Feinstein Center for Pro Bono & Experiential Education

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Clinics & Externships

At RWU Law, we believe that experiential education opportunities are invaluable, intertwined, and should build upon each other.  In the Feinstein Center, we will help you to plan your curriculum to take maximum advantage of the rich array of experiential curriculum throughout law school.

Learn About Clinical Legal Education
Students at the Rhode Island Judiciary

50-Hour Pro Bono Experiential Learning Requirement

RWU Law’s 50-Hour Pro Bono Experiential Learning Requirement (Pro Bono ELR) provides legal service to low-income communities and an opportunity for students to gain valuable practical legal experience. To meet the graduation requirement, students must complete all required forms and submit them to the Feinstein Center by the required deadlines.

Learn More About Pro Bono ELR
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Pro Bono Collaborative

The Pro Bono Collaborative connects law firms, attorneys, and law students to community organizations that need pro bono legal services for their organization and/or their clients.

Learn About the Pro Bono Collaborative
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Public Interest Law

The Feinstein Center is the law school’s public interest home base.  The Center provides a public interest community for law students who may be interested in pursuing full-time public interest careers or incorporating pro bono and social justice into their professional identities.

Learn More About Public Interest Law
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Commitment to the Community

At RWU Law, we believe that lawyers should use their legal skills to serve their communities – and that pro bono service in law school can set the stage for a lifetime of invaluable social contributions.

Discover our Commitment
The Champions for Justice logo.

Champions for Justice

Every year, the School of Law and the Rhode Island legal community gather together to celebrate the public interest and pro bono work of students, faculty, and community members to advance justice for all.

Learn More About Champions for Justice
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The Importance of Empathy

Madison Picard, RWU Law Class of 2022 Juris Doctor

Last May, in the thick of the coronavirus pandemic, 2L Madison Picard received some welcome good news: the Massachusetts Bar Foundation had awarded her a generous Legal Intern Fellowship to fund a summer internship she’d...

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Feinstein Center News

  • Sam Filiaggi L25

    The Powerful Combination of Representation and Advocacy

    Filiaggi didn't have any clue that a legal career was in his future while he was studying Marine Affairs as an undergraduate at the University of Rhode Island. His experience included an impactful semester away with the Williams-Mystic Coastal and Ocean Studies Program. Weighing his future options during the pandemic, Filiaggi realized he could still dedicate his career to protecting the natural environment by pivoting to become a lawyer.

  •  Research Attorney Ryan McCrorey

    Supporting Rhode Island's Aquaculture

    Aquaculture is crucial for the state, but when it comes to navigating legal matters, many in the sector are left without help. At RWU Law, the Marine Affairs Institute has made it part of its mission to change this.

  • Samantha Lobato L'25

    Transforming Adversity into Advocacy

    Growing up in a neighborhood in Denver marked by socioeconomic disparities and systemic injustices, 3L Samantha Lobato witnessed the legal system's profound power on the country’s most vulnerable communities. It was this experience that drove Lobato to pursue a legal career, one that she plans on dedicating to serving low-income and marginalized communities.

  • Professor Natasha Varyani

    No Outsiders in RWU Law Professor’s Classroom

    As a law professor, Varyani realized that a lack of representation in legal textbooks reflects disparities in who has access to the courts, particularly the appellate courts that make the written decisions that appear in law books. With a new book on systemic racism in property law, Varyani tackles the problem and helps other professors do the same.

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