July 20, 2007

Dear Incoming First Year Students,

I’m writing to let you know about GALILEE --- a unique opportunity for your first year at Notre Dame Law. During a year that’s highly-regimented and prescribed in advance, GALILEE is a great opportunity to distinguish yourself and create a first year experience that reflects your own passions and interests.

GALILEE takes place during winter break when small groups of students spend three days in cities of their choosing, living together and learning about legal issues confronting the urban poor. Students craft their own itinerary that can lead them from swank private law firms, to overstaffed law clinics, to government agencies and more. At the end you get an additional credit on your first-year transcript, a new line on your resume, and an unforgettable experience.

Because you’re able to pick your group, pick your city, and plan your itinerary, you get the chance to make GALILEE just what you want it to be. I went to Seattle when I did GALILEE. It was right after the stress of finals and I wasn’t sure I was ready to handle a project like GALILEE. But the chance to meet lawyers and judges who were working day-to-day in the real world was a great morale boost when I needed it most. It was also a great opportunity to network with legal professionals in a city where I’d like to work in the future. So before the craziness of your first year starts, plan on doing GALILEE. You’ll be happy you did.

I’ve attached a one-page description of the GALILEE program below. You can also read more about the program by visiting its web page at If you have any questions, feel free to contact me via email at or by phone at (801) 828-7985.

Yours in Notre Dame,

Gabriel Bradley

Juris Doctor Candidate, Class of 2009

NotreDameLawSchool

TheGALILEEProgram

Group Alternative Live-In Legal Education

What is it? GALILEE is a student-designed immersion program giving Notre Dame law students an opportunity to learn about public interest law opportunities during their Christmas breaks. GALILEE is designed to introduce Notre Dame law students to the legal problems of the urban poor in ways impossible to learn in the classroom and to broaden students' understanding of the legal profession through exposure to various areas of public interest law.

Participants: Any Notre Dame Law student interested in learning more about the urban poor and public interest law.

When: Any three to four day period over Christmas Break.

Where: Cities across the country chosen by the student groups. Former sites include Chicago, South Bend, New York, Toronto, Cleveland, Denver, Boulder, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, Philadelphia, Detroit, Phoenix, Atlanta, Seattle, Minneapolis, and WashingtonD.C.

What occurs during GALILEE? Small groups of law students visit cities of their choice for a three-to-four day period over Christmas break. By meeting with public defenders, legal aid attorneys, governmental law agencies, pro bono departments of private firms and other social service professionals, law students are provided the opportunity to explore public interest law while developing an appreciation for the tensions and complexities that result from interaction between real people and the law - something not necessarily available in casebooks.

Student groups choose whom to meet and what they are interested in learning about. Past groups have chosen to ride with police officers, visit battered women's shelters, tour jails and prisons, witness criminal trials and meet with legal and social service professionals among many other activities. Each group also engages in at least one service project, such as serving dinner at a homeless shelter, during its GALILEE experience.

Groups stay together during the program, facilitating nightly reflection upon the experience as it occurs. All GALILEE participants attend two half day programs (an orientation during the fall semester and a debriefing during the spring semester) and complete a 3-5 page reflection paper while earning one co-curricular credit.

GALILEE turned out to be an incredible experience. It exposed me to a variety of public interest organizations in New York that work on cases ranging from asylum to housing to juvenile defense. GALILEE also allowed me to spend time and become friends with classmates who I may not have otherwise met and we had a great time together!

-- Keira McCarthy, New York

GALILEE reminded me why I came to law school in the first place and energized me for my second semester. -- Chris Pearsall, Boston