Career Services
About Career Services
Serving as judges, as state's attorneys and public defenders, acting as presidents of state bar and judicial associations, as well as practicing in courts across the United States, these alumni are proof of our commitment to our students’ success.
The Office of Career Services assists students with employment opportunities and serves as a liaison between employers and students.
For upcoming Career Services events and CLEs, follow our Instagram page!
We Provide:
- Individual career counseling for both students and alumni
- Programs on topics such as interview preparation, professional development, and legal practices
- Information on job placement, including an online vacancy bulletin, resume and cover letter review, and mock interviews.
- Reciprocity arrangements with cooperating ABA-accredited law schools for shared access to resources
- Employer outreach and interview facilitation
- On Campus Interviews (OCI), Career Fairs, and networking opportunities.
Contact Us
- Name
- Casey Parker
- Title
- Director of Career Services
- Phone
- (618) 453-8763
- caseyparker@siu.edu
Information For:
Reciprocity
Request Reciprocity with other law school career services offices
- We can help you request access to other law school’s job postings.
Job postings and On Campus Interviews (OCIs)
Career Fairs (Employers Register Here)
- Upcoming Career Fairs:
- Thursday, September 24th, 2026
- Thursday, November 5th, 2026
- Thursday, February 25th, 2027
Prospective Students
Our graduates enter their careers undaunted
It’s the result of learning from faculty with deep connections to the profession, as well as global ties that empower our students to take their learning beyond borders and to another level.
Practice Ready
Our students are developing as professionals with a skill set they never stop adapting-skills that are in short supply and great demand. Our students begin to grow into their roles as expert communicators, negotiators, and advocates as participants in Externships, and a variety of experiential education opportunities such as moot court, trial advocacy, legal clinics, and pro bono projects.
What our Alumni are Doing
SIU Law alumni work in 50 states and around the world. More than 200 alumni serve or have served as state and federal judges. Our alumni are a supportive community willing to assist current students and recent graduates in a variety of ways, including externships, networking and employment opportunities.
Public Interest Law
Simmons Law was founded in the public interest to serve the public good.
Simmons Law strives to promote access to justice for all. Our students and alumni are engaged and working in non-profits, public defenders offices, and legal aid offices, such as Land of Lincoln. Our students have been recipients of the Public Interest Law Initiative (PILI) Internships. Simmons Law School is a member of Equal Justice Works, which creates opportunities for students to transform their passion for equal justice into a lifelong commitment to public service.
For those working as summer clerks in non-paying public interest positions, Simmons Law offers the Joseph R. Bartylak Public Interest Fellowship Program.
The Joseph R. Bartylak Public Interest Fellowship Program was created to assist students who accept nonpaying, full-time (defined as 35 or more hours per week/7 weeks), public interest summer internships following their first or second year of law school.
The Fellowship Program is named in honor of Joseph Bartylak, who served as executive director of the Land of Lincoln Assistance Foundation from 1976 to 2004. SIU Simmons Law School set up the fellowship in July 2004 after it received $425,000 in unclaimed funds from the 2001 settlement of a consumer protection lawsuit involving MCI.
“Public interest” is defined liberally and includes internships in any non-profit legal office, including but not limited to governmental agencies, non-governmental organizations, consumer advocacy groups, and legal services offices. The funds are to be used to assist the Fellows in meeting their basic living expenses during the internship period.
Bartylak Fellows may participate in internships anywhere in the world; however, first priority shall be given to internship experiences in the “Metro East” area of St. Louis, Missouri (i.e., the Illinois side of the Mississippi River) and second priority shall be given to internships elsewhere in Illinois. Students receiving pay or externship credit for their summer experiences are not eligible for consideration to be a Bartylak Fellow.
The annual application process takes place each spring semester.
Policy of Equality
The Southern Illinois University Simmons Law School is committed to a policy of providing its students and graduates with equal opportunity to obtain employment free of unlawful harassment, including sexual harassment, and without discrimination or segregation on the ground of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, disability, gender identity, gender expression, or sexual orientation. It is the Simmons Law School’s firm expectation that employers to whom the School furnishes assistance or facilities for interviewing or other career services functions will observe this principle of equal opportunity.
In requesting assistance or facilities, employers are affirming their intent to abide by the above-stated policy.