PILI Law Student Interns & Graduate Fellows at the May 28th Orientation
On Wednesday, May 28th, PILI welcomed its 112 summer 2025 PILI Law Student Interns and Graduate Fellows and kicked off its Summer Educational Seminar Series with a daylong orientation. Law Student Interns and Graduate Fellows participated in person and also virtually. The orientation and weekly sessions are being generously hosted by DePaul University College of Law.
This year, orientation included an in-person Self-Represented Litigant Simulation that had Interns and Fellows try to navigate common processes of the civil legal system, like procuring SNAP benefits or getting an eviction moratorium, from a Self-Represented Litigant’s perspective based on the reality of someone living in poverty and experiencing housing insecurity and the court system. This simulation gave Interns and Fellows a sense of the real barriers and struggles those navigating the court system face every day. By making explicit factors like unconscious bias, procedural fairness, and the difficulty of navigating the court system without guidance, Interns and Fellows learned how small problems can compound quickly into devastating consequences when the system doesn’t support you.
PILI Alumni Network Leadership Council member, Abigail Van Hook and PILI Senior Managing Attorney, Jessica Schneider assist Interns & Fellows at the Self-Represented Litigant Simulation
Interns and Fellows also were presented with educational sessions throughout the day with topics such as: Getting to Know the Communities You Serve, Writing for Public Interest Law, Conflict Management and Social Justice Strategies & the Power of Direct Representation, Policy Work and Impact Litigation. In-person participants were also able to choose one of three concurrent breakout sessions to attend including A View from the Bench: How to Be an Effective Advocate, Effective Client Interviewing and Transactional Lawyering for Social Impact. The program was a success with the help members of PILI’s Alumni Network, public interest legal professionals and judges who presented these sessions throughout the day.
This summer, PILI’s Law Student Interns and Graduate Fellows will collectively generate an additional 39,700 hours of legal assistance. As PILI Executive Director Michael Bergmann stated when addressing the Interns and Fellows, “You are the future leaders of our noble profession. Today, you pick up the torch from those who came before you. You join them in the fight to make our nation’s guarantee of equal justice under law a reality for all.”
Of our Law Student Interns this summer, 23 will hold Honorary, Memorial or Named Internship positions, which are created and funded by individuals and groups dedicated to promoting public interest law service and supporting PILI’s Law Student Internship Program. We are grateful to the individuals and groups who make it possible for Interns to provide legal services for people, families and communities in need. Read more »
Our thanks to all who participated and contributed to the educational programming which serves as a start for our Interns and Fellows to grow from throughout the summer. We hope these sessions will better prepare our Interns and Fellows for their summer positions as well as their lifetime of public interest law and pro bono service.
Learn more about the PILI Educational Seminars »
Meet our current class of Interns and Fellows »
View past seminars on PILI’s YouTube channel »
Are you a public interest law intern or fellow in Illinois this summer? Sign up for updates and register for our Summer Educational Seminar Series here »
If you have questions about PILI’s Law Student Internship, Graduate Fellowship Programs or our educational programming, contact Alex Schumacher by email.