As with most academic programs, the majority of your time spent in law school learning substantive law, will likely be in the classroom. Thus, whether and how public interest topics are covered in the non-clinical curriculum is of utmost importance.

It is difficult to capture meaningful and comparable data about non-clinical curricula. The E-Guide to Public Service at America's Law Schools lists four areas where schools may distinguish themselves. This information should help in your search for the breadth and depth of the public interest curriculum, but additional research is needed. You must dig deeper by exploring the non-clinical curriculum on the websites of prospective schools and by asking questions of faculty and administrators.

Until recently, the first year curriculum at law schools had changed little over the decades. Traditionally, it has consisted of the required courses of torts, contracts, property and civil procedure, constitutional law, criminal law and legal writing. The new trend in legal education is to incorporate skills training and to allow more choices in the first year. As part of this trend, some schools have integrated public interest coursework and experiences into the first year, sending the message that public service is a core value of the profession. You can look for these innovations in the first column of the first page of The E-Guide.

To dig deeper into the first-year curriculum at law schools, you will need to go to the curriculum websites of your prospective schools. Some professors teach traditional first-year courses (e.g., torts, contracts, property, civil procedure) incorporating content on contemporary public interest issues. To learn whether such a course is available, research faculty members' areas of practice, previous employers, areas of scholarship and organizational memberships. Review the biographical information on the faculty who teach first year classes, as well as their published works. If available, read the syllabi and check out the casebook or other materials used in the core courses.

If you are still unsure of the breadth and depth of the incorporation of public interest in the first year, sit in on selected classes, talk to the professors, and ask enrolled students about their impressions. Remember, your first year will likely be the most intense and the most formative, so whom you study under will leave lasting impressions.

If you already have an interest in a particular field (e.g., environment, civil rights, family law), then you should determine if there are course offerings and faculty with expertise that fit your interest. A good place to start is by exploring the clinical options at prospective schools. Go to the section "Hands-On Public Interest Experiences" for more on this subject.

In order to get a sense of the breadth of public interest offerings, look at the percentage of non-clinical courses each school identifies as being dedicated solely to public interest issues on the "Curriculum" page of The E-Guide. Then for specific information, you need only click on the percentage to see the list of the public interest courses offered in 2004-2005.

Examples of such courses might be:

• Law and social change
• Environmental advocacy
• Criminal justice administration
• Children and the law
• Tax-exempt organizations
• Poverty law
• Corporate crime
• Housing law
• Employment law
• Legal problems of the elderly
• Pro bono in the law firm

If you do not see the courses that you are looking for in The E-Guide, visit the websites of your prospective schools and look for courses of interest. Find out who teaches the courses, how frequently the courses are offered and how likely you will be able to get into the course. While many schools provide a long list of upper-level courses on fascinating topics, you may have limited access to these classes. Some courses may be offered just once (or not at all) during your school term. The more important a course is to you, the deeper you should research these details.

In addition, be sure to investigate the traditional upper level courses, such as corporations, tax and professional responsibility. Some professors teach these courses with a focus on public interest and social justice issues.

While some schools require pro bono service, other schools require an upper-level public interest course. These required courses are usually clinics. Such a requirement shows that the school is committed to having every student gain practical field experience. This usually includes exposure to some aspect of public interest or government lawyering.

Sometimes the graduation requirement is flexible and can be met with a clinic or a specific public interest course.

Whether a certificate program or specialization gives a student an advantage in the market is debatable. Regardless of one’s opinion, these programs are clearly the trend and can bring benefits. Public interest students, like other students with particular career goals, want more curricular direction, related co-curricular activities and special services dedicated to their special needs. Formal curricular programs that provide a public interest certificate, tract or concentration, offer courses and experiences for students interested in a public interest career. While most of these programs are open to any interested student, some limit the number of slots through a competitive process. These competitive programs are often referred to as public interest scholars programs. As an alternative to a formal program, some schools provide curricular direction to students pursuing a public interest career by providing written materials crafted for these students. Regardless of whether you intend on participating in a certificate program or concentration, the availability of such a program can tell you something about the stability and frequency of certain course and programmatic offerings. In addition, structure often leads to a community of similarly interested persons, because a number of students with similar interests are taking the same courses and participating in the same co-curricular activities.

The broad range of programs offering curricular specialization or direction to public interest students are highlighted in the “Curricular” section of The E-Guide.

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