Public Service Certificate Program
About the Public Service Certificate program
The Public Service Certificate program encourages and prepares students for public service careers by providing a foundation in the topics relevant to public interest/public service careers. Students must declare their intention to pursue the Certificate by submitting the appropriate form to the Director of Experiential Education, who serves as the primary point of contact about program requirements, and to the Registrar’s office.
Students must complete a minimum 16 credit hours in courses focused on public service, which may include experiential courses, skills courses, seminars, etc. (see list below). Of the total number of credits required for the Certificate, a minimum of 11 hours must be in an experiential course (clinic, externship, field placement) and/or a special public service project approved by the Director of Experiential Education.
In addition to the above credits, students must complete 30 hours of pro bono legal work before graduation and report these activities on a report form. Coursework (including clinics, field placements, externships) may not be counted. Financial donations are not counted. Pro-bono work performed must be professional legal work, performed under the supervision of an attorney or a member of the Law School faculty. Students must provide verification of their pro bono hours to the Director of Experiential Education.
Students must maintain a minimum 78 GPA or S for all courses counted towards their Public Service Certificate. The Public Service Certificate will only be awarded at the same time and as part of a student’s completion of their J.D. If a student completes the requirements for the Certificate, but fails to complete the degree program, the Certificate will not be awarded.
Experiential Courses
(Minimum of 11 hours)
- Civics Field Placement
- Consumer Bankruptcy Externship
- Domestic Violence Clinic
- Externship I/II
- Summer Externship
- Habeas Project
- Independent Research Project (upon approval)
- Judicial Externship
- Low Income Tax Clinic
- Public Defender Externship
The remainder of the 16 credit hours required for the Certificate must come from either additional experiential courses (listed below) or from these electives:
Administrative Law, Civil Rights Law, Client Counseling II, Criminal Procedure: Constitutional Dimensions, Criminal Procedure: The Litigation Process, Employment Law, Environmental Law, Environmental Law Seminar, Federal Courts, Federal Income Taxation, Georgia Criminal Practice & Procedure, Health Care Law, Immigration Law, International Law, International Human Rights, Juvenile Court Practice & Procedure, Labor Law, Legal Ethics Seminar, Medical Malpractice, Migration Problems & Policy Seminar, Oxford Human Rights Program, Poverty Law Seminar, Public Health Law, The Religion Clauses of the First Amendment Seminar, Scientific Evidence & Expert Witnesses, Selected Topics in Modern Family Law Seminar, Sexuality and the Law Seminar, Survey of the First Amendment, Trial Practice, Post-Conviction Practice and Remedies, and Bankruptcy.