The CommenTaTor - Vol. XLII - Issue 9 - The Student Newspaper of the New York University School of Law

Aug 27, 2026

A February 18, 2009 issue of The CommenTaTor from NYU School of Law reports on student and institutional efforts shaping legal education and opportunities. Coverage includes the 32nd annual Public Interest Career Fair and how students use cover letters, resumes, and “table talk” to connect with organizations, plus renovations prompted by complaints about persistent odors in journal offices. Additional briefs discuss broader legal employment trends and related updates within the legal field.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages8

Reading Time20 min

AccessFree to download

Unfair Times Call for PILC Fair

Change We Can Breathe In

Economy Prompts Schools to Emulate NYU’s EIW Program

MALDEF President Has High Hopes for New Administration

The CommenTaTor Vol. XLII, No. 9 The Student Newspaper of the New York University School of Law February 18, 2009 | Unfair Times Call for PILC Fair | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | | | | | Students from 21 law schools meet representatives from more than 80 organizations at “table talk” in Greenberg Lounge on Friday, February 6. The annual PILC Fair typically helps many 1Ls find summer employment. | | | | | By Danielle escontrias ’11
The 32nd annual Public Interest Career Fair, sponsored by the Public Interest Law Center, took place at NYU beginning on Thursday, February 5. The Fair, which was held over the course of two days, is the largest public interest career fair in the nation. It hosted students from 21 participating law schools from New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, and Rhode Island, and 196 employers from New York, California, Hawaii, Illinois, and Texas, among other states. These employers included | government, non-profit, and private organizations.
In order to be selected by an organization for interview, students submitted cover letters and resumes to the organizations of their interest through the PILC Career Fair’s website. The organizations could then select the students they were most interested in to interview. However, the Fair didn’t just provide for scheduled interviews; employers also took place in an event called “table talk.”
Table talk gave students a chance to meet with organizations | they might not have otherwise considered, drop off resumes with new employers, or talk to employers that didn’t select them after reviewing their resumes. It also provided organizations an opportunity to meet with more students and to advertise their organization. Eighty-six organizations showed up on the first day for table talk, and 89 participated the second day.
Student lunches were also offered at the Fair. The
See FAIR page 5 | | | Change We Can Breathe In | | | | | By Dan Meyler ’09
In response to a memo signed by the editors-in-chief of the law journals and the chair of Moot Court, the Dean’s Office initiated renovations last week to the sub-basement of D’Agostino Hall, where the journals are housed, to eliminate the foul smell that had long plagued the work space.
The smell had been described as “garbage-like” and “similar to raw sewage” by students working in the journal offices. When confronted with the problem, the | administration, through ViceDean Barry Friedman, urged the editors to send a memo to Dean Ricky Revesz documenting the problem . “The school has to respond once there is a written
record,” said Friedman.
The “Smell Memo,” as it was called by the authors, urged the school to fix the problem so journals could better build community by making the journal offices a pleasant place to work and interact. The memo described the problem as “especially severe for the journalsin the center cubicle area, the | Journal of Law & Liberty and the Journal of Law & Business.”
According to Paul O’Grady, Associate Director for Student Affairs, contractors took air-readings and determined the air quality was safe, though they acknowledged the strong, foul stench. Con Edison sealed off electrical conduits that supply the building’s main electrical feeds—a potential source of the odor—from the outside,
See ODOR page 5 | | |
Law ping Progr
influentia Jurist. That UVA and
Thursin the | Legal Briefs
rofessor Peggy Davis, who runs the Lawyeram at NYU, was named one of the three most l people in legal education by the National
e publication also honored Frederick Schauer David Van Zandt at Northwestern.
day, February 12 saw over 800 individuals American legal profession lose their jobs. Unsurprisingly, the National Law Journal is predicting more layoffs in the coming weeks.
See infra page 7 for details on where the firings occurred. | | --- | --- | Economy Prompts Schools to Emulate NYU’s EIW Program By Molly Wallace ’10 With the economy

FAQs

What is the purpose of the annual PILC Fair described in this issue?

The Public Interest Career Fair helps many 1Ls find summer employment by connecting students with representatives from a wide range of organizations, and it includes interview-related processes and additional events.

How do students participate to be selected for interviews at organizations during the Fair?

Students submit cover letters and resumes through the PILC Career Fair’s website, and organizations then select which students to interview.

What action did the Dean’s Office take regarding the smell in the journal offices?

After a memo documented the problem, the Dean’s Office initiated renovations in the sub-basement area to eliminate the foul odor that had affected the workspace.

Aug 27, 2026

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