American Civil Liberties Union Club (ACLU)
The mission of the University of Pittsburgh ACLU Club is to promote awareness of civil rights and civil liberties issues that are prevalent in today's society. The ACLU Club is affiliated with the local chapter of the ACLU.
American Trial Lawyers Association (ATLA)
ATLA is a national organization comprised of practicing attorneys, judges, educators, and student chapters. The primary purpose of ATLA is to improve and enhance the knowledge and practical skills of the trial bar. To help the student prepare for his or her legal career, the Pitt chapter presents a number of seminars and lectures during the school year. The speakers and guests are all local, active ATLA members. This program gives students both the opportunity to learn about trial preparation and different areas of litigation and to meet local members of the bar.
Application forms and information will be available during the early part of the semester.
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is a worldwide human rights movement and organization that works impartially for the release of prisoners of conscience: men and women detained anywhere for their beliefs, color, ethnic origin, sex, religion, or language, provided they have neither used nor advocated violence. Amnesty International opposes torture and the death penalty in all cases without reservation and advocates fair and prompt trials for all political prisoners.
The law school chapter of Amnesty International works on behalf of individual prisoners, participates in country campaigns and special actions, and coordinates special projects. All interested students are welcome as members.
Asian Law Students Association (ALSA)
ALSA seeks to articulate and promote the needs and goals of Asian American students in the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, to foster and encourage an attitude of professional excellence, and to provide personal, professional, and academic support for its members. ALSA also aids, supports, and assists in the recruitment of prospective Asian American students to study at Pitt Law School.
Black Law Student Association (BLSA)
BLSA was formed to articulate and promote the professional needs and goals of black American law students: to foster and encourage professional competence; to focus upon the relationship of the black attorney to the American legal structure; to instill in the black attorney and law student a greater awareness of and commitment to the needs of the black community; and to influence American law schools, legal fraternities, and associations to use their expertise and prestige to bring about change within the legal system in order to make it responsive to the needs of the black community. The association is actively involved with the recruitment of black students into the School of Law.
Business Law Society
The Business Law Society organizes lectures and forums for students who are interested in practicing in the area of business law upon receiving their law degrees.
Christian Legal Society
The Christian Legal Society is a group of law students who share a faith in the basic teachings of Christianity and a desire to practice law in a manner that reflects this faith. The society provides a forum for discussing common problems that confront students as law students and as Christians, mutual support and encouragement, and social programs such as picnics, films, dinners, and athletic activities. Distinguished speakers from various areas of the law are sponsored by the society each year.
Client Counseling Program
The Client Counseling Program is designed to expose students to some of the problems of "law office lawyering" and to provide them with the opportunity to develop skills important to them in their dealings with clients. Students participate in simulated sessions in which they meet with a new client. During these sessions, they attempt to establish a productive working relationship with the clients, to elicit relevant information from the clients, and to begin making plans for dealing with clients' problems.
Each such session is immediately critiqued. The reactions of the person who has been serving as a client are also obtained. In addition, each session is videotaped to allow student participants to critique their own performances.
A team is selected to represent the School of Law in the American Bar Association's Client Counseling Competition.
Criminal Law Society
The Criminal Law Society explores issues in criminal law through round table discussions with prosecutors and defense attorneys. It also sponsors visits to the local jail, courts, and ride-alongs with the campus and local police. Its members also represent students charged before the University's Judicial Board. CLS provides opportunities for social enjoyment through its basketball tournament and theme party.
Environmental Law Council
The Environmental Law Council provides opportunities for students not only to apply and sharpen their research skills. The Council reviews and analyzes proposed environmental legislation at the state and federal levels; examines energy problems; reviews the role of the FDA, focusing on the agency's actions in specific areas; and explores career opportunities in environmental law.
Family (Fathers and Mothers in Law)
Family is a support and advocacy group dedicated to the needs of non-traditional students. Members share information about resources available in the community for families. The organization also seeks to heighten awareness of the issues affecting professionals with family obligations.
Feminist Law Forum
The mission of the Feminist Law Forum is to stimulate private thought and public dialogue regarding the connection between feminism and law, through informal gatherings, formal speaking events, and community service.
Free People
Free People uses the law, lobbying, and other forms of persuasion to assist people, both in the United States, and elsewhere, in improving their lives. The organization is particularly oriented (but not limited) to assisting refugees in gaining refugee status. Members have also assisted local citizens in danger of losing their welfare benefits and with securing safe housing.
