Summer Fellowships
How can I make $5000 this summer?
You can make up to $5000 this summer by applying for funds from the Boalt Hall Summer Fellowship as well as from other sources (2Ls may apply for other funds up to a total of $6000 including Boalt Hall monies). (Click here to find out how the funding cap and the "banking" option work.) Below is a list of some funding sources. Keep in mind that many have deadlines in January and February.
(Note: This document will be updated later in the semester as 2008 deadlines become more broadly available. Please check individual websites for more information.)
Boalt Hall Student Organization Fellowships. Several Boalt Hall Student organizations award summer fellowships, including the Berkeley Law Foundation; the Boalt Queer Caucus; the Boalt Hall Womens Association; the Ecology Law Quarterly; and the Asian Pacific American Law Students Association. The same application and the same deadline -- April 1, 2008 -- as the Boalt Fellowships is generally used for these student organizations. For more information, contact these student organizations directly.
ABA John J. Curtin, Jr. Justice Fund. The Legal Internship Program provides a $2,500 stipend to summer interns at bar associations or legal services homeless programs around the country. Applicants should have a position offered, contingent on funding, from a qualified organization. Applications are available online at: http://www.abanet.org/homeless/curtin.html. For more information, visit their website or contact: the ABA Commission on Homelessness and Poverty at (202)662-1694 or via e-mail at homeless@abanet.org.
ABA Public Service Internship Program, Washington, D.C. Second and Third year students create their own public interest legal research projects for the summer. Contact: Carrie Coleman, ABA Division for Public Services, 750 15th Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20005 (202/662-8608 ext. 3004) or email cccoleman@staff.abanet.org.
The American Society of International Law (“ASIL”) Arthur C. Helton Fellowship Program. The program currently consists of a one-time "micro-grant" of up to $1000, for law students and young lawyers to pursue human rights work and research at an established NGO or human rights organization. For application information, go to: http://www.asil.org/aboutasil/HeltonApplication.html, Only the first 50 completed applications, submitted on-line, and received in full by the submission deadline will be reviewed.
Asian American Bar Association of the Greater Bay Area, San Francisco. The AABA offers qualified summer law clerks funding, typically $1500-$2000, to work on legal projects that provide free legal services to the Asian American community. Applicants must be sponsored by a nonprofit legal organization that has agreed to supervise the applicant. Application information will be available on the AABA website in February or March; applications are generally due in May or June. Contact: AABA Office, One Maritime Plaza, 20th Fl., San Francisco, CA 94111. Check website at: http://www.aaba-bay.com/
The California Women's Law Center (based in LA) funds the Harry A. Blackmun Memorial Public Interest Grant. Applications are accepted until March 1st. The grantee will receive a $4,500 stipend. For more information, visit http://www.cwlc.org/.
Environmental Careers Organization (formerly the CEIP Fund, Inc.) multiple locations. Short-term, paid internships in environmental protection, public policy, community development & resource management, includes a small number of legal oriented internships. These are not strictly legal internships. Application deadlines are internship specific and students should check the website for updated information. Send resumes only (2 page max.) to: E.C.O.-Processing Center, 4140 Oceanside Blvd. 159-272, Oceanside, California 95276. See website: http://www.eco.org/ (click on Internships on the sidebar menu). Open to all recent college graduates at any level. Undergraduates in their junior, senior year and/or graduate students. Minorities are strongly urged to apply.
Equal Justice America Summer Fellowships: Offers stipends of $3, 500 to students for summer positions providing civil legal services for the poor. Check out their website at: http://www.equaljusticeamerica.org/. Click on “Apply for an EJA Fellowship” to get application form. For more information, you can also contact Dan Ruben, Equal Justice America, 3010 Fox Chase Drive, Midlothian, VA 23112 (804) 744-4200.
Equal Justice Works Summer Corps: Offers $1,000 stipend to 175 students who spend their summers providing direct legal services to underrepresented and lower income communities. Last year, early online submissions caused the registration process to close in early March after receiving over 200 applications for 175 slots. This year's deadline has not yet been announced. For more information and to obtain registration forms, visit the Equal Justice Works website, click on “Find an Opportunity”, and then click on “Summer Corps”: http://www.equaljusticeworks.org/communities/participants/summercorps
Everett Public Service Internship Program. Sponsors more than 140 paid summer internships (10 weeks-$230/week stipend) at 52 nonprofit organizations, most of which are on the east coast. Not limited to legal employers. Requirements for applications vary because each organization has its own requirements and/or deadlines. However, applications are generally due between March and May. Contact: Edith and Henry Everett at Co-op America, 1612 K Street, NW Ste. 600, Washington, D.C. 20006. http://www.everettinternships.org/
Faegre & Benson Environmental Law Fellowship. Both first and second year students are eligible (2Ls should contact the firm in September and 1Ls in early December) for this fellowship. The student will work with attorneys at the firm on public interest environmental litigation. Send resume and transcript to: Jonathan Dettmann, Faegre & Benson, 2200 Norwest Center, 90 South 7th Street, Minneapolis, MN 55402-3901.
