OPIA

Please join our panel of HLS alumni who will speak about their own career transitions across a variety of public interest and private sector practice settings. Of varied backgrounds, a panel of HLS alums will share what they did to successfully pivot and what they experienced along the way. They will offer invaluable tips on how best to use your time in law school and early in your career to ensure that if you choose, you can achieve similar transitions! Lunch provided. RSVP below.

Interested in learning more about public interest salaries? Excited about public interest work but concerned how you will manage loan repayment? Hear from a panel of public interest alumni as they candidly share their experiences participating in the Low-Income Repayment Program and discuss their lifestyles on public interest salaries (no, they don't eat ramen noodles every day). Catherine Pattanayak, Assistant Dean for Public Service, and Katy Harger, Assistant Director for the Low-Income Protection Plan and Public Interest Funding, will moderate and answer your questions. Lunch provided. Please RSVP below.

Public interest-minded students contemplating whether to pursue a clerkship after graduation are encouraged to attend this panel discussion at which public interest alumni who have clerked will talk about their experiences. The discussion will explore how a clerkship can be beneficial, the differences among various types of clerkships, and whether a clerkship might, or might not, be necessary for the kind of public interest work you hope to pursue.  Audience: This event is for public interest-minded 1Ls and 2Ls who are curious about clerkships.  Lunch provided. Please RSVP below.

Are you wondering if Big Law is right for you? Debating whether to participate in the Early Interview Program? Are you worried that if you don’t go to a large law firm, you’ll be left without “options”? Join us for a panel discussion with public-interest-minded current students as they reflect on their own decisions about whether to spend a summer or begin their careers in Big Law. Lunch provided. Please RSVP below.

Wondering how students land public interest employment immediately after graduation? Does the path seem confusing compared to private sector recruitment? Join OPIA as we demystify post-graduate pathways to public service, including a high-level overview of entry-level hiring, fellowships, and government honors programs. We will discuss hiring vehicles and key steps and strategies to ready you for post-graduate public interest job success. Lunch provided. Please RSVP below.

Have a quick question about the public interest job search? Come to OPIA for drop-in office hours. Please note that drop-in office hours are for quick questions only on a first-come, first-served basis.

Have a quick question about the public interest job search? Come to OPIA for drop-in office hours. Please note that drop-in office hours are for quick questions only on a first-come, first-served basis.

Have a quick question about the public interest job search? Come to OPIA for drop-in office hours. Please note that drop-in office hours are for quick questions only on a first-come, first-served basis.

Many people go to law school because they want to do meaningful work that benefits society, and it can be overwhelming trying to find the perfect job to do that. Join OPIA for a community discussion with Wasserstein fellow Kenda McIntosh as she discusses her unconventional pathway into a career in indigent defense and how bringing her values into her work – from commercial real estate, to immigration, to public defense - has created opportunities and opened doors she could have never planned for. Kenda will discuss the rewards and challenges of serving marginalized communities and offer practical advice on how to make the most out of the first few years of your legal career, no matter what you end up doing. Lunch provided. Please RSVP below. Open to the HLS community.

Advancing a federal anti-poverty policy agenda is not a walk in the park. Come learn from Wasserstein Fellow Michael Santos on how he collaborates with grassroots organizers and blends his experience providing direct legal services and advocating for policy changes at the federal level to help create the political will to protect, expand, and advance anti-poverty policies in Washington, DC. Michael will reflect on the skills he learned as a former eviction defense attorney and as an advocate working to increase access to justice for vulnerable communities living in poverty. Lunch provided. Please RSVP below. Open to the HLS community.

If you had told first-generation college student and Wasserstein Fellow Emily Barth that she would be an Assistant Attorney General back in law school, she would have eaten her shoe! Come hear about how Emily transitioned from a being committed public defender at the Public Defender Service to working for the D.C. Attorney General’s Office and learned to engage in community lawyering from both sides of the “v”. Emily will discuss the many ways to fight for your community, how to listen to your community, and the value of using the power of the government to advocate for the most marginalized. Lunch provided. Please RSVP below. Open to the HLS community.

Join Wasserstein Fellow Lina Biscaia for a community discussion on her career in international organizations, with a focus on the United Nations and the International Criminal Court. Over her 20+ year career, Lina has gone from practicing law in a small village in Portugal to working in war crimes investigations and prosecutions in a variety of settings including the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and the former Yugoslavia. Lina will describe her career path, covering both the opportunities and challenges that one encounters when building a career in large international organizations, particularly in the international criminal law world. Lunch provided. Please RSVP below. Open to the HLS community.

Have a quick question about the public interest job search? Drop by OPIA's office for drop-in office hours. Please note that office hours are for quick questions only on a first-come, first-served basis.

Have a quick question about public interest fellowships? Come to OPIA for drop-in office hours. Please note that drop-in office hours are for quick questions only on a first-come, first-served basis.

Have a quick question about public interest fellowships? Join Judy's Zoom meeting room during her virtual drop-in office hours. Please note that virtual office hours are for quick questions only on a first-come, first-served basis.

Have a quick question about the public interest job search? Come to OPIA for drop-in office hours. Please note that drop-in office hours are for quick questions only on a first-come, first-served basis.

Students and alumni are often curious about federal government service during Presidential transitions and as new administrations ramp up. While transitions are relatively brief and…

Interested in learning more about State Attorney General work? Bring your questions to a group advising session with Professor Peter Brann. Professor Brann will briefly discuss why to consider State AG work and offer advice to students interested in pursuing such opportunities. To learn more about the role of State AGs, check out StateAG.org. Bring your own lunch!

Prosecutors tend to be unpopular and often distrusted, unless popular culture agrees with who is being prosecuted (which isn’t how prosecutorial decisions work). Sometimes there is good reason for distrust, but despite that, it is hardly wise to paint with a broad brush and vilify or glorify an entire group of public servants. Join Wasserstein Fellow Fara Gold as she discusses why being a prosecutor means upholding the Constitution, wielding power fairly, and doing so with humanity. She will explain why she cringes when she reads about prosecutors who have "notched wins" or "scored convictions," because that isn’t how principled prosecutors talk about their careers. Fara will discuss this in the context of her own career first as a state prosecutor, then as a federal prosecutor for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division where she specialized in prosecuting law enforcement sexual misconduct, and now as an attorney with the Office on Violence Against Women where she focuses on policy and training to address gender-based violence. Lunch provided. Please RSVP below. Open to the HLS community.

1L International Job Search Strategy Date: 9/24/2025
Runtime: 48:18 Speaker: Jillian Tuck, Associate Director for J.D. and LL.M. Advising, Programs, and Community Building This event…

1L Domestic Job Search Strategy Date: 9/15/2025
Runtime: 44:36 Speaker: Elizabeth Shirey, Associate Director for J.D. Advising and Communications This presentation was designed to help…