Outreach

Community Service Committee

The Community Service Committee is committed to encouraging GW Law students to make a difference in the Washington, DC community and beyond. We organize a variety of events and fundraisers throughout the year, working in conjunction with other student organizations and the undergraduate community. This year’s expected activities include a blood drive, food and clothing drive, charity races, and a fundraising campaign for Harmony Through Education. We hope to offer students a wide variety of opportunities to get involved in and give back to their community.

Alumni Relations Committee

The Alumni Relations Committee serves as the liaison between the Law School Alumni Office and the SBA. We provide student volunteers to staff Alumni Office events, host pro bono and service opportunities with other SBA committees and alumni, and facilitate joint student-alumni activities. We sponsor many returning programs each year including: GW Law Alumni Weekend, Coffee with Experience, Lawyers Have Heart Race, Alumni Golf Tournament, and various alumni-student social outings. Students can learn about Alumni Committee events through through the SBA newsletter and bulletin board fliers. Alumni can learn about about events by subscribing to the alumni office listserv.

Questions? Students, please contact any of the officers below:

Co-Directors: Lindsay Paulin (lpaulin@law.gwu.edu) and Emilie Pinkham (epinkham@law.gwu.edu)
Assistant Director: Nancy Padron (npadron@law.gwu.edu)

Alumni, please contact Tracie Seward (tseward@law.gwu.edu) in the Law School Alumni Office.

Public Interest and Pro Bono Committee

The Public Interest Committee promotes student interest in working, interning, or volunteering in the public interest and government sectors.   We work with the law school administration and other student organizations to encourage students to pursue their public interest and pro bono goals and interests.  The Committee engages in regular dialogues with the faculty regarding student concerns related to public interest and pro bono work during the committee’s monthly meetings.  The Committee also plans several events throughout the school year.  During the Fall 2011 semester, the Committee will focus on raising student awareness about working for and volunteering with public interest organizations.  Planned events include: student visits to non-profit organizations and a panel on pro bono experiences.  We will also put on an Alternative Spring Break in the Spring 2012 semester, giving students an in-depth opportunity to provide pro bono services to the local legal community.

The ABA Committee

The goal of the ABA committee is to help GW Law students learn about — and become active in — the ABA.  GW Law students traditionally have been active in the ABA.  This year, three students are serving as Lieutenant Governors of the Law Student Division of the ABA and one student is serving as an entity liaison.  (For more information on the ABA’s Law Student Division, please visit: http://www.americanbar.org/groups/law_students.html).

If you want to talk to GW students about ABA membership and opportunities, please contact GW ABA Representative Matt Mollozi  (mmollozzi@law.gwu.edu) or SBA Vice President of Outreach Katie John (kmjohn@law.gwu.edu).  To learn more about the benefits of joining the ABA, please click here.

Upcoming ABA Events:

Many ABA sections hold meetings, seminars, and conferences in D.C.  These are great networking opportunities for students.  For a list of upcoming ABA events, please click here.

Upcoming ABA events at GW:

Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Program at GW Law:

One ABA-sponsored event that GW Law students have been involved with in the past is The GW Law Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program, also known as VITA. VITA is a student-run annual program that provides free federal income tax preparation and filing for DC residents who make less than $49,000 for the year.  Students work with IRS personnel to train for federal income tax work with professional software, before becoming certified as preparers and meeting with taxpayers.  The GW VITA program provides students with opportunities to help the DC population while learning useful skills and earning pro bono hours, and provides a needed service to those DC residents who qualify for volunteer assistance.  To learn more about the GW Law VITA program please email GWLawVITA@gmail.com.

Work-A-Day Program at GW Law:

GW Law students also participate in the annual ABA Law Student Division Work-A-Day program.  Work-A-Day is a public service project that brings law students from across the country together to participate in a one day public service project in their community.    Previous Work-A-Day themes include: Veterans advocacy; homelessness and poverty issues; and more recently, programs related to economic crisis solutions.  Stay tuned for more information about this year’s event!