• SPILF impacts public interest initiatives at SLS in two main ways.
• First, we fund student-led, service-oriented groups who organize clinics and trips to provide legal services to specific communities and constituents, as well as individual student projects in the public interest realm. SPILF has provided funding to public interest causes for over 25 years. (Click here to learn more.) 
• Second, we provide bar study grants to graduating public interest students, to mitigate the substantial costs of bar study and registration for those without a private sector salary.
• Supporting these initiatives requires significant financial resources. SPILF gives tens of thousands of dollars to support public interest initiatives every year, yet demand for resources always exceeds our supply. We depend on donors like you to help us grow the public interest community.
• SPILF’s two sources of income are direct monetary donations from firms and individual donors, and revenue from our annual Bid for Justice Auction. Revenue from the Auction comes in the form of bids on donated items. Firms and businesses can donate anything from tickets to a sporting event or concert, to high-value electronics, to a weekend travel package. To learn how to donate Auction items, please click on the “Support SPILF” tab above, and click “2021 Auction” to learn more about this year’s event.
• Firms and businesses also have the option to give at one of our pre-arranged sponsorship levels. Sponsorship provides significant exposure at the Auction, which will be held virtually this year via an online bidding platform.
• This year’s Auction will take place on April 22nd, 2022. We hope you’ll join us!

Sponsorship Tiers

Bronze ($500+): Firm listed on the “Sponsors” page of the Auction bidding website and the Auction program.

Silver ($1,000+): Firm thanked by name during the live event. (Also includes Bronze level recognition.)

Gold ($2,000+): Firm gets to “name” a table at the Auction. (Also includes Bronze and Silver level recognition.)

Platinum ($4,000+): Firm gets five tickets for guests of its choosing to sit at a table at the Auction. (Also includes Bronze, Silver, and Gold level recognition.)

Diamond ($6,000+): Firm gets to “name” the cocktail hour. (Also includes Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum level recognition.)

• SPILF is a student-run, community-funded foundation that enables students to pursue public interest work at Stanford Law School, both during their three years of study and after graduation. SPILF was formed in 1978 by a group of SLS students and alumni. The Foundation has been supporting public interest work at SLS for over 40 years.
• Since its inception, SPILF has played a pivotal role in growing the public interest community at Stanford Law. One of SPILF’s first initiatives was to raise money to provide summer funding for students who wished to pursue public interest opportunities over the summer. Before the Levin Center was founded in 2007, SPILF consistently provided students with this crucial funding to support their career goals. Eventually, the Levin Center began providing this funding to students, and still does today. Now, the majority of SLS students pursue public interest work during their 1L summer, thanks in large part to this generous grant system. The Levin Center further supports students pursuing PI work by providing similar grants for their 2L summers. 
• SPILF has also played a central role in supporting students pursuing public interest work after graduation. From 2008 to 2014, SPILF co-funded the SPILF-SLS Public Interest Fellowship, which provided funding for recipients to work full-time for one year in a law-related endeavor designed to further the public interest. The fellowship included a one-year salary, benefits that the sponsoring organization would ordinarily provide to an employee at the recipient’s level, and a free bar course in the recipient’s state of choice. You can read more about past fellowship recipients here. 
• In 2014, Stanford Law School adopted this fellowship program. SLS now provides funding for several public interest fellowships to graduating 3Ls. You can read more about SLS’s public interest fellowships here, at the Levin Center’s website.

Thanks to this year’s corporate and law firm partners for their generous support!