Topics ranging from judicial budget cuts to the sustainability of animal farming will be explored at the School of Law’s seventh annual Working in the Public Interest Law Conference. Open to the public, this event will open with a reception and lecture March 2 at 6:30 p.m. at the Melting Point in downtown Athens, with the conference taking place March 3 at the law school.
Delivering the keynote address will be attorney Jan R. Schlichtmann, who became famous during the 1980s as a result of his lawsuit alleging that chemicals from several companies had contaminated the drinking water in a town north of Boston. This case served as the basis for the book, and later the film, A Civil Action.
Also participating in the conference as panelists will be Chief Justice Carol W. Hunstein of the Supreme Court of Georgia; Joyce Tischler, co-founder of the Animal Legal Defense Fund; and Tom Rawlings, Guatemala field office director for the International Justice Mission.
The conference agenda includes panels on the impact of college student debt on the economy, the fallout from budget cuts in the area of domestic violence prosecution, the constitutionality of the death penalty, the sustainability of animal farming and the advantages and disadvantages of solo practices as well as alternative public interest careers.
As part of the conference, the school’s Equal Justice Foundation also will host its annual auction March 2 at the Melting Point after the keynote address.
For more information about the conference or to register, visit www.law.uga.edu/wipi. Registration is due by Feb. 28.
