Public Interest Curated Materials for Incoming Students

Welcome

The Public Interest Resource Center (PIRC) is the hub of public interest law at Fordham Law School (FLS) and is here to guide and support you in all of your public interest work. This guide, developed by PIRC with input from other staff and faculty at the law school, is a curated collection of books, podcasts, documentaries, articles, newsletters, organizations, conferences, and online resources. Some are foundational introductions to issue areas; others are personal narratives, current-events resources, or examples of lawyers using their skills in creative and impactful ways. 

We hope these resources inspire you as you explore different issue areas and forms of advocacy – and also help you begin identifying the FLS staff and faculty working across a wide range of public interest practice areas. The recommendations throughout this guide reflect their areas of expertise, experience, and passion. Faculty and staff are always eager to speak with students about their work, and within PIRC, our team of former public interest attorneys is here to support, guide, and connect with you throughout your time at FLS. 

This is not intended to be exhaustive either in terms of materials or practice areas. Rather it serves as a starting point for exploration in a sampling of public interest areas. We hope these materials pique your curiosity.

How to Use This Site

You do not need to read everything here! Start with what interests you. Some resources are excellent introductions to major issue areas, while others are designed to help you stay informed about current events, policy developments, and public-interest-oriented legal work. Many of these resources speak to multiple issue areas and forms of advocacy. For ease of organization, we have placed each resource in the section that seemed most closely aligned with its primary focus, though we encourage you to explore broadly across categories.

If you are looking for a general place to begin, we especially recommend:

Letter to a Law Student Interested in Social Justice — William P. Quigley
Article | Recommended by Professor Liz Cooper
A thoughtful and accessible reflection on movement lawyering, solidarity, burnout, and sustaining long-term commitments to justice work.

Editorial Notes

This guide was developed from recommendations submitted by Fordham Law faculty, staff, clinicians, and public interest practitioners. As conversations about legal careers and practice areas increasingly begin earlier, our goal is to help ensure that public interest pathways are meaningfully represented in these conversations as well.

Remember: there is no single path into public interest law. We encourage you to explore broadly, stay curious, and engage with perspectives across issue areas.

We hope these resources help you begin thinking about the many ways lawyers can support communities, movements, and causes they care about.

Welcome to Fordham Law!