The Georgia Bar Foundation has awarded $112,500 in grants to support three programs at Georgia State University College of Law to expand opportunities for students and strengthen the college’s work in public service, civic education and constitutional law.
The grants will provide $75,000 for the new Emmet J. Bondurant Center for Constitutional Law, Practice and Democracy, $30,000 to support summer internships for students pursuing public interest careers and $7,500 for the college’s high school outreach program, Street Law.
“The Georgia Bar Foundation's generous grant will help support the Bondurant Center's initiatives to advance public education and student engagement on issues of constitutional significance,” said College of Law Dean Courtney Anderson. “This grant will also elevate the impact of our students' public interest work through our Street Law program and our Center for Access to Justice.”
Street Law
The college’s street law program brings legal and civic education to Atlanta high school students. It was founded with a grant from the Honorable Richard W. Story, a senior U.S. district judge for the Northern District of Georgia. Today, the program has connected hundreds of local high schoolers with professors and law student mentors.
The $7500 grant will provide bridge funding for this program, allowing law students to continue translating complex legal concepts into accessible and interactive lessons that give participants an inside look at how the law affects their lives and communities.
“The grant will strengthen the Street Law program, benefiting both law students and Atlanta high school students by expanding legal knowledge, deepening civic engagement, and developing advocacy skills while strengthening connections within the community,” said Assistant Clinical Professor Jadine Nixon, who started the program at Georgia State University College of Law.
The Public Interest Law Association hosts an auction each year to support public interest students and programs.
Access to Justice
The Center for Access to Justice at Georgia State Law, founded in 2016, oversees the College’s Public Interest Summer Funding process, issuing stipends to students who accept unpaid summer positions that promote the public interest, legal aid organizations or public defender offices.
In choosing public interest positions, students give up the financial earnings their peers may receive in summer positions at private law firms. Summer funding can make it possible for students to pursue meaningful work they otherwise could not afford, while giving them experience that prepares them for careers serving communities with critical legal needs.
The Georgia Bar Foundation’s $30,000 in dedicated funding will support five students pursuing unpaid public interest positions, helping Georgia State Law students answer the need for legal services in underserved communities while receiving financial support for their work.
Bondurant Center
A $75,000 grant, the largest that Georgia State Law received this year, will support salaries and operating costs for the Emmet J. Bondurant Center for Constitutional Law, Practice & Democracy. The center, which opened in 2026, is a hub for constitutional law scholarship, connecting students with expert faculty, legal scholars, judges and policy makers to facilitate research, public education and engagement on issues of constitutional significance.
The grant helps fund the center during its early development and moves the college closer to unlocking $1 million in matching funds from the Bondurant founding donors.
“The College of Law community is so appreciative of this partnership and for the investment of the Georgia Bar Foundation,” said Dean Anderson.