPIC successfully undertakes a major fundraising effort that provides summer grants for students who accept volunteer positions or clerkships in public interest organizations. EPIC also hosts an annual public interest conference.
Environmental Law and Conservation Society
The Environmental Law Society brings together students interested in environmental law and policy, and organizes programs and projects such as lobbying, lectures, trips, curricula, a newsletter, recycling, and energy conservation.
Asian American Law Students Association
Asian American Law Students Association, in its formative stages at Emory, provides educational programs about other legal systems and explores prospective employment and networking opportunities with the Asian community.
Black Law Student Association
Black Law Student Association articulates and advocates the needs and goals of black law students, focuses on the relationships of black attorneys to the American legal structure and brings legal training to bear on the problems of the black community. BLSA plans several projects each year to address its areas of concern.
Emory Federalist Society
The Federalist Society was started in 1982 by law students from Harvard, Yale, Stanford, and the University of Chicago. Today there are student chapters at over 100 schools, including an active chapter at Emory. Two of the founding tenets of the society are that the Constitution should be interpreted in the light in which it was written by the founding fathers, and that judges should interpret the law, not say what it is. Past speakers brought in by the Society include former US Attorney General Edwin Meese, then-D.C. Circuit Judge Clarence Thomas, Harvard constitutional law professor Raoul Burger, and former US Attorney Bob Barr.
Emory Gay and Lesbian Advocates
Emory Gay and Lesbian Advocates is an organization in the Law School open to all students that addresses the legal concerns of the gay, lesbian, and bisexual community and advocates equal and dignified participation of gay people in the law school community. The group holds regular meetings and social events and hosts speakers.
Immigrant Assistance Project (IAP)
The Immigrant Assistance Project is a student-run association dedicated to meeting the need for greater awareness, support, and dissemination of timely information that relates to current federal immigration laws and policies to members of the Emory University community and those individuals seeking asylum, temporary or permanent residency, or citizenship in the United States. IAP seeks to bring together immigration law attorneys and judges, Atlanta-area law students, legal workers, and community advocates to serve the growing Metropolitan Atlanta immigrant population.
Legal Association for Women Students
Legal Association for Women Students encourages increased awareness and discussion of legal issues concerning women and challenges facing women in the law. LAWS invites judges, politicians, lawyers, and professors to speak on a broad range of topics such as health law, domestic violence, sexual harassment, employment discrimination, feminist legal theory, and the particular challenges facing women in the legal marketplace. Other activities include a mentoring program pairing law students with local Emory alumnae, a brown bag lunch series with professors, and a seminar on developing communications skills. LAWS also sponsors an annual fundraiser to aid a local rape crisis center and battered women's shelter.
Student Legal Services
Student Legal Services provides free legal counseling to current Emory students, staff, and faculty. The law student caseworker associates provide this service on a walk-in basis every Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.