Georgia State College of Law Alternative Spring Break

The Center’s Alternative Spring Break trips give students a chance to spend a week immersed in an area of law, engaging in related pro bono service. Students work with licensed attorneys to receive training and put their skills into practice. Participants can earn 40 hours of pro bono service through each Alternative Spring Break trip.

2024 Trips

Record Restriction and Collateral Consequences: Law students will work with lawyers and advocates to help low-income clients restrict criminal records. Record restriction helps clients become or stay employable and reduces hardships for those whose criminal records prevent them from finding housing or obtaining other needed services because of the negative effect of the record on their credit. Students will also learn about alternative treatment courts and the many collateral consequences of criminal convictions.
Protect Homeowners in North Georgia: Working with Georgia Legal Services Program and community partners in northwest Georgia, law students will assist low-income Georgians with wills and estate planning. Law students participating in this trip will be helping vulnerable members of our community age in place, protect intergenerational wealth, and ensure homeowner rights are protected.
Advance Rural Access to Justice: Law students will learn about “legal deserts” and participate in innovative access to justice efforts around the state of Georgia, including law library self-help centers and remote legal services. Students will have a chance to learn from judges and advocates about the barriers facing rural Georgians and how attorneys can work with community partners to provide access to justice and opportunities out of poverty.

Deadline: January 29, 2024 at 5 p.m.

Past Trips

Disaster Legal Services and Preparedness

Law students learned the basics of FEMA support and state-level assistance available in the event of a disaster, working with Georgia Team Ready and stakeholders across the state.

School Discipline

Working with Georgia Legal Services Program, students learned about representing children who are being unfairly or inappropriately disciplined in schools.

Survivors of Domestic Violence

Students worked with lawyers and advocates from the Victims Legal Assistance Network (VLAN) to learn how to serve survivors of domestic violence.

Community Lawyering in Atlanta

Students worked with attorneys from the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation to understand how a lack of affordable, stable housing can affect a child's education.

Immigration Detention in Lumpkin, Georgia

People in immigration detention have a right to due process under the U.S. Constitution, but many of them are detained in isolated facilities. Working with the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) Southeast Immigrant Freedom Initiative, Georgia State Law students spent a week at the Stewart Immigration Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia, meeting with clients, drafting documents and interpreting for attorneys.

Rural Justice in Dougherty County, Georgia

Most of Georgia’s lawyers are in the metro Atlanta area. A group of Georgia State Law students traveled to southwest Georgia to understand the access to justice issues facing rural communities.

Landlord/tenant law in Atlanta

In partnership with the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation, 12 law students spent the week interviewing tenants, investigating housing conditions, observing court, participating in mediation and assisting tenants in filing answers to evictions.

Criminal court observation in Jackson, Mississippi

In conjunction with the Mississippi Office of the Public Defender, five law students conducted court-watching research in Mississippi criminal courts, recording their observations for an ongoing study about appointment of counsel for low-income defendants.

Georgia State Law Access to Justice Student engagement

NEWS: Alternative Spring Break Students Choose Service Learning Over Downtime
A cornerstone of the Center for Access to Justice’s Pro Bono Program is the Alternative Spring Break, which allows students to spend a week immersed in a substantive legal area while engaging in related pro bono service. For the second year, the spring break program received more applications than available spots.

Contact

[email protected]
404-413-9176
85 Park Place NE
Atlanta, GA 30303

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