More 50 incoming Vanderbilt 1Ls attended the Public Service Orientation Aug. 13 before the start of the law school’s week-long student orientation program.
Sponsored by the Public Interest Office, this annual event exposes first-year law students to the public service tenets of the legal profession and provides them an opportunity to learn about pro bono legal service opportunities available to students at the law school and in the Nashville area. Assistant Dean and Martha Craig Daughtrey Director for Public Interest Beth Cruz welcomed the students with a brief introduction to pro bono in the profession and at Vanderbilt. Attorneys and Vanderbilt Law faculty then held breakout sessions focusing on a diverse array of pro bono service practice areas.
Speakers for breakout sessions included Stella Yarbrough ’14 of ACLU-Tennessee; Associate Dean for Experiential Education Sue Kay, who heads the law school’s legal clinic and teaches the Criminal Practice Clinic; Kameron Dawson of A Better Balance, a legal nonprofit that focuses on advancing justice for workers; Vanessa Zapata ’19 of Tennessee Justice Center, a legal nonprofit that educates and advocates for public programs focusing on health and food security; Associate Clinical Professor of Law Jennifer Prusak, who directs the Housing Law Clinic; Allen King ’21 and DOJ Accredited Representative Aineth Murguia of Tennessee Justice for Our Neighbors, a Nashville-based immigration law nonprofit organization; and Assistant Clinical Professor of Law Cara Suvall, who teaches the law school’s Youth Opportunity Clinic.