Levin College of Law
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The Office of Career and Professional Development provides students and alumni of the University of Florida Levin College of Law with resources and tools to create rewarding careers.

The Office of Career and Professional Development (OCPD) offers a variety of services and programs that help students explore job opportunities in the private sector, public sector, and courts. We advise students and alumni through one-on-one appointments and provide detailed resume and cover letter reviews, practice interviews, interview programs, networking opportunities, and other professional development programming.

Students begin working with the OCPD during their 1L year. 1L students are assigned to an OCPD advisor who works closely with them to develop personalized career strategy plans. As students continue through the law school experience, they work closely with OCPD advisors to identify classes, programs, events, and practical legal opportunities that complement their short- and long-term career goals.
 

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JD Career and Academic Advising

All 1L students are assigned to an academic advisor to assist with academic, career, and professional development plans. Students may choose their own academic advisors for their 2L and 3L years, and they may explore our Curriculum Roadmaps for additional guidance.

Public Interest and Public Service Careers

The OCPD helps students interested in public interest careers or government service to explore the many options available to them during law school and beyond. During their 1L year, students are introduced to public interest organizations through various networking events, including the Public Interest Law Networking Event and the Spring On-Campus Interview Program, which helps students find summer employment for after their 1L year. During their 2L and 3L years, students may continue to participate in On-Campus Interview Programs and may also take advantage of experiential learning opportunities, including clinics and externships, that focus on access to justice. Throughout their time at UF Law, students participate in student organizations and meet with academic and career advisors to develop personalized career strategies designed to help students achieve their desired career goals.

Summer Public Interest Funding Program
UF Law’s generous summer funding program provides financial support to 1L and 2L students pursuing summer employment in unpaid public interest and government positions throughout the country. Awards range from $4,000 to $5,000 for the summer. Students apply for this program in the Spring semester after they have secured summer employment. OCPD oversees the application and selection process for eligible students, including by awarding funds donated by alumni and organizations committed to supporting students pursuing careers in public service. Those awards include, but are not limited to, the Justice John Paul Stevens Public Interest Fellowship Program (http://www.jpstevensfoundation.org/fellowships.html), the Bill McBride Public Interest Practice Stipend, the Siegel Criminal Justice Fellowship, the Kirkconnell Criminal Defense Fellowship, the Rumberger Environmental Law and Land Use Fellowship, the Rachelle Bergeron Hammerling Memorial Fellowship, and the Judge Huck Fellowship.

Pro Bono Requirement Program
Unpaid pro bono work is an important part of every attorney’s ethical and professional responsibility to provide service to their communities. All JD students must complete 40 hours of pro bono before graduation. OCPD helps students meet this requirement by providing lists of pro bono opportunities and offering a handbook designed to guide students as they identify pro bono opportunities. To learn more about the Pro Bono Requirement and Service Program visit https://www.law.ufl.edu/areas-of-study/experiential-learning/pro-bono-program-2.

Private Sector Careers

The OCPD helps students and alumni connect with law firms and businesses around the nation and the world. The office maintains strong relationships with law firms of all sizes and maintains a network of alumni employed in regional, national, and international law firms. During their 1L year, students are introduced to the wide range of practice areas and law firms throughout the country and world through various networking events, including the Spring On-Campus Interview Program, which helps students find summer employment for after their 1L year. During their 2L and 3L years, students may continue to participate in On-Campus Interview Programs and may also take advantage of courses that highlight lawyers practicing in law firms. Throughout their time at UF Law, students participate in student organizations and meet with academic and career advisors to develop personalized career strategies designed to help students achieve their desired career goals.

Judicial Clerkship Programs

The OCPD encourages all students – whether they are interested in public interest or private sector careers – to apply for clerkships with state and federal judges. Judicial clerkships provide invaluable training and networking opportunities for students after graduation and generally last for one or two years. The OCPD organizes a series of clerkship panels starting in the 1L year to introduce students to the importance of these clerkship opportunities. Other information about clerkship application processes, interviews, and more may be found in the judicial clerkship handouts available in the Resources section of Symplicity (https://law-ufl-csm.symplicity.com/students/). For additional assistance, please contact the OCPD at 352.273.0860 or email careers@law.ufl.edu.

LLM Career Advising

The OCPD offers support and guidance to LL.M. students through advising and programming. Each LL.M. student is assigned to an advisor who provides individual career advising, resume and cover letter guidance, and advice about job search strategies. OCPD also organizes events exclusively for LL.M. students, including networking events with speakers from leading tax employers and LL.M. alumni. LL.M. students may participate in all other OCPD programming as well. To learn more about LL.M. career advising and employment outcomes for recent LL.M. graduates, please visit: https://www.law.ufl.edu/academics/degree-programs/ll-m-in-taxation.

Job Postings on Symplicity

With Symplicity, students may review job postings from both public interest and private sector employers, access job search resources, schedule advisor appointments, RSVP for employer events, and research judicial clerkship opportunities. You will have immediate access to exciting new career opportunities as soon as you set up your personal Symplicity account.

