Public Interest Fellowships

Post-graduate Fellowships are programs intended to fund work or study for a specific purpose, usually for a set period of time. Often a gateway to public interest work, particularly with large national organization, fellowships provide opportunities to:

• Use your legal skills to effect positive change
• Engage in and explore public service work
• Learn from established legal professionals
• Expand your social justice network
• Gain experience and strengthen future job applications by adding an impressive credential to your resume

Fellowship types

1. Organization-Based: Many nonprofits administer their own fellowships, such as ACLU and Human Rights Watch.
2. Project-Based: Some programs fund fellowships for applicants who develop a specific project in conjunction with a sponsoring nonprofit organization. The fellowship is awarded for work on a specific project, but often the recipient determines where the work is done.
   • Examples: Soros Justice Fellowship and Equal Justice Works

   Note: the project-based fellowship process starts early! You must find a host organization to partner with and then submit a project proposal up to a year before your start date. Equal Justice Works' application for 2020 is due September 20, 2019.

3. Firm-Sponsored: some law firms compensate fellows for a period of time to engage in public interest work, which can sometimes lead to a job offer.
   • Example: Skadden Fellowship, sponsored by Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom.
4. Entrepreneurial Grants: support a public interest project developed without the support of an established organization.
   • Example: Echoing Green

Application information

• Fellowship application deadlines run throughout the calendar year
• Start early! Some organizations, particularly organizations that sponsor project-based fellowships, solicit resumes and interview potential candidates as early as the spring of your 2L year.

Suggested Timeline

Additional support

• PSJD.org: In addition to fellowship listings, PSJD.org offers extensive info for fellowship applicants through their “Fellowship Resource Center,” including application tips and timelines for common fellowship programs.
• Equal Justice Works: The largest national funder of legal public interest fellowships, EJW provides information about their own programs (including EJW/AmeriCorps) alongside additional public interest resources for prospective, current, and former law students.
• Yale Fellowship Guide: Comprehensive guide on finding and applying for fellowships.
• Center for Professional Development staff are available to discuss public sector, nonprofit, and NGO opportunities and to have your application materials reviewed.
• For support creating project-based fellowship proposals (for funders like Equal Justice Works), information about funding sources for nonprofit and social entrepreneurial grants, contact Cindy Yeung at ATJI.