The Yale Law School is a
 community of commitment
 dedicated to world-class
 scholarship and teaching
 professional excellence, and
 service for the public good. A
 commitment to public service has long been a part of the culture of our School, a culture that believes that every lawyer has a duty to work actively toward a good greater than private gain. This belief, and the commitment that goes with it, are at the very heart of the Yale Law School’s traditions. As the remarkable variety of our programs demonstrates, different members of the Law School community will find different ways toward the common goal of public service. I hope these public interest opportunities give you a sense of the kind of place the Yale Law School is, and must always aspire to be.
—Dean Harold Hongju Koh, Yale Law School

***To view an announcement on new public interest initiatives and financial support for graduates, please read Dean Harold Hongju Koh's message to the Yale Law School community.

Every year the YLS community brings energy and vision to work for the public good. Typically, 60 percent of students participate in public interest activities each academic year, either through clinics or voluntary student groups. The YLS in the Public Service book provides additional information about the public service activities that the student organizations and clinics participated in during the 2006-2007 academic year.  

Beyond the academic year, the YLS community's commitment to public interest continues, as approximately three-quarters of the first-year class take jobs in the public interest, many funded by Summer Public Interest Fellowships. After graduation, the Law School provides financial support for public interest work in the form of loan forgiveness and specialized fellowships. Five years after graduating, about 25 percent of each YLS class is working in public service.