On-Campus Interviewing (OCI)

Each year OCPD conducts large On-Campus Interview Programs featuring a wide range of legal employers in both the public and private sectors. Students may interview for summer jobs and post-graduation employment. The logistics of OCI are conducted through Symplicity, where you may upload your resumes, select employers of interest, and schedule interviews. OCPD hosts multiple information sessions about OCI, including sessions featuring employers and alumni. You may also learn more about OCI by reviewing our Interviewing Policies & Procedures.

Non-Discrimination Policy

In accordance with Bylaw 6-3 of the Association of American Law Schools, the University of Florida Levin College of Law provides students and graduates with equal opportunities to obtain employment, without discrimination or segregation on the grounds of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, gender (including identity and expression), sexual orientation, age, or disability. UF Law is committed to supporting an equal and fair evaluation of all law student and graduate job applicants based on their individual merits. The OCPD is therefore available only to those employers whose employment practices comply with these policies and all federal and state requirements for non-discrimination in the selection of employees.

 

On-campus interviews, employer workshops, faculty recommendations, and countless networking opportunities make it possible for graduates to land their dream careers.

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With a degree from UF Law, your opportunities are virtually endless. We prepare future leaders and elite professionals for the legal world and beyond. Between our engaged faculty, our active career center and one of the nation’s strongest alumni networks, you will always have the support you need along the way.

Contact the Office of Career and Professional Development.

 

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University of Florida Levin College of Law
309 Village Drive
PO Box 117620
Gainesville, FL 32611
(352) 273-0804
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The Florida Constitutional Law Endowment in memory of Justice Ben F. Overton was created by Judge Karen Miller in 2013. This fund supports lectures and presentations by Justices of the Florida Supreme Court at the Fredric G. Levin College of Law.

HISTORY

Justice Overton, who earned his B.S. in 1951 and his Juris Doctor in 1952 from the University of Florida, was the first merit appointment to the Florida Supreme Court. Throughout his career he was active in legal education and served as an Adjunct Professor at the Levin College of Law through December 2012, the month of his death. Although he resided at Oak Hammock at the University of Florida, a continuing care retirement community developed in cooperation with UF, he also considered the Florida Supreme Court “home.” Among the high points of his later years was hosting Justices of the Florida Supreme Court in Gainesville and taking his class to Tallahassee to hear oral arguments at the Florida Supreme Court.
Judge Miller, who earned her B.S. cum laude from New York University in 1974 and her Juris Doctor from New York Law School in 1977, served as Chief Administrative Law Judge of the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs, New York City’s business regulatory agency, before she retired to Oak Hammock at the University of Florida. Having accompanied Justice Overton on his excursions to Tallahassee and joined him in welcoming guests to Oak Hammock at the University of Florida, she created the endowment in memory of Justice Overton to ensure that the Levin College of Law continues to have the funding necessary to continue and enhance the interaction between its students and the Florida Supreme Court.

 

Judge Miller remembered the event that motivated the endowment.

 

Prior to a dinner at the home of Dean Robert Jerry and Lisa Jerry shortly after Justice Overton’s death, Justice Barbara Pariente and I were discussing a suitable memorial. Justice Pariente, who had been Justice Overton’s colleague on the Florida Supreme Court and who understood the importance to him of the interaction between his students and the Court, suggested the outline of what has become the Overton lectures. Dean Jerry, who has since retired, as has Dean Emeritus Jon Mills, who assumed responsibility for implementing the Overton lectures, were very supportive from the beginning. Since Dean Mills’ retirement, Professor Timothy McClendon, who assisted both Justice Overton and Dean Mills teaching Florida Constitutional Law and who co-authored the recent Florida Constitutional Law casebook, has continued the Overton lectures with the support of Interim Dean Merritt McAlister and CGR director, Professor Danaya Wright.

Justice Overton was a devoted jurist, educator, and ethical leader of the Florida legal profession. The Overton Lecture Series brings Florida Supreme Court Justices to the University of Florida, Levin College of Law, and serves to introduce students to the inner workings of the Court. CGR and the students of the College of Law extend our deepest gratitude to Judge Karen Miller for making the Overton Lectures possible in perpetuity.

You can watch an interview for the Florida Historical Society by Mary Adkins, professor emeritus of the UF Levin College of Law, with Justice Overton here.

Justice Overton was also interviewed for the Samuel Proctor Oral History Project and a transcript of his interview is available at the Smathers Library, and here.
Justice Overton sat on the Constitution Revision Commission of 1977-78 that proposed a right to privacy in the Florida Constitution. Although it failed as part of the Constitution Revision Commission recommendations, it passed in 1980 when proposed by the legislature. The bill was co-sponsored by our very own Jon Mills. The privacy provision prevailed by greater than 60%. Justice Overton then wrote a concurrence in a critical reproductive rights case in 1989 affirming that the privacy provision of the Florida Constitution included the right to obtain an abortion. That decision was overruled in Planned Parenthood of SW and Central Florida v. Florida. You can read about the role of Justice Overton, Jon Mills – director emeritus of CGR, and the history of the 1989 case here.