Gourley Competition
The Academy of Trial Lawyers of Allegheny County sponsors this moot trial court competition involving a number of law schools from the region. Elimination trials based on simulated situations are held at the law school. A representative team is then selected to compete in the Gourley Competition, which is conducted in the United States District Court with the cooperation of the federal judges sitting in Pittsburgh.
Health Law Society
The Health Law Society promotes the study of health law, provides opportunities for Pitt law students to engage in meaningful projects and to make contacts in the field of health law, and organizes regular forums to examine various issues of medical and legal importance.
Hispanic Law Society (HLS)
The Hispanic Law Society promotes and addresses professional goals and needs of Hispanic students. HLS works in close association with the Multicultural Society to provide support and networking opportunities for Hispanic students.
Intellectual Property Law Society
The Intellectual Property Law Society allows interested students to explore in depth the legal issues regarding computer software and other technologies.
International Law Society
The International Law Society takes advantage of Pittsburgh's multinational corporate and financial community to present a variety of speakers on questions of international law. Some programs are co-sponsored with the University's Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, which has extensive access to the international academic community.
Jewish Law Students Association (JLSA)
The Jewish Law Student Association is affiliated with the National Jewish Law Students Association and provides networking opportunities with other law students and professionals locally and nationally. The JLSA is a catalyst and support network for political, social, and professional activism, and a forum for promoting a Jewish identity within the legal community.
Labor and Employment Law Society
This organization seeks to further educate students inthe area of labor and employment law by sponsoring speakers and forums involving School of Law faculty and local attorneys and professionals who specialize in work-related issues.
Law School Speakers
Every year, the school sponsors a number of speakers and events to enrich the intellectual life of the community.
Lesbian-Gay Rights Organization
The Lesbian-Gay Rights Organization provides a forum for the definition of the legal, social, and political positions of gay and lesbian Americans. The organization works to keep informed of the most recent developments in the legal status of gays and lesbians, hosts social events for its members, and participates with local gay and lesbian groups in events of common interest.
Multicultural Society
The Multicultural Society is dedicated to fostering an understanding and acceptance of the differences between cultures and to developing an awareness and appreciation of their similarities. It specifically focuses on the legal ramifications of a multicultural society and its needs.
Murray S. Love Trial Moot Court Program
This is an intramural trial moot court program named in honor of Murray S. Love, class of 1954. In this program, upper-level students participate in moot trial court competitions, and awards are made to the three students who are judged to have made superior presentations.
National Lawyers' Guild
The National Lawyers' Guild chapter provides free legal research to groups and attorneys who handle cases involving social and economic issues. This research time is important since many cases could not be litigated if the attorneys had to do all the research themselves or pay to have it done. Free research greatly reduces the actual time the attorney must spend on a case and increases the possibility that a case will be accepted.
Phi Alpha Delta Law Fraternity (PAD)
The University of Pittsburgh chapter of PAD provides a variety of social and professional activities to bridge the gap between law school and the practice of law. The fraternity is also involved in a National PAD Placement Program.
Pitt Law Cares
Pitt Law Cares is a volunteer community service group. It serves as a clearinghouse to enable people to find individualized volunteer work based on their personal interests.
Pitt Law Women's Association
The Pitt Law Women's Association is a co-ed group dedicated to providing a non-partisan forum for women's issues as they impact the law, and the resulting social ramifications for men and women. The group sponsors a number of speakers and programs on various topics.
Pitt Legal Income Sharing Foundation (PLISF)
PLISF raises funds to provide grants to students who take public interest/public service positions during the summer.
Sports and Entertainment Law Society
The Sports and Entertainment Law Society was formed to explore issues and opportunities in those areas of the law. The group works to bring practitioners in these fields to the law school as speakers and mentors. The group also encourages an increased focus on sports and entertainment law as substantive areas of study and scholarship.
Student Bar Association (SBA)
All students in the law school are automatically members of the Student Bar Association. An Executive Council, which consists of four officers and representatives from each class, is elected annually by the students and serves as the governing body of the SBA.
The purposes of the SBA are: (1) to represent the many and diverse interests of the student population to the faculty and administration; (2) to serve as liaison between students and faculty in matters of academic import; (3) to provide social and athletic events; (4) to initiate new programs and activities as reflected by the desires of the student body; and (5) to allocate funds to the various student organizations.
In addition, the SBA selects student members to serve on school and University-wide committees and acts as a focal point for the solution of specific problems that may arise.
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