As the Grand Horizon Ballroom in Covel Commons slowly filled
with the sounds of a live jazz band Friday night, law students,
professors and professionals mingled and munched on snacks,
partying for a good cause.
The event, which featured a silent and live auction, music and
food, was hosted by the Public Interest Law Foundation to
raise money for law students hoping to intern at non-profit
organizations over the summer.
PILF is a student-run organization at the UCLA School of Law
which works to raise funds to provide grants to law students, said
Erin Welsh, auction co-chair.
The annual auction, which has the slogan “bid for a better
world,” is the largest contributor of funds to PILF’s
summer grant program. The money accumulated at the event goes
directly to grant recipients.
Bringing together hundreds of students and professors, the event
allowed those in attendance to relax and take a break from the
hectic, often stressful law school atmosphere.
Law students, professors and professionals wandered around the
room, bidding silently for a variety of items, ranging from a $10
gift certificate to Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles to tickets
for “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.”
Local businesses, alumni and law school faculty participated in
providing the items for sale.
Some law professors offered their own skills. Professor Juliet
Williams donated Persian cooking lessons and dinner with
herself.
The money from PILF allows students to work at non-profit public
interest organizations, such as the ACLU or the Los Angeles Legal
Aid Foundation, when they would otherwise have to seek paying jobs,
Welsh said.
As a result of a PILF money grant, Nira Geevargis, a third-year
law student, was able to work last summer at Heart of Los Angeles
Youth, a youth center in Los Angeles whose goal is to enrich the
lives of inner city youth through academic and leadership
programs.
“The students learned to speak like lawyers, make
decisions like judges and write like law students.” Geevargis
said.
With the help of the grant money, law students are able to aid
local communities with their determination and skills.
Last year, the event garnered about $60,000, and as an
organization, PILF provided 43 law students with $100,000 worth of
summer grants.
Along with the items on bid at the silent auction, special items
were sold off during a live auction conducted by law school
professors.
Coveted prizes, such as a tour of the Playboy mansion and a
basketball donated by the Los Angeles Lakers and signed by Kobe
Bryant, were auctioned off as those in attendance waved lime green
sheets of paper with bid numbers on them.
Professor Paul Bergman collected bids for a six-day climb up
Mount Kilimanjaro in northern Tanzania with a starting bid of
$2,800.
Board members of PILF work tirelessly in the months prior to the
event to accumulate the items for auction, and to make sure the
affair runs smoothly, said Jeff Cohen, a committee member of
PILF.