PUBLIC INTEREST POST GRAD FELLOWSHIPS

Show of hands? • Have an interesting social justice

advocacy project brewing in your mind? • Want to do impact work with nationally

recognized legal advocacy organization? • Want to increase access to justice to

underserved, low- income communities locally, nationally or abroad?

• Want to start your own non-profit advocacy or social purpose organization or business?

• Ever had to “make your case” to get money?

Post-Grad Fellowships Generally • Most applications are due in the early fall or winter of 3L year • Usually 1-2 years in a non-profit legal organization • Most (not all) are for recent law grads or post judicial

clerkship • Allows fellows to work with underrepresented populations

and/or address specific issues in a given community • Often includes a professional development support • Often allows fellows to work on innovative advocacy

approaches • Allows recent grads to assume more responsibility, faster,

than would be possible some other types of legal work • Usually financed by a specific organization or firm seeking to

expand leadership in its particular area of law

Compensation • Many fellowships offer:

• Entry-level public interest staff attorney salary • Loan repayment assistance • Health and other benefits • Housing stipends • Travel or relocation assistance • Extensive training and mentoring • Community building & networking opportunities

Fellowship Types Our Focus Today.. Most common: • Organizational • Project-Based • Other/Misc Other types: • Federal Government:

• White House Fellows Program • Presidential Management Fellows • Agency-based Attorney Honors Programs

• Entrepreneurial- don’t miss our workshop on Wed April 16! • Firm-Sponsored Public Interest/Pro Bono • Academic/Research/Teaching • Clinical • International Human Rights

Timelines Generally • Organization-based

• Apps due range between fall-winter-spring of 3L year

• Project-based • Network with orgs= start summer of 1L

year • Develop project proposal= spring/summer

of 2L year • Apps due late summer/early fall of 3L year

• Entrepreneurial • Apps due range between late fall/winter or

rolling of 3L year

Step #2

• Register for free at PSJD.org • Review resources & publications • Database of opportunities • Set up custom email job alerts • Use Post Grad Fellowship Deadline Calendar

Step #1

• Schedule an appointment with your public service career coach to strategize and help work on your applications

• If you are a rising 3L planning on applying to a project-based fellowship, it is especially important that you work with Dean Michele Storms on your application!

Organization-Based • Defined 1-2 yrs positions within existing orgs • Applicants don’t need to develop their own project • Application process is similar to applying for a staff

attorney position • Majority of these fellowships are with national or

international orgs based in major cities e.g. NYC, DC, San Francisco, Chicago

• Most are looking for excellent grades and legal writing skills as well as demonstrated experience in public interest and passion for social justice

• Some like to hire recent grads with legal, journal and/or judicial clerkship experience

Select examples (there are many more!)

• ACLU Washington State Floyd & Delores Jones Legal Fellowship (Seattle) • App due usually early June

• Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights George N. Lindsay Civil Rights Legal Fellowship (DC) • App due usually in July

• Juvenile Law Center Zubrow Fellowship (Philadelphia) • App due usually early October

• Business & Professional People for the Public Interest Polikoff-Gautreaux Fellowship (Chicago) • App due usually mid October

Project-Based • Equal Justice Works • Skadden • Berkeley Law Foundation • Soros Justice Advocacy • Initiative for Public Interest Law at Yale

COMMON DENOMINATOR= PROJECT PROPOSAL

• http://youtu.be/JRKuvDfehQQ • App will likely be available online in July and

due mid-September for fall 2015 start date • 40-50 awards per year @ about $40-45k • Host org expected to pay some overhead costs • 2 year civil legal aid fellowship • Grades not considered- No need to provide

transcript • Innovative projects- must bring something new

to the org that distinguishes fellow from a staff atty • Find a sponsoring org to house your

innovative project- Network! • Some orgs announce they’re looking to

sponsor a particular type of project: check out PSJD.org!

