UCLA Law's deep commitment to public interest and public service includes a wide array of classes, clinics, experiences, professional opportunities and connections to leading faculty and dynamic alumni. Students may apply for the competitive Epstein Program specialization as an entering 1L or as a 2L transfer. Service-learning trips provide opportunities for students supervised by expert faculty to work in communities of need around the United States. The school's Clinical Education and externship program and the student-run El Centro Legal Clinics provide myriad opportunities for students to engage with clients while still in school. The Margaret Levy Public Interest Fellows program brings national public interest leaders to campus for intensive engagement with students. The Office of Public Interest Programs collaborates with the Office of Career Services to provide career resources for students, including dedicated public interest career counseling. Generous post-graduate loan repayment and summer public interest grant programs give both graduates and current students a leg up in their social justice careers.
Areas of Focus
Public Interest Law and Policy
Our robust program in public interest law and policy provides the training, skills and opportunities for students to become leaders in public service and social justice.
Centers of Excellence
Our Faculty
E. Tendayi Achiume
Professor of Law
Faculty Director, Promise Institute for Human Rights
Scott L. Cummings
Robert Henigson Professor of Legal Ethics
Professor of Law
Andrew R. Whitcup
Lecturer in Law
Sharon Dolovich
Professor of Law
Faculty Director, UCLA Prison Law & Policy Program
Ingrid V. Eagly
Professor of Law
Faculty Director, David J. Epstein Program in Public Interest Law and Policy
Brenda Suttonwills
Assistant Director of Public Interest Counseling