In keeping with the School of Law’s mission, our faculty is committed to preparing students for careers in the public interest, public service, and in public policy reform. The School of Law supports this commitment by offering generous summer public interest fellowships to all qualifying first-year law students, and to second-year students if funding is available.
Through their summer placements, students build substantive expertise and commitment, make valuable professional contacts, and provide vitally needed legal services — often to individuals who otherwise could not afford a lawyer.
Students work full-time in a public interest, governmental or judicial office, for at least 400 hours total. Placements can be anywhere in the country, and on a case-by-case basis, students may receive approval for international placements. During the summer, they learn how to interview and work with clients and supervising attorneys, how to identify legal issues and strategies, how to prepare research memoranda and briefs, and have the opportunity to observe judicial and administrative proceedings. In summer 2008, the School supported a record number of fifty students, representing at least 20,000 hours of public interest advocacy.
The School of Law provides Fellows with stipends ranging from $2,750 to $3,000. The maximum stipend works out to about $7.50 per hour — less than the District's minimum wage for 2008. Given the fact that students often continue their work without financial compensation, their effective compensation may be even lower. The School of Law relies on the generosity of its alumni and friends to fund the bulk of the Fellowship Program.
To support the Summer Public Interest Fellowship Program, donate on-line or send your tax-deductible contribution made out to the "DC School of Law Foundation" to:
Shelley Broderick, Dean
UDC David A. Clarke School of Law
4200 Connecticut Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20008 |
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Need A Fine Fellow?In order to be eligible to host a Summer Public Interest Fellow, an organization must be a non-profit, government, judicial or legislative entity, the work done by the Fellow must be legal or law-related, and the work must be supervised by an attorney. If your organization—or one you know—meets these criteria and would like to host a Summer Fellow, please contact Dena Bauman at 202-274-5722 or DBauman@udc.edu. NOTE: Students ARE permitted to receive matching stipends provided by their host organization or third parties for their work. |
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Interested students and current fellows:
See the Summer Fellowship Information packet under Forms & Schedules. |
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