Berg Foundation Funds Stipends for Fourth Year

Honoring the David Berg Foundation at a luncheon reception last February, Dean David Rudenstine called the Foundation’s assistance “critical to the Law School’s ability to give students the opportunity to begin structuring careers in public interest law and, through this work and training, making a difference in the law and in society.” Dean Jerome Zoffer (far right, front row) and Michele Cohn Tocci (fifth from right, back row), the board chair and president, respectively, of the Berg Foundation had the opportunity to hear first-hand from students who received stipends how valuable an experience their public interest internships had been. The Foundation’s consistent support has helped Cardozo provide a more comprehensive public-interest education. For four years, it has provided Cardozo students with a way to gain professional experience in the practice of public interest law by funding the David Berg Public Interest Summer Stipends. The stipends are much sought after by Cardozo students because they make it possible to accept otherwise uncompensated internships in the public or nonprofit sector.

Last summer, 20 students worked in various organizations, agencies, and institutions, including The Legal Aid Society, Criminal Division; US Department of Justice; US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District; Safe Horizon; and the King’s County Office of the District Attorney. Some of them interned for judges at US Court of Appeals, State Supreme, and US District Courts around the country.