Federal Communications Bar Association Foundation, Washington, DC. Robert E. Lee Scholarship & Internship Fund. At least four $4000 stipends are available to unpaid summer law interns working at the FCC and other government agencies with jurisdiction over the communications industry. Last year, the application deadline was mid-March. For more information contact: Paula Friedman, Chair, FCBA Foundation, 1722 Eye Street, NW, Suite 300 Washington, DC 20006 (202/736-8640). Check website at http://www.fcba.org/foundation/internship_stipends.shtml.
Haywood Burns Memorial Fellowships for Social and Economic Justice/National Lawyers Guild Summer Legal Internships. Provides summer funding to interns at diverse, pre-selected public interest organizations thought out the country. Students may apply to three of the pre-selected organizations for this $2000 grant. List of organizations is available in October and applications are usually available in November. Contact: Ian Brannigan, National Lawyers Guild, National Office, 143 Madison Ave, 4th Floor, New York NY 10016, 212 679-5100 ext. 14. Also, check website at http://www.nlg.org/
Howrey Simon Arnold & White has created a program known as Howrey Extern for Legal Probono Service (HELPS). Each year, one 1L from Boalt will be selected to extern for the summer with a designated legal services organization. The extern will be paid $1,000 per week. Application materials are generally available in mid-January and the deadline is typically mid-February. Contact Marietta Dixon at (650)463-8136 dixonm@howrey.com or Teresa Janezeck at (213)892-1827 JanezeckT@howrey.com for more information.
Human Rights Watch. The deadline is generally early March. For further details, visit http://www.hrw.org/ and http://www.everettinternships.org/.
The Human Rights First internship. For more details, visit http://www.humanrightsfirst.org/ and http://www.everettinternships.org/. First and second year law students can also compete for two $1,000 grants. Go to their website for details.
Land Law and Tenure Security Summer Externship Program (Department of Rural Sociology, University of Wisconsin-Madison). LLTS externs spend the summer working in rural areas with extreme unmet legal needs. Attorneys at host organizations supervise the law student externs as they work on issues that impact landholdings in low-income African American, Appalachian, Latino, and Native American communities. Maximum stipend is $4,000. For more information, including application materials and host organization sites, see website: http://www.ies.wisc.edu/ltc/nap/nap_project7.html Contact: Brendan Haskins, (brhaskins@wisc.edu), 1450 Linden Drive, Madison, WI 53706-1562. Phone: (608) 262-1601.
Legal Aid Association of California, San Francisco, CA. Dan Bradley Summer Fellowship Program. Offers a paid, eight-week summer position for to public interest-minded law students who wants to work in California legal services programs in a wide variety of placement sites. The deadline is typically in early April. For updated information, Contact: Public Interest Clearinghouse, 47 Kearny Street, 7th Floor, San Francisco, California 94108, (415/834-0100) or check http://www.calegaladvocates.org/
Peggy Browning Fund. Offers 31 funded internships in labor related organizations around the country (a minimum of $4,000 for 10 weeks). Contact: 1818 Market Street, Suite 2300, Philadelphia, PA 19103, (215) 665-6815 or visit their website at: http://www.peggybrowningfund.org/positions.html
Pride Law Fund Fellowships, San Francisco, CA. Projects related to legal services concerning AIDS and/or work on lesbian/gay civil and legal rights. Check website at http://www.pridelawfund.org/.
The Robert M. Takasugi Summer Fellowship Program was created to honor Senior District Court Judge Robert M. Takasugi for his contributions to public interest law, pro bono work, and minority law students/attorneys throughout his 24 years of service on the federal bench. For more information and application instructions, visit: http://www.takasugifellowship.com/.
Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP's Scholars Program is offering two Boalt students a $4000 stipend for summer public interest work anywhere in the United States. 1Ls and 2Ls are eligible to apply. Successful candidates may either find a public interest position at an organization of their choice (subject to Sonnenschein approval), or seek Sonnenschein's assistance in locating a public interest position. To apply, send a resume and a brief personal statement (no more than 500 words) that will address the following topics: your academic performance, demonstrated qualities of leadership, and your commitment to public service. The statement should also include a description of areas of public service that are of interest to you and the reasons for that interest. Submit materials to: Sonnenschein Scholars Program Committee, c/o Linda Maranzana in the CDO.
The State Bar of California, Minority Fellowship in Environmental Law. Offers $5,000 stipend to spend the summer working on environmental legal matters for a government or public interest environmental agency to minority law students. The deadline is generally late March. Information and an application form can be found at the State Bar website -- http://www.calbar.ca.gov/ (search for “minority environmental”).
University of California, Human Rights Center - Human Rights Fellowships. Ten fellowships of $3,500 each are available to UC Berkeley students for five to fifteen week internships with human rights organizations. Fore more information, visit, their website: http://www.hrcberkeley.org/. Applications are generally available in late December. Contact: Rachel Shigekane, Human Rights Center, 460 Stephens Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720-2340, (510/642-0965).
University of Michigan Bergstrom Child Welfare Summer Fellowship provides three days of intensive training at the University of Michigan Law School and round-trip travel up to $500. Fellows then spend 10 weeks at organizations across the country. Some additional grant money and support is available. For more information, visit the website: http://www.law.umich.edu/CentersandPrograms/clinical/calc/summerfellowship.htm
The University of Minnesota Human Rights Center offers summer fellowships to residents of the Upper Midwest, USA who will work with a human rights organization. For more information and to obtain an application, please visit the Center's website.
