The Walter A. Lucas Public Interest Fellowship Program (PIFP) at Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law provides financial support to students who commit their summers to public service legal work.  Many law students, dedicated to helping the less fortunate, are limited by financial constraints.  Similarly, public interest legal organizations often cannot afford to hire much needed summer interns.  Through fundraising, PIFP, an entirely student-run organization, provides summer fellowships to Villanova Law students, who in turn aid the larger community by working with various public interest organizations throughout the region, nation and world to deliver volunteer legal services to those in need.

Since its founding in 1998, PIFP has raised over one million dollars through a variety of creative fundraising endeavors and awarded over 240 summer fellowships (each now valued at $5,000).  In addition, 2022 will mark the seventeenth consecutive year that PIFP provides $12,000 to fund its Loan Repayment Assistance Program (LRAP).  LRAP provides a $12,000 award, paid over three years, to a recent graduate committed to working for a public interest organization or governmental agency.

The highlight of PIFP’s fundraising efforts is its annual spring auction, which in recent years has featured 300 to 400 silent and live auction items donated by individuals and businesses throughout the Greater Philadelphia region and across the country.  PIFP’s 25th Annual Public Interest Auction will take place on Saturday, February 19, 2022 at Villanova Law School.

Please join PIFP in helping public interest organizations to deliver volunteer legal services to those in need!