Public Interest Law Foundation (PILF)

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Our Story

As the largest student organization on the LMU Loyola Law School campus, the Public Interest Law Foundation (PILF) is a non-partisan, student-run organization invested in fostering the careers of students interested in assisting those traditionally underrepresented in the legal system.

Founded in 1993, PILF provides summer grants, one-on-one memberships, networking opportunities, scholarship navigation services, guest speaker panels, and career planning to best equip students to meet the ever-growing need for public service legal work.

Every year, PILF summer and post-bar grants provide critical funding to students working at public interest organizations locally and nationally, where the majority do not compensate students for commitments equivalent to full-time jobs. For some students, PILF summer grants are the only compensation they receive over an entire summer's worth of housing, transportation, food, and associated work costs.

It cannot be overstated that the PILF summer grants are often the determining factor between whether a student decides to take a second job to pay their rent, or accept a summer work opportunity that may change the trajectory of their legal career.

The following are just a few examples of where last year's grant recipients spent their summer:

  • ACLU of Southern California
  • Bet Tzedek
  • California Department of Justice
  • Children's Law Center of California
  • City Attorney's Office (Los Angeles and San Diego)
  • Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking
  • Community Legal Aid of Southern California
  • Consumer Watchdog
  • Disability Rights California
  • District Attorney's Office (Los Angeles and Riverside)
  • Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office
  • LevittQuinn Family Law Center
  • Loyola Social Justice Law Clinics
  • Human Rights First
  • Immigration Center for Women and Children
  • Immigrant Defenders Law Center
  • Jenesse Center
  • Neighborhood Legal Services of Los Angeles
  • Public Counsel
  • Public Defender's Offices (Los Angeles, San Diego, Ventura, and Orange County)

Make your gift to PILF today to help students assist those traditionally underrepresented in the legal system. Your support goes directly to funding students' unpaid public interest summer internships.


IMPACT LEVELS

Level 1: $19 funds one hour of a student's unpaid public interest work (a paid intern would earn approximately $7,600 per summer on this pay structure, but PILF grants only go up to $2,500).

Level 2: $1,000 grants are the lowest amount granted toward a student who applies and qualifies for the grant. This will supplement student expenses such as basic needs, groceries, or bills during the summer of unpaid public interest work.

Level 3: $1,500 grants go toward students who demonstrate merit and financial need. This amount will substantially support a student's basic needs, groceries, or utility bills during the summer of unpaid public interest work.

Level 4: $2,000 grants go toward certain students who have demonstrated high need and merit. This amount can cover a student's basic needs, groceries, or utility bills, or otherwise supplement rent payments during the summer of unpaid public interest work.

Level 5: $2,500 is the maximum grant amount we anticipate giving out to several students demonstrating the highest need and merit. This amount can considerably contribute to a student's rent payments or basic needs during the summer of unpaid public interest work.