• community legal ed, training, organizing, direct services, litigation, transactional work, coalition work, administrative and legislative advocacy

• See what kind of work fellows are doing • Past and current orgs in WA: TeamChild, NJP,

CLS, NWIRP

Several UW law grad selected over the years! Meet and strategize with your public service law coach Aline C-L or Assistant Dean Michele Storms before applying! www.equaljusticeworks.org/post-grad/equal-justice-works-fellowships

• App available for download. Due 1st Mon in Oct- this year: Oct 6

• About 25 awards per year @ about $40-45k • Host org expected to pay some overhead costs • 1 year civil legal aid fellowship with expectation

of renewal for second year • Grades ARE considered in app process: top of

the class • Must be with a 501 (c) 3 non-profit that has at

least 2 attys on staff providing legal services to low-income communities

• Find a sponsoring org to house your project- Network! • Some or orgs announce they’re looking to sponsor a

particular type of project- check out PSJD.org! • direct services, impact litigation, community legal ed,

some policy advocacy • Direct representation & advocacy work: less

focused on innovation • Not just for Ivy League Grads: CUNY, Wayne

State, U Texas, Widener, U of Arkansas, Howard, and a 2012 UW law grad

UW Law Alum recipient! Meet and strategize with your public service coach before contacting Skadden for info and before applying! After doing some serious planning and talking with your coach pitch your project to Susan Butler Plum before applying-Yes, call her!! (212) 735-2956 www.skaddenfellowships.org

Skadden does not fund… • Reproductive rights/justice work • Criminal defense

• But you can provide rep on collateral consequences, expungement and re-entry issues

• Asylum and immigration work • But you can rep immigrants on civil legal aid issues

• Legal services to incarcerated persons • But you can rep for children in juvenile detention who aren’t getting

their civil legal needs addressed eg. Civil rights, right to education, health care

• Environmental work but they have funded in the past with orgs with “environment” or “conservation” in the title • But you can work on economic development, workers rights, fair

housing issues

• App due usually due the first week of January for a fall start date (3L app)

• 1 year fellowship for up to $35,000 depending on available funds

• Seed funding for innovative projects that will immediately provide sorely needed legal services and will continue providing such services for years to come

• Work funded: legal advocacy, community education, and/or policy change in areas affecting groups of people who generally lack access to the legal system

• Encourages proposals that address needs and issues not addressed by previous BLF projects

2010 UW Law Alum Recipient! Meet and strategize with your public service coach before contacting Skadden for info and before applying! www.berkeleylawfoundation.org/

Initiative for Public Interest Law at Yale Fellowship • App deadline usually due mid-March for a fall start date

(3L app) • 1 year fellowship for up to $35,000 depending on available

funds • Seed funding for projects that protect the legal rights or

interests of inadequately represented groups • Domestic or international • Prioritizes

• innovative projects that may have difficulty obtaining money from other sources due to the subject matter of the project or the approach taken by the project

• cutting-edge projects that might be a model for other orgs seeking new and better ways to represent clients

• performed in coordination with a sponsoring organization;

• could be completed in a single year, or that demonstrates potential to become self-supporting or to receive support from alternative sources within the year (also consider projects that can be completed in less than a year)

UW Law Alum Recipients! Meet and strategize with your public service coach before contacting Skadden for info and before applying! http://www.law.yale.edu/stuorgs/initiative.htm

Soros Justice Advocacy Fellowship • Accepting apps July through mid

October • Terms start in September or April • 18 month fellowship • Funding Priority: innovative U.S.

criminal justice reform policy advocacy projects

• Open to lawyers, organizers, activist academics, and others with unique perspectives

• Work Funded: Projects may range from litigation to public education to coalition-building to grassroots mobilization to action research

• But NO lobbying • Projects may be implemented in

conjunction with a host organization but it’s not required

• must NOT duplicate the host org’s existing work

• Must assemble an Advisory Board of at least 3 people to provide strategic guidance and substantive expertise

Meet and strategize with your public service coach before contacting Skadden for info and before applying! http://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/sites/default/files/advocacy-fellowships-guidelines-and-application20140710_1.pdf

Other/Misc Types • Americorps Legal Fellowships • Law Students for Reproductive Justice (DC) • Georgetown Women’s Law & Public Policy

Fellowship Program (DC) • Immigrant Justice Corps (NYC) New • Civic Legal Corps (NYC, So. CA, NV) New • International & Human Rights Fellowships

Americorps Legal Fellowship • App usually due in the summer of 3L year.

