Spotlight on pro bono

Pro Bono is not only an important responsibility of the legal profession, it is an important component of legal education.

At the Southern Illinois University School of Law, our faculty and staff remind our students, in formal and informal ways, about the need to use our unique skills and talents in service to others.

We are particularly mindful of the need to serve the underrepresented members of our community, and we encourage our students to begin a lifetime of service before they leave law school.

Like all ABA-accredited law schools, SIU sponsors several legal clinics that give students the opportunity to practice law under the direct supervision of experienced attorneys.

Our clinic faculty members are extraordinary lawyers, and they help our students deliver legal services to the victims of domestic violence, parties in small claims matters in Jackson County, the elderly in southern Illinois, as well as the farmers in our region.

Clinical legal education is an invaluable way for students to learn the skills that a successful attorney must know. It is also an exciting way for a law school to serve the public and the profession.

Unlike many ABA-accredited law schools, the faculty, staff and students at SIU also volunteer to provide legal services in settings outside of our formal legal clinics.

For example, Prof. Cindy Buys and clinic staff attorney Heidi Ramos work together to coordinate visits several times each year with immigration detainees at the Tri-County Detention Center in Ullin.

They train all interested students, faculty and staff prior to going to the center, then present a “Know Your Rights” program to the detainees and conduct intake interviews.

On one occasion, this volunteer effort resulted in one faculty member and three students representing an applicant from Iran. Other cases are referred to not-for-profit service providers or private pro bono attorneys.

Annually, we survey our faculty, staff and students and ask everyone to report the pro bono and/or public service activities in which they are actively involved. The list is always very long.

Our people identified 89 service organizations, activities, schools and religious institutions that they regularly support. We donate countless hours of public service to make our part of Illinois a better place in which to live, work and play.

As a result, organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union, Habitat for Humanity, the League of Women Voters and the DuQuoin Youth Club receive help from lawyers and lawyers-in-training.

I frequently tell people that the SIU School of Law is unique, in part, because it is a place where so many people selflessly contribute their time and talents.

We are a relatively young institution, with a small population when compared to many of our sister institutions within Illinois. But we are a school with a big heart, and we care a great deal about teaching, learning, and serving others.

It is very important that our students learn contracts, property and torts, but it is also important for us to help them learn to give back to society. We try to teach by example, and we are excited to do it.

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