The Public Interest Office recently held Vanderbilt Law’s inaugural 2024 Public Interest Boot Camp, a day-long program designed to provide students with the building blocks necessary to create strong public interest careers.
“It was wonderful to meet and talk with attorneys working in a variety of public interest roles, and to hear from attorneys who hire interns and new lawyers for public interest jobs,” said Erin Melton ‘27. “I learned more about what it’s like to actually practice, both in the field I want to work in and others that I had not even considered.
“Top law schools have a reputation for channeling a lot of resources to support students pursuing big law. I chose Vanderbilt because I saw that the law school is also investing in their public interest students, and the boot camp is just one example of that investment.”
The morning sessions, held exclusively for 2Ls and 3Ls, began with a community check-in and a vibrant panel on obtaining a post-graduate public interest fellowship with Lauren Sudeall, Terry Maroney, and Jane Dimnwaobi ‘23.
In a session titled “Tell a Compelling Story and Strengthen your Interviewing Game,” 2Ls and 3Ls engaged in workshop exercises to clearly identify their “whys,” highlight their legal skills with memorable examples, and set themselves apart as exceptional public interest candidates.
The Public Interest Community Lunch, attended by more than 50 students, faculty, alumni, and local attorneys, featured opening remarks by Dean Chris Guthrie. Lunch provided students the opportunity to connect with faculty and practitioners from the Federal Public Defender’s Office, Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands, the ACLU of Tennessee, Nashville Defenders, and the Tennessee Innocence Project. Faculty in attendance included Terry Maroney, Dan Sharfstein, Lauren Sudeall, Associate Dean Sue Kay, Michael Newton, Cara Suvall, Alvaro Manrique Barrenechea, Alissa Heydari, and First Amendment Fellow Ryan Riedmueller.
The afternoon session “Charting a Public Interest Career Path” provided 1Ls and transfer students with guidance on job search timelines, strategies for developing a public interest career, and resources for job and internship searches. It also offered tools for writing strong cover letters and resumes, developing relationships with practicing attorneys, and strengthening interviewing skills.
The last session of the day, “Public Service Hiring from the Employer Perspective,” received especially strong feedback from students. The panelists – Martesha Johnson Moore, Chief Public Defender at Nashville Defenders; Carrie Daughtrey, Assistant United States Attorney; Zac Oswald, Senior Deputy Director of Client Services at Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee; Taylor Jenkins, Assistant General Counsel, Tennessee Department of Education; and Trey Bussey, Staff Attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center – provided students with actionable advice on everything from building a public interest career and public interest salary ranges to effective interviewing.
The Boot Camp closed with a “Social Justice Happy Hour,” sponsored by the George Barrett Social Justice Program, to provide students, faculty, and practitioners with another opportunity to build community.
“Not only we were able to learn helpful information about careers and applications, but (the Boot Camp) also gave us the opportunity to meet many of the other public interest students,” said Elizabeth Wehby ’26. “I really enjoyed hearing from faculty, staff, and other community members about their public interest career experiences and getting to be in community with the other students pursuing public interest after law school.”