Different orgs have different deadlines • Traditional job search approach: apply to specific

positions at specific host orgs: look for Americorps job announcements

• 1 year fellowship with expectation of renewal • About 70 awards per year • Federal program administered through Equal

Justice Works • Funding sharing program between fed gov’t &

host org • Direct legal representation to low-income

communities (no lobbying and other restrictions consistent with federal programs) • community legal ed, training, organizing, direct services,

litigation, transactional work, administrative advocacy • Issues areas include health care, public benefits,

foreclosure prevention, veterans issues, education • Past and current orgs in WA: NJP, Solid Ground

UW Law Alum Recipients! http://www.equaljusticeworks.org/post-grad/americorps-legal-fellowships

• App due usually Nov 1 • $51 k + benefits • Orgs apply late Jan • Year-long (August to August) • Placement with a DC-based org • intended to enhance capacity at

reproductive justice organizations working to influence law and policy and to build a pipeline for future reproductive justice lawyers

• For current 3Ls and recent law school graduates interested in working to advance reproductive justice through policy advocacy

• includes mentoring, professional development, training, and networking opportunities

UW Law Alum Recipients! Meet and strategize with your public service law coach Aline C-L or Assistant Dean Michele Storms before applying! http://rjfp.lsrj.org/

• RJFP-HIV Fellowship is a pilot program launched in 2014.

• LSRJ will select and place two (2) RJ HIV Fellows for a one-year fellowship at two (2) nonprofits working on HIV policy.

• App due May 7, 2014 • Year-long (August to August) • $51 k + benefits • Placement at Sister Love in Atlanta, WA

or Positive Women’s Network, USA in Oakland, CA

• intended to enhance capacity at the orgs working to influence law and policy and to build a pipeline for future reproductive justice lawyers

• For current 3Ls and recent law school graduates interested in working to advance reproductive justice through policy advocacy

• includes mentoring, professional development, training, and networking opportunities

New for 2014! Meet and strategize with your public service law coach Aline C-L or Assistant Dean Michele Storms before applying! http://lsrj.org/documents/rjfp/14-15_RJ_HIV_Fellow_Application.pdf

• App usually due mid- November

• For 3Ls and recent grads (no cap though)

• Most are year-long (September to August)

• Up to 6 awards/placements per year @ $41k

• Must be committed to advancing women’s rights

• App includes writing sample and official transcript

• Men can apply too • Placement with a DC-based org.

Examples include: • NAACP Legal Defense Fund • National Partnership for Women

and Families • National Women's Law Center

Our very own Reference Librarian, Mary Whisner, is a recipient! http://www.law.georgetown.edu/academics/centers-institutes/wlppfp/us/index.cfm

• 3Ls and recent grads may apply

• App due March 1 • 2 years with option to renew

for 3rd year • Placement with NYC based

org providing legal services to immigrant communities

• $47k salary

New for 2014! http://justicecorps.org/fellowship/

• 3Ls and recent grads (1-5 years) may apply

• App due March 15 • 2 years salary- Employer is CLC • CLC will house Fellows at its Legal

Access Hubs (2014 pilot in NYC) where fellows provide direct legal services to the target population and undergoing intensive training in innovative legal services delivery, integrative law, and social entrepreneurship.

• Priority given to applicants who are or will be licensed in NY, CA or NV

• Fellows offer legal services in the five most underserved areas of law: family law, housing law, consumer debt/bankruptcy law, domestic violence, and limited areas of criminal law where need is high.

New for 2014! http://www.civiclegalcorps.org/

International Fellowships • International human rights research and/or advocacy in US or abroad • Usually organization-based • Not necessarily all pure legal work, many non-atty opportunities • Many require recipients to be self-funded (fundraising) • Examples:

• Human Rights Watch International Aryeh Neier Fellowship (NYC, DC or London)

• Ashoka Global Fellowships • International Bridges to Justice Malaysia Fellowship • UNHCR post grad “internships” (unpaid) • IOM post grad “internships” (unpaid)

• Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation • Echoing Green Foundation • Skoll Foundation • UW Foster School Global Social Entrepreneurship

Competition (GSEC) • Unreasonable Institute • Learn more about entrepreneurial public service

opportunities at our April 16 workshop! Room 133, 3:30-5:30pm

Entrepreneurial Fellowships

Resources • Email acarton@uw.edu for

copy of this PPT • Contact Aline or Dean

Storms for to get in touch with local fellows- better yet, schedule a coaching meeting!

• Attend our July panel of fellowship recipients in WA. Stayed tuned for more info!

• PSJD.org

Questions? Serious about applying? Schedule an appointment to strategize, discuss and review

application criteria and materials with your public service law coaches:

Michele Storms

Assistant Dean for Public Service Law mestorms@uw.edu

(3Ls)

Aline Carton-Listfjeld Assistant Director, Center for Public Service Law

acarton@uw.edu (1Ls & 2Ls)