In keeping with the School of Law’s mission, our faculty is committed to preparing students for careers in public interest, public service, and in public policy reform. The School of Law supports this commitment by offering summer public interest fellowships to 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 and communities 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.
The DC School of Law Foundation provides Fellows with stipends ranging from $5,000 to $7,500. The Foundation relies on the generosity of its alumni and friends to fund the bulk of the Fellowship Program.
Past placements include:
- ACLU of the District of Columbia
- American Federation of Government Employees
- Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth
- Central American Resource Center (CARECEN)
- Council of the District of Columbia
- District of Columbia Office of the Attorney General
- District of Columbia Office on Human Rights
- District of Columbia Superior Court
- Government Accountability Project
- Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
- Legal Aid Society
- Legal Counsel for the Elderly
- Manna, Inc.
- Maryland Office of the Public Defender
- Neighborhood Legal Services Program
- Public Defender Service of the District of Columbia
- Quality Trust for Individuals with Disabilities
- Tzedek D.C.
- U.S. Court of Federal Claims
- U.S. Department of Justice
- U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
- U.S. District Court
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
- U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
- Virginia Indigent Defense Commission
Need A Fine Fellow?
Qualifying placements include non-profit, government, judicial or legislative entities. 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 UDC Law’s Office of Career & Professional Development at 202-274-5582 or lawcareers@udc.edu.
To support the Summer Public Interest Fellowship Program, donate online or send your tax-deductible contribution made out to the “DC School of Law Foundation” to:
Director of Development
UDC David A. Clarke School of Law
4340 Connecticut Